summaries reflection

 

Summaries reflection

As I think about what I have learned in class so far this semester, I realize that writing a summary of a document is not as easy as one would think.  First, it is often difficult to read quite a long passage and extract the main idea and support pieces.  Many times readings are filled with extra information that is not crucial to put into the summary and it is sometimes hard to determine what information is not needed.  Therefore, learning to identify and condense the main idea of a reading into 200 words is hard for someone who is not a native speaker.

In addition, I have learned that it is not necessary to summarize every paragraph.  Looking at the introduction and conclusion of the reading provides clues that help guide the reader to the main idea of the reading.  Then, I go on to read the support paragraphs to find the evidence supporting the main idea.  When writing the summary I, now, understand that I need to restate the main idea of the story and give the main points without small details.  While small details are nice to know, they are not needed when summarizing the overall idea of the text.