How to Summarize a Reading Assignment

Occasionally, a teacher may ask you to write a summary of your reading assignment. But you don’t have to wait to be assigned to write a summary. Making a habit of summarizing what you read is a useful tool for improving reader comprehension, and also a valuable critical thinking exercise. Summarizing a reading assignment increases recall and condenses an author’s idea down to a few sentences.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Reading assignment
• Pen or pencil
• Critical thinking skills

1. State the author’s most important idea. This is commonly referred to as the Main Idea and can be found in the author’s thesis statement.

2. Use your own words. Imagine you are telling a friend about a great movie you saw or a great book that you read. Speak in your own language, but be sure to use standard English, not slang.

3. Go over each point the author uses to prove his thesis statement. Watch for sentences that back up his or her most important idea. These points form an outline that you can condense down into your summary.

4. Pay attention to detail. Does the author provide enough detail to support his thesis statement and supporting points? Tell what those details are while summarizing the reading assignment.

5. Present your ideas in order. You would not talk about the author’s supporting points without first talking about what those points are referring to.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep it simple. A reading assignment summary is usually about one typed page, and sometimes it can be just a paragraph or two.