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In college you may be asked to write a “summary essay,” which is written for an audience other than yourself. The purpose of the summary essay is to convey to others an understanding of a text you have read, without their having to read it themselves. Thus for your readers, your summary essay functions as a substitute for the source that you are summarizing. You don't want to misrepresent your source or mislead your audience. Certainly an important feature of the summary essay, then, is its fidelity to the source; you must represent your source accurately and comprehensively, with as little of your own interpretation as possible. (Anytime you read and repeat a source, of course, you are interpreting it; but the summary essay asks you to minimize your interpretation as much as possible. You should not add your own examples and explanations, for instance.)
An alternative purpose of the summary essay, one that is very commonplace in college, is a demonstration of comprehension: teachers sometimes assign summary essays when they want to make sure that students fully understand an assigned source. In this case, your essay does not substitute for the source, for the teacher has read the source, too. Yet your essay will be written in the same way, with fidelity to the source.
A summary essay should be organized so that others can understand the source or evaluate your comprehension of it. The following format works well:
a. The introduction (usually one paragraph)-- 1. Contains a one-sentence thesis statement that sums up the main point of the source. This thesis statement is not your main point; it is the main point of your source. Generally, you should write this statement in your own words rather than quote it from the source text. It is a one-sentence summary of the entire text that your essay summarizes. 2. Also introduces the text to be summarized: (i) Gives the title of the source (following the citation guidelines of whatever style sheet you are using); (ii) Provides the name of the author/creator of the source; (ii) Sometimes also provides pertinent background information about the author of the source or about the text to be summarized. The introduction should not offer your own opinions or evaluation of the text you are summarizing.
b. The body of a summary essay (one or more paragraphs):
This paraphrases and condenses the original piece. In your summary, be sure that you—
1.Include important data but omit minor points;
2.Include one or more examples or illustrations from the source (these will bring your summary to life);
3.Do not include your own ideas, illustrations, metaphors, or interpretations. Look upon yourself as a summarizing machine; you are simply repeating what the source text says, in fewer words and in your own words.
c. There is customarily no conclusion to a summary essay.