English Literature Essay

How to Summarize a Short Story

Summarizing any text is a good way to show that you understood what you have read. When you summarize a short story, you should follow these steps.

Divide the Content in Logical Sections: For a short story summary, you would want to make sure you don’t forget any important information so a good place to start might be to set up your sections as follows:

Historical Context and Background Information: this would be the introduction. You would include the title of the story and the author. You might want to include when the story was published, where it first appeared, and how well it was received. You should end this section with a statement about the main point of the story (theme). This section should be about 100 words and should include at least one citation.

Introduce and describe the major characters and the setting: tell the reader where the story took place and briefly describe each of the main characters. Provide a concise but accurate description of each character. You might want to use some direct quotes from the text to support your characterization. This section should be about 50-100 words.

Summarize what happens in the story focusing on the major conflicts that the characters face. You might sketch this out in an outline by listing the events that lead up to the climax, the climax, and the events that happened after the climax. Once you have the events clear in your mind, write a paragraph summarizing what occurs in the story. Your summary should be concise but complete (about 100 words).

In your final paragraph you should discuss the major themes of the story (what was the main point the author was trying to make?) and any symbols that are important to understanding the theme.

Remember: A summary consists of the most important elements in a word. It retells the beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and ending. A good summary captures the essential elements about the main characters and the setting where the action unfolds.