Culture through English A: Summary writing・要約について

Hello!

How are you? Today I will introduce summary (要約) writing to you. From here if you ever want to do any presentation, you should have a summary for it. 

Now let's look at summary writing!

Summary writing
What is a summary? It is a short statement of purpose (SOP) that shows what your presentation topic is, and what you will show in it. 

Let's look at an example of a summary for our first assignment about our identities. What would a presentation summary for this topic look like? 


First, show a little background to the topic - in this case, about yourself (例えば):

While I am in my second year now at Daito Bunka and am studying British and American literature like all of you, I have other hobbies and interests as well.

Next, show some details (詳細) about your topic - in this case, yourself (例えば):

While I am in my second year now at Daito Bunka and am studying British and American literature like all of you, I have other hobbies and interests as well. I enjoy reading books, especially novels, but also gaming and cooking.

After that, show a little more detail (例えば):

While I am in my second year now at Daito Bunka and am studying British and American literature like all of you, I have other hobbies and interests as well. I enjoy reading books, especially novels, but also gaming and cooking. My father is a great cook and he encouraged me to learn how to cook.

Finally, show in a direct (直接) way what you will present about 
(例えば):

While I am in my second year now at Daito Bunka and am studying British and American literature like all of you, I have other hobbies and interests as well. I enjoy reading books, especially novels, but also gaming and cooking. My father is a great cook and he encouraged me to learn how to cook. In this presentation today, I will tell you more about myself, my hobbies and interests, and what I am like as a person. 


So now this is what your finished summary should look like 
(例えば):

While I am in my second year now at Daito Bunka and am studying British and American literature like all of you, I have other hobbies and interests as well. I enjoy reading books, especially novels, but also gaming and cooking. My father is a great cook and he encouraged me to learn how to cook. In this presentation today, I will tell you more about myself, my hobbies and interests, and what I am like as a person. 

This is only 79 words long. Most summaries should run only around 60-80 words in length, though for more complex topics, they can go up to 100 words. 

I hope this can help you with your summary writing! 

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.