Précis Writing / Precise Writing and Summary Writing (Unit four)
Summary Writing
Writing a piece of writing in a small format without changing the meaning is called summary writing. In other words a summary is a gist or central idea of what a piece of writing says. However, summary is flexible enough and it gives a lot of liberty to the writer. There is no fixed length of a summary. Sometimes a summary may be bigger than its original piece especially in case of poems. The technique of precise writing is used to summarize a piece of writing.
Precise Writing
Precise writing involves rewriting a sentence using minimum number of words without change in the meaning e.g.
Look at the following
sentence:-
The cricket match ended in
such a situation in which no side could win.
The above sentence may be
rewritten in precise form (using minimum number of words without changing the
meaning) as:-
The cricket match ended in
a draw.
Or
The cricket match was a
tie.
Or
The cricket match was
drawn.
Some more examples are as
follows:-
1. He went to school after he had written the letter
1. He went to school after writing the letter. (Precise
form)
2. As soon as the thief saw the police, he ran away.
2. Seeing the police, the thief ran away.
For engineers, Précis
writing is most relevant because it is most scientific and most calculated form
of summarizing.
Précis Writing
A précis is a brief summary. In other
words, a précis involves compression of ideas into a smaller frame.
Generally, a piece of text is
compressed into one third of its original length but sometimes, it may be more
or less also depending upon the requirement.
Practically, if a piece of writing
contains 300 words, it should be summarized into 100 +/- 5 words. What is most
important is that the meaning of the piece should be faithfully conveyed in the
précis without any alteration or mixing with other ideas.
Writing précis is a valuable training
in composition. One can attain this valuable skill of writing a good précis by
practice.
Before you attempt a précis, there are
certain pre-requisites for this skill. They are:-
- You must
fully understand the meaning of the passage whose précis you want to
attempt.
- You must
not alter the meaning of the passage in your précis or mix the ideas other
than those of the author in it. The meaning of the passage has to be
faithfully represented.
- You should
have a sufficient stock of words for your independent use so that you are
able to express the ideas of the author in your own words effectively and
make appropriate choice of words at various situations.
- You should
have the knowledge of the grammar of the language in which you intend to
write the précis otherwise you may commit grammatical mistakes.
Practically, you may pursue the
following guidelines if you are going to attempt a précis for a passage.-
- Read the
passage once, twice or thrice to your complete satisfaction. The meaning
will be much clearer after every reading.
- Count the
number of words and decide the length of your précis.
- Write down
important points, which have been discussed in the paragraph on a rough
page.
- Write down all the important sentences of
the paragraph under the points.
- Make a
précis sheet under the title that you have assigned to the passage. Any
page can be converted into a précis sheet by drawing four columns on the
parallel rulings of your notebook.
- Give a
suitable title to the passage and write it on the top of your précis
sheet. If you are able to give a suitable title / heading to the passage,
it means that you have already won half of the battle. It also means that
you have understood the passage well. Giving title also leads to extreme
compression focusing at one point. Giving a suitable title also denotes
that you have successfully compressed the whole meaning of the paragraph
at one point.
- Now start
writing with a pencil your ideas on the précis sheet @ one word each cell.
You have to write the summary of the passage independently using your own
words. You have to cover all the points that are discussed in the
paragraph and which you have already written separately. You can take the
help of important sentences, which you have noted separately. But avoid
direct contribution from the passage as far as possible. Use your own
words. However, some contributions can not be avoided. Use your common
sense in this regard.
- Writing on
the précis sheet will help you adjust the length of your précis according
to your requirement. You can revise it because you are using pencil and
eraser.
- When you
have completed all the revisions and the final draft is ready, you can
write it as your answer with a pen. Write the title first and then the
summary.
Additional Precautions
- Your
précis must be impartial. You must faithfully represent the ideas of the
author in a reduced format. Do not alter or mix your ideas.
- Do not
write your précis in the direct narration. Always use indirect narration.
- If the
passage is in subjective style, convert it into objective style.
- If the
passage is in the didactic tone, change it in the generalized tone.
- Quotes
appeared in the passage should be generalized. A few quotes, which are
utmost necessary, may be described using their point of view and
mentioning their names otherwise, a general description will be
sufficient.
You can start making précis of any
paragraph. But in the beginning, you should try your hand a small story given
below:-
Examples
1. Story Example
Question:-Make a précis of the
following paragraph giving a suitable title:-
Once upon a time, a fox was
wanderingin the jungle in search of water. By chance, he reached a deep well,
which had little water at the bottom. It was dangerous to jump into the well
because it was deep and it was impossible to come out from it. Nevertheless,
the fox was so thirsty that he could not help himself jumping into it. When he
had quenched his thirst, he found that it was impossible to come out from it.
He tried his best and jumped hundreds of times but he could not come out of it.
At last, he got tired and stopped making attempts to come out but he waited for
some one to come to the well. Fortunately, a goat loitered towards the well.
When she peeped into the well, she was surprised to see a fox there. She said
to the fox, “Good morning! Mr. Fox! What are you doing here?” Fox said, “Good
morning! Miss Goat! Nothing, I am doing nothing here, simply enjoying sweet
water of the well. Nevertheless, it is very nice to see you here. You are
really a pretty and most charming goat of this jungle. Why don’t you come down?
Let’s both enjoy the sweet water here.” The goat said, “Is the water really
sweet there?” “Yes, of course! You will never find such sweet water anywhere in
the jungle. Don’t miss this chance. Come on. Hurry up. Only a little water is
left here,” said the fox. The foolish goat did not think of the consequence and
jumped into the well. The fox took full advantage of the presence of the goat
and jumped upon her back and from there he sprang high and came out of the
well. The foolish goat died in the well because she could not come out from
there.(307 words)
Answer
Title: - A Clever Fox and A Foolish Goat
Précis
Once, a thirsty fox, in search of
water, jumped into a deep well in the jungle. It had only a little water at the
bottom. After drinking, he found the
coming out of the well impossible. All his attempts failed. Having tired, he
waited patiently. Meanwhile, a goat loitered there and saw a fox in the well to
her surprise. The fox flattered the goat and lured her to come to him for sweet
water. The foolish goat jumped into the well. The clever fox came out of the
well by jumping upon her back. However, the goat died in the well. (101 words)
Example 2
Question:-Make a précis of the
following paragraph giving a suitable title:-
Communication has been variously
defined by a number of writers. According to Newman and Summer, it is an
exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. Allen
Lois defines it as the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to
create understanding in the minds of another. Simply stated, communication
means the process of passing information and understanding from one person to
another. A proper understanding of information is one very important aspect of
communication. If the information is not understood in by the receiver in the
same meaning in which its sender wants him to understand it, the purpose of
communication is defeated. This may result in confusion, chaos, and
organizational inefficiency leading to non-fulfillment of business goals.
Communication is not merely transmission of information from one person to
another but also correct interpretation and understanding of information. It is
not to get something off the mind of the person transmitting it but to get into
the mind and actions of the person receiving it. (178 words)
Answer
Title: - Communication
Précis
Communication has been variously
defined as an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions, or emotions between two
parties or all that is done to create understanding in others’ minds or as a
process of passing information and understanding between people. Nevertheless,
a proper interpretation of the information is equally important activity.
Otherwise, it will lead to chaos, confusion and non-fulfillment of business
goals.(62 words)
Example 3
Question:-Make a précis of the
following paragraph giving a suitable title:-
Man does not communicate through words
alone, or only through writing, speaking and listening. There is another aspect
of communication – the nonverbal aspect. Depending on the situation, we have to
make a conscious effort in the use of words. The nonverbal aspect part of
communication is less deliberate. As compared to verbal communication, it is
much subtle and instructive. However, it forms the larger part of the
communication activity. By nodding our heads, blinking our eyes, waving our
hands, shrugging our shoulders, we send out signals. Just as language uses sets
of symbols to convey meaning, our body consciously as well as unconsciously
carries messages, attitudes, status, relationships, moods, warmth, and
indifference and so on. We have, however, to infer these meanings from body
symbols. We look for these symbols in the face and eyes, gestures, posture, and
physical appearance each of which has its own functions.(147 words)
Answer
Title: -Nonverbal Communication
Précis
Man does not communicate verbally but
nonverbally as well. The nonverbal aspect, larger part of communication
activity, is less deliberate, subtle, and instructive and exhibited in our body
signals, gesture and posture. They consciously or unconsciously display our
message, attitude, status, mood, warmth and indifference through our body
language.(49 words)
Example 4
Question:-Make a précis of the
following paragraph giving a suitable title:-
Citizenship goes far beyond voting,
paying taxes, sitting on a jury and other activities expected by a nation from
its members. Properly conceived, it involves all a man’s actions which touch a
fellow citizen and effect the health and wellbeing of the State; it is almost
co-extensive with his duty to his neighbor. It includes everything which the
law requires but also many duties about which it is silent and which are left
to the individual conscience. It is not passive; not mere abstention from
uncivic conduct. It is active. We regard the man who holds aloof from public
duties not as ‘quiet’ but ‘useless’. Public life is a situation of power and
energy, he trespasses against his duty who sleeps upon his watch as well as he
that goes over to the enemy.
The ideal state is one where every
citizen is determined to be a part of the community, to share its burdens, to
put its interest before his own, to sacrifice, if need be, his own wishes,
convenience, time, and money to it. It is a machine of which no part is idle or
inefficient, in which each pulley and cog takes up full share of the load, and
plays its part in swift and smooth running of the whole. A man who evades his
taxes is a bad citizen; but so is one who is giving a vote for the Parliament,
thinks only of his private interest, so
is the bad employer whose treatment of his employees is not only a breach of
the moral law, but aids to the social problem of the country; so are workmen
who strike for some private interest when the existence of their country is at
stake; so is the man who would be useful in the local government but evades the
burden, not because he cannot, but because he will not spare the time.
***
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RGPV B Tech First Year English Unit 4 Précis Writing
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