One feature that distinguishes summary from other genres is that it accurately introduces the main points or events of the text you are summarizing. If you are summarizing an argument, you might ask: What is the author’s thesis or main idea? What are their supporting claims or points? If you are summarizing a story or fictional work, you might include the main events or ideas. In order to keep your summary concise, leave out minor or unimportant details. In addition, you should try to present the author’s ideas accurately and objectively, even if you disagree with the author. Because you are the go-between for the author and your audience, you should consider what your responsibility is to both. Set aside personal commentary or analysis so that readers don’t confuse your ideas with the author’s ideas.

If you are introducing a specific word or term, specifically if you are talking about a word as a word: use italics. For example, “Rodriguez repeatedly uses the word zeitgeist to describe what drove his creative process.” If you need to use a direct quote or characteristic word: place in quotation marks. For example, Rodriguez writes that he was driven by “the haunted zeitgeist” of his generation. (Notice how this is still my summary, but I’ve put quotes around a phrase I found especially important or powerful. Be careful not to over-quote, as that defeats the purpose of a summary.)

Your college composition courses will focus on writing for its own sake

thesis forecasts the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.