ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Lesson 3: Summarizing Academic Texts

Summarizing is how we take larger sections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials; the gist, the key ideas,
the main points that are worth noting and remembering. Webster’s calls a summary the “general idea in brief form”; it
is the distillation, condensation, or reduction of a larger work into its primary notions.

Basic Rules:

A. Erase things that don’t matter.

Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to understanding.

B. Erase things that repeat.

Delete redundant material. In note taking, time and space is precious. If a word or phrase says basically
the same thing you have already written down, then don’t write it again!

C. Trade, general terms for specific names.

Substitute superordinate terms for lists (ex: flowers for daisies). Focus on the big picture. Long technical
lists are hard to remember. If one word will give you the meaning, then less is more.

D. Use your own words to write the summary.

Write the summary using your own words but make sure to retain the main points.

Techniques

1. Somebody Wanted But So

The strategy helps you generalize, recognize cause and effect relationships, and find main ideas.

Somebody Wanted But So Then

Who is the text What did the main What was the How was the Tell how the story
about? character want? problem problem solved? ends.
encountered?

Little Red Riding She wanted to take She encountered a She ran away, crying A woodsman heard
Hood her cookies to her wolf pretending to be for help her and saved her
sick grandmother. her grandmother. from the wolf.
After answering the questions, combine the answers to form a summary:

Little Red Riding Hood wanted to take cookies to her sick grandmother, but she encountered a wolf. He got to her
grandmother’s house first and pretended to be the old woman. He was going to eat Little Red Riding Hood, but she
realized what he was doing and ran away, crying for help. A woodsman heard the girl’s cries and saved her from the
wolf.

2. SAAC Method
This method is particularly helpful in summarizing any kind of text. SAAC is an acronym for “State, Assign,
Action, Complete.” Each word in the acronym refers to a specific element that should be included in the
summary.

State Assign Action Complete

The name of the article, The name of the author What the author is doing Complete the sentence
book, or story (example: tells, explains) or summary with the
keywords and important
details

“The Boy Who Cried Aesop tells What happens when a

Wolf” (a Greek storyteller) shepherd boy repeatedly
lies to villagers about
seeing a wolf

Use the four SAAC cues to write out a summary of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" in complete sentences:

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf," by Aesop (a Greek storyteller), tells what happens when a shepherd boy repeatedly lies to
the villagers about seeing a wolf. After a while, they ignore his false cries. Then, when a wolf really does attack, they
don’t come to help him.
3. 5 Ws, 1H
 This technique relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when where, why, and how. These questions make
it easy to identify the main character, important details, and main idea.

Who is the story What did they When did the Where did the Why did the How did the
about? do? action take story happen? main character main character
place? do what s/he do what s/he
did? did?
The tortoise He races a When isn’t An old country The tortoise was The tortoise kept
quick, boastful specified in this road. tired of hearing up his slow but
hare and won. story, so it’s not the hare boast steady pace.
important in this about his speed.
case.

4. First Then Finally

This technique helps students summarize events in chronological order.

First: What happened first? Include the main character and main event/action.
Then: What key details took place during the event/action?
Finally: What were the results of the event/action?

Here is an example using "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

First, Goldilocks entered the bears' home while they were gone. Then, she ate their food, sat in their chairs, and slept
in their beds. Finally, she woke up to find the bears watching her, so she jumped up and ran away.
Copy of the texts used in the example:

1. Little Red Riding Hood (Somebody Wanted But So)

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. She was known as Little Red Riding Hood
because of the red cloak she always wore. One day, her mother asked her to take some cookies to her sick grandmother,
who lived on the other side of the forest.

As Little Red Riding Hood walked through the woods, she met a wolf. The wolf asked her where she was going, and she
innocently told him about her grandmother's house. The wolf, wanting to eat both the girl and her grandmother, raced ahead
to the house. He knocked on the door, entered, and locked the grandmother in a closet. Then, he dressed in her clothes and
lay in bed, pretending to be her.

When Little Red Riding Hood arrived, she noticed something strange about her "grandmother." She asked questions like,
"What big eyes you have!" and "What big teeth you have!" The wolf finally revealed himself and tried to catch her, but she
screamed and ran away. A woodsman nearby heard her cries and rushed to help. He defeated the wolf and freed Little Red
Riding Hood's grandmother.

2. The Boy Who Cried Wolf (SAAC)

There once was a shepherd boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. He often became bored
as he watched the sheep all day. To amuse himself, he cried out, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!"

The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived, they found no wolf. The
boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don’t cry wolf when there’s no wolf!" the villagers warned him.

The boy laughed and repeated the trick again the next day, crying, "Wolf! Wolf!" Again, the villagers came to help, only to
find no wolf.

Then, one day, a wolf actually did come out of the forest and began attacking the sheep. The boy cried, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the
villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, so no one came to help. The wolf killed many sheep, and the boy learned
a hard lesson: No one believes a liar, even when they’re telling the truth.

3. The Tortoise and the Hare (5Ws, 1H)

Once upon a time, there was a hare who was very proud of his speed. He constantly boasted about how fast he could run.
The other animals in the forest were tired of his bragging. One day, a tortoise, known for being slow but steady, challenged
the hare to a race.

The hare laughed at the idea but accepted the challenge, thinking it would be an easy win. The race began, and the hare
quickly left the tortoise far behind. Confident that he would win, the hare decided to take a nap under a tree.

Meanwhile, the tortoise kept moving forward, slow and steady, without stopping. By the time the hare woke up, the tortoise
was near the finish line. The hare ran as fast as he could, but it was too late. The tortoise crossed the finish line first.

The moral of the story is: "Slow and steady wins the race."

4. Goldilocks and the Three Bears (First, The, Finally)

Once upon a time, a little girl named Goldilocks wandered into the forest and found a cottage. Curious, she knocked on the
door, but no one answered. She decided to go inside.

In the kitchen, she saw three bowls of porridge. She tasted the porridge in the big bowl and said, "This is too hot!" She tried
the porridge in the medium bowl and said, "This is too cold!" Then, she tasted the porridge in the small bowl and said, "This
is just right!" So, she ate it all up.

In the living room, she saw three chairs. She sat in the big chair and said, "This is too hard!" She sat in the medium chair
and said, "This is too soft!" Then, she sat in the small chair and said, "This is just right!" But the small chair broke under her
weight.

Goldilocks felt tired and went upstairs. She found three beds. She tried the big bed and said, "This is too hard!" She tried the
medium bed and said, "This is too soft!" Then, she tried the small bed and said, "This is just right!" She fell asleep.

The three bears who lived in the cottage returned and found Goldilocks sleeping in the small bed. She woke up, saw the
bears, and screamed. Goldilocks ran out of the cottage and never came back.
Activity
Direction: Read the text below. Write a 3-5 sentence summary of the following text using the techniques
mentioned in each paragraph. Use a separate sheet in writing your summary.

1. Somebody Wanted But So Technique

In recent years, scientists have been working on developing a sustainable alternative to traditional plastic, which takes
hundreds of years to decompose. They wanted to create a biodegradable material made from natural sources that
would break down quickly without harming the environment. However, they faced challenges in ensuring that this
material could be durable enough for practical use while still decomposing efficiently. After years of research, they
discovered a formula using plant-based polymers that met both requirements. This breakthrough has the potential to
reduce global plastic waste and improve the state of the planet.

2. SAAC Technique

A 2022 research article titled The Effects of Sleep on Academic Performance, written by Dr. Emily Carter, explores the
relationship between sleep patterns and student achievement. The study investigates how the amount and quality of
sleep influence memory retention, problem-solving skills, and concentration. Dr. Carter concludes that students who
get a consistent 7–9 hours of sleep perform significantly better in tests and other academic activities than those who
sleep less. The research emphasizes the importance of prioritizing sleep for overall success in school and
recommends schools adopt policies to promote healthy sleep habits among students.

3. 5Ws, 1H Technique

A recent cleanup project was conducted along the shores of Manila Bay as part of a government initiative to reduce
water pollution and restore marine life. The event, which took place over a weekend, involved thousands of volunteers
from local communities, environmental organizations, and even nearby schools. These volunteers collected tons of
plastic waste, old fishing nets, and other debris that had accumulated over the years. The cleanup was organized
because pollution in the bay had reached critical levels, threatening the habitat of marine species and causing health
risks to nearby residents. This effort is part of a larger program to rehabilitate the bay and turn it into a cleaner and
healthier environment.

4. First Then Finally Technique

A university student named Ana conducted an experiment for her biology class to test the effects of light on plant
growth. First, Ana planted three identical seedlings in separate pots and placed them in different conditions: one in full
sunlight, one in partial shade, and one in complete darkness. Then, she observed and recorded the growth of each
plant over three weeks, measuring their height and checking the condition of their leaves. Finally, Ana concluded that
the plant in full sunlight grew the tallest and healthiest, while the one in complete darkness wilted and died. Her
findings confirmed that sunlight is essential for photosynthesis and healthy plant development.