![]() ![]() ![]() Alternatively, with a marker pen, cross out anything that isn’t essential to an understanding of the whole section or text.Highlight one sentence in each paragraph that you think is essential detail to understanding that section.Read the introduction and first line of each paragraph to get a sense of the overall structure and key points within it.Read the whole text, and afterwards, without re-reading, jot down your first initial summary in 50 words to capture its overall point. You can check it back for accuracy or anything you left out, but stick within ca 50 words.You could try some of the following approaches: A poor synopsis will get bogged down in detail, giving a confused account of the whole story by just listing points, miss out major points or give an inaccurate or one-sided account or stick so closely to the original that it becomes plagiarism without demonstrating a real understanding by the person summarising it.īoiling down the key points and overall narrative of the original means good reading and note-taking skills which aim to identify and boil down key points to their essence. Not leaving out anything crucial to understanding the whole overall messageĪ good synopsis will allow the reader to feel as if they’d skimread the whole text themselves, understanding the overall gist and highlighting what they need to know.Rephrasing things concisely without losing the meaning or misrepresenting it.Whether to give all key points equal treatment, or cover some more briefly, even combining them.Knowing how closely to stick to the original, especially in terms of the wording.Covering the whole text within a small word limit.Giving a sense of the overall narrative as well as listing the key points.Knowing what to leave out as well as what to include.Separating the main points from the minor detail.Writing a good synopsis is a skill, and there are a number of challenges: You could add some commentary which gives the reader a bit of context about the text, including the authors and circumstances it was written in (for example, if it is part of a debate, particular school of thought or its significance and what impact it’s had). It’s not a ‘trailer’ designed to tempt your audience to read the text itself, so you don’t have to worry about ‘hooking’ them in with hints and high points or ‘spoiling the ending’ - give the whole text equal coverage, including the conclusions. A synopsis is a neutral summary, objectively capturing the main points, rather than your own perspective or critique, and it focusses directly on the text you’re summarising rather than being a wider discussion of a topic, as an essay might be.Ī synopsis aims to give the reader a full, if brief, account of the whole text so that they can follow its main points without having to read it themselves. In an academic context, this is usually a summary of a text (a journal article, book, report etc) but in some instances you might be writing a synopsis of a talk, film or other form of presentation. A synopsis is a brief summary which gives readers an overview of the main points. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |