As was pointed out in How to Write a Summary Part 1, the summary question tests candidates on whether they have understood the passage or not. Summarising information indicates that the reader has a clear understanding of the key points raised by the writer. Candidates should take note of the following aspects as they write summaries.
Distractors are a major stumbling block when it comes to identify relevant points. Distractors are pieces of information which have the potential to mislead the reader/candidate into thinking that they also have to be included in the summary. Candidates who fail to discern properly end up including such information resulting in scoring low marks or failing. To avoid this mistake, candidates should analyse the summary question carefully before they start compiling their points.
Question analysis involves identifying key words and content words. Key words are instructional words or phrases. These words direct the candidate as to what exactly they should do as they respond to the question; they specify the task the candidate should do. Some examples are, describe, narrate, explain and summarise. It is important that candidates take note of the wording of the question so that they perform the task required by the question. Many a times candidates end up answering their own question instead of the one set in the question paper. For instance, if the question is asking the candidate to "write a summary describing..." and the candidate decides to explain, there is a high possibility that the candidate will leave out descriptive details, the very information required by the question.
Content words inform the candidates the kind of information to be included in the summary. For instance, a candidate may be required to summarise actions, thoughts, feelings or advantages. In some cases, the question can have only one content area. However, some questions can include several content areas for example, actions, reasons and feelings. To ensure that candidates are raising the required content, they should highlight the content word(s) before compiling points. They can do so by underlining or using asterisks or any other method which can help them to identify them accurately. One major mistake some candidates make is focusing on just one or some of the content areas completely ignoring the other areas required by the question. For instance, if the question is demanding that the candidate should summarise the actions and the feelings, the candidates should focus on both areas in order for them to gain all the marks.
It is important to note that in some cases, candidates are required to distill information. This means extracting information from wordy expressions and sentences. They can achieve this through paraphrasing. However, they should apply this technique sparingly, restricting it to situations which strictly require them to do so to avoid making grammatical errors and mistakes. This means that candidates can leave out some words or use their own words in order to reshape sentences contextually at the same time achieving grammatical accuracy as well as content relevance. Where points are stated explicitly, candidates are encouraged to maintain the same syntactic and grammatical structure of the original sentences.
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