Writing a Summary - some suggestions for the relazione sintetica

Practising summary writing for the relazione sintetica at the preselezione should be your primary mission for the moment because you need to pass this and the quiz questions to get through to the scritti. You should practice summaring texts (choose text from 1and a half pages to 3 pages) into Italian (for the preselezione) and in English to improve your English. You have one hour to read and write the summary. Don’t check the words while you do this (You can’t at the preselezione). However, you should check the words carefully after you finish to improve your vocabulary and see what you misunderstood. Don’t work alone, work in a group (See point 2). Read the text and summary again 3 days later. Does it still seem like a good summary? What changes do you want to make now?
 

1)      Read and follow carefully the instructions provided for the relazione sintetica. Make sure you cover the points which are indicated (if there are any) and respect the limits indicated. For example, if the instructions say 20 lines, then logically 10 lines is too little ( a sort of implied criticism of both the author and the person who chose the text) and 30 lines is too much. Since handwriting varies in size perhaps you will not be penalised for writing 21 or 22 lines (but why not write a bit smaller than usual and stay within the limit set and avoid the problem?). Writing 30 lines clearly gives you an advantage in terms of space and a strict examiner may disregard your last 10 lines. 

2)      Time management – with only one hour to read and write you probably won’t have time to write a rough and final copy of your summary. Instead, you can make notes on the text as you are reading and write your summary directly from them. Keep an eye on the time. You really need to practise this problem of ‘timing’ by trying to write a series of summaries in your own time. If you choose the articles with a small group of friends you can compare your summaries later. The 'Snapshot' articles on the Foreign Affairs' website (http://www.foreignaffairs.com/) are good for this and will keep you up to date on what is happening around the world. These articles have already been used twice for the preselezione. You could also use some of the articles from ‘Longitude’ but you should choose the shorter ones.

3)      What’s the main topic of the article? Don’t worry too much about the title if it is from a newspaper or weekly publication. It is often a play on words, or something you can only understand after reading the article (so really a way to get you to read it). Look at the subtitle. It’s usually much clearer and simpler. Read the article. What’s the main issue dealt with. You should state this clearly in your opening sentence.

4)      Maintain the same content and line of thought as the author. Don’t go beyond what he says or offer your own assessment. What are the main points? How many are there? Skim the text for the main ideas and hopefully the structure of the text. Pay particular attention to the key sentences. These are usually the first (or second) sentence of each paragraph.

5)   Don’t be too text-dependent. Summarise in your own words. Don’t borrow whole sentences. There is nearly always a shorter way to say it without changing the meaning. Of course, you can borrow key words and concepts which are fundamental to the argument.

6)   What about details and examples? In general these should be eliminated. However, you may need to think carefully before deciding whether to include some specific piece of information or not. If this information is an unnecessary detail and can be generalised, clearly you should not. However, if it is an important piece of data perhaps you should keep it. For example, the text says “China’s current growth rate is 7.4% (third quarter 2012)”. This may be just a detail to eliminate, or it could be a central point or step in an argument (and thus not a detail).

      You should also eliminate examples unless the ‘example’ is necessary (i.e. the best explanation of the point) for the reader to grasp the concept properly or part of a later point (so not really an example). However, usually you should summarise the meaning of the examples rather than quoting the examples. And again, if you decide to use the example you should not go into detail. What does it demonstrate?

7)      Maintain the same time and knowledge frame as the text (unless specifically invited to otherwise). Do not update recent events or include other things you know. Do not add your own opinion.

8)      Maintain the ‘tone’ of the author. You may want to use ‘the author argues...’ / ‘one party claims...’ / ‘the other side criticises...’ to make it clear to the reader how the author makes his points and the position of the parties involved. However, you can usually only write about 20 lines, so you may not have space for too much of this. If the argument is linear this may not be necessary.

9)      Maintain the same ‘balance’ or ‘stance’ as the author (e.g. between the number of positive and negative considerations) and the same the weight and direction of the author’s conclusions.

10)   Maintain the same level of probability as the author, e.g. will happen/may happen/ might happen/ is likely to happen/is unlikely to happen/ should happen. Don’t be definitive when the text is not. You can also use language like 'It seems that...' or ‘It appears that’ where ideas or events or positions are not presented as definite.

11)      Decide on a logical order for the points – that of the key questions if they have been provided by the examiners, of course, but possibly with more subsections. Hopefully, it is also that of the author in writing the text, but not if the text is badly organized or if the instructions require you to make a radical revision or if you are required to turn one text type into another.

12)      Use appropriate linking words (e.g. Thus, However etc.) where necessary to connect and structure  ideas and sentences so that what you say evolves logically from sentence to sentence.

13)   Finally, try not to be too text-dependent. What does this mean? Well, read your summary again. Ask yourself these questions:

Can I understand it without my having to read the original text again?

Is it clear and logical to me without my having to read the original text again?

Are my sentences simply undigested quotations from the text?

Does the summary have a structure which evolves logically to form a clear argument?

Does it give the reader a clear idea of the main ideas of the original next?

Does it give the reader a clear idea of the position of the author?

14)  Presentation  –  Handwriting? This is probably important to a tired examiner, so make an effort.Can you miss out lines to provide a clear visual structure? Ask the examiner at the preselezione.