Gathering information: deciding on main ideas

To gather information for your target precis, read the passage al second time selecting the major points (important ideas) of the source text.

Summarizing, or precis writing, involves critical thinking. An important! I critical thinking skill in writing a precis is analyzing-ideas to determine their relationships.

The purpose of an abstract is to provide a short account of a longer piece of writing while retaining its essential meaning. To accomplish this purpose, only the main ideas of the original article must be included while unimportant details, examples must be left out.

You must analyze the material to decide what is important and decide if a detail is an essential point or one that can be left out.

To begin analyzing relationships among ideas, identify the genera topic of the article. The topic is the most general statement that you can make when asked, "What is this article about?" Next, locate the main ideas, the most important points the author makes about the topic. Finally, identify supporting ideas, or details, which may describe explain, exemplify, or support main ideas.

Your precis should include all the main ideas in an article, as well as the most important supporting details. To evaluate the importance о details, think of topic, main idea, and supporting details as occupying different levels on a branching, or tree, diagram. At the top of the diagram is the topic. The main ideas, branching from the topic, are on the second level. The third level consists of details about the main ideas. A fourth level includes details about third-level details, and so on. Note that you have arranged topic, main ideas, and supporting details in descending order, from the most general to the most specific.

As details become more and more specific, as they occupy lower and lower levels, they become less important to understanding the main points in the article. In writing an abstract your goal is to cover only the most important points. As a general rule, include one point for each full paragraph.

Note that all the sentences in a paragraph make one main idea clear. This main idea is often stated in a single sentence (topic sentence) which controls the whole paragraph; ail the other sentences develop the idea it expresses. The topic sentence often comes at the beginning of a paragraph, it may, however appear elsewhere. In some paragraphs, especially long ones, a concluding sentence (clincher sentence) relates the main idea or summarizes the information given.

Read the introductory paragraph slowly and thoughtfully, since the whole point of the article is often expressed there in a general way.

Read the final paragraph in this manner also for it often sums up the article’s main ideas. Subtitles or headings within the article also identify main ideas.

Omit supporting details, descriptions, or examples that are not critical to the main point; also leave out introductory or concluding details, Enclose in square brackets [...] those parts of the original selection which have to be left out in the translation process.

Remember that only the most essential points — key words, key points included in headings or in boldfaced type — should show up in the target language precis. Include only the main ideas and important supporting details. You may also include important illustrations, figures, indicating the place in the precis where they should be inserted.