Writing a good summary
What is a summary?
A summary, also
called a precis, is an expository form of writing that is a product of careful
digesting of a long piece of written composition.
For the summary of a short
story/drama
A short story is a narrative
prose fiction of a series of events revolving around one conflict stirred up
internally or externally in or among the characters who are made to portray a
role or roles in a built u place and time as told or shown by a narrator in
order to bring home a message.
Elements
1.Setting- place and time of the
story
2.Character- the life giving element
of the story
3.Characterization
Whatever the character is, it is projected in a story through its
physical, mental, and emotional disposition.
4.Plot- known as the arrangement
of events in the story
Exposition-initial
action-rising action-climax-falling action- ending
5.Theme- the overall message of
the story
6.Point of view-this element serves as
the storyteller
a. The author as point of view-the author telling the story may
do it from the “I” stance.
1) first person point of view
2) third person point of view
3) all-knowing point of view
b. The major character as the point of view- a story is told by
the character made by the author as a major one
1.The minor character as the point of view-a story is told by the
character made by the author as a minor one.
For a summary of a short
story
1.Get a subject short story/drama
2.Scan the short story/drama for its unfamiliar words and overcome your
problem in meaning about them
3.Read the short story/drama thoroughly for its essence in general
4.Read the short story/drama for its content
5.Write the summary with a beginning, body and ending
a. the beginning- the beginning of a summary generally comes as
the general statement of the essence of the short story or drama.
b. the body- this part gives the elements and their
respective presentation and discussion in a capsulated form.
c. the ending-this part winds up the short story by stating that
the details given are those that are t here to it in its title
Processing a short story
for a summary
1.Getting a subject/short story
The Unicorn in The Garden
James Thurber
Once upon a sunny morning a man who sat in a breakfast nook
looked up from his scrambled eggs to see white unicorn with a golden horn
quietly cropping the roses in the garden. The man went up to the bedroom where
his wife was still asleep and woke her. “There's a unicorn in the garden,” he
said, but she turned her back on him. The man walked slowly downstairs and out
into the garden. The unicorn was still there, he was now browsing among the
tulips. “Here, unicorn, said the man, and he puffed up a lily and gave it to
him. The unicorn ate it gravely. With a high heart, because there was a unicorn
in his garden, the man went upstairs and roused his wife again. “The unicorn,”
he said, “ate a lily.” His wife sat up in bed and looked at him, coldly. “You
are a booby,” she said, “and I am going
to have you put in the booby-hatch”. The
man, who had never liked the words “booby” and “booby-hatch,” and who liked
them even less on a shining morning when there was a unicorn in the garden,
thought for a moment. “We'll see about that,” he said. He walked over to the
door. “He has a golden horn in the middle of his forehead,” he told her. Then
he went back to the garden to watch the
unicorn; but the unicorn had gone away. The man sat down among the roses and
went to sleep.
As soon as the husband had gone out of the house, the wife got
up and dressed as fast as she could. She was very excited and there was a gloat
in her eye. She telephoned the police and she telephoned the psychiatrist; she
told them to hurry to her house and bring a strait-jacket. When the police and
the psychiatrist arrived, they sat down on the stairs and looked at her, with
great interest. “My husband,” she said, “saw a unicorn this morning. “ The
police looked at the psychiatrist and the psychiatrist looked at the police.
“He told me it had a golden horn in the middle of its forehead,” she said. At a
solemn signal from the psychiatrist, the police leaped from their chairs and
seized the wife. They had a hard time subduing her, for she put up a terrific
struggle, but they finally subdued her. Just as they got her into the
strait-jacket, the husband came back into the house.
“Did you tell your wife you saw a unicorn?” asked the police.
“Of course not, said the husband. “The unicorn is a mythical beast.” “That's
all I wanted to know,” said the psychiatrist. “Take her away. I'm sorry sir,
but your wife is as crazy as a jay bird.” So they took her away cursing and
screaming and shut her up in an institution. The husband lived happily ever
after.
2.Scanning the story for its unfamiliar words and overcoming your problem
in meaning about them
a. nook -corner
b. unicorn -a fabulous horselike animal with one
horn
c. browsing - feeding on grasses, leaves
d. booby - a dull fellow
e. booby hatch - an asylum for insane
f. gloat - look with cruel or triumphant
satisfaction
g. strait-jacket - a tight jacket of strong canvas for confining
the arms of violent mental patients or prisoners
h. jay bird - a small crowlike bird, usually
brilliant coloring
3. Reading the short story
thoroughly for its essence in general
“ Unicorn in the Garden”
is a short story about what a unicorn in the garden one sunny morning did to a
couple, two characters of the short story.
4. Reading the short story
for its content
a. its setting
The place is in a breakfast nook- in the garden- to the
bedroom- downstairs and out in the garden- upstairs- over to the door- back to
the garden among the roses- back to the door- then to the house.
The time is one sunny morning.
b. its characters
1. unicorn 2. a man 3.
a wife 4. a police, and 5. psychiatrist
c. its characterization
1.The unicorn is white and with golden horn in its forehead. At
first it was cropping the roses in the garden, then it was browsing among the
tulips. Then the man gave it a lily, it ate the said flower gravely.
2.The man is the husband. He said that he saw a unicorn in the garden
while he was having his scrambled eggs breakfast. This he relayed to his wife,
but when the police and the psychiatrist asked him about it, he said that it is
not true because the unicorn is but a mythical beast.
3.The woman is the wife. She was still asleep hen her husband saw the
unicorn. When she was awakened by her husband because of the unicorn, she did
not like it. This made her call her husband a booby that she would cause to be
placed in a booby hatch.
4.The police is the authority who responded quickly to the call for help
of the wife.
5.The psychiatrist is the professional who, in coordination with the
police, also responded quickly to the call for help of the wife.
d. the plot
It appeared that the husband saw a white unicorn with a golden
horn in the middle of his forehead as this was cropping some roses in the
garden. He was taking his breakfast then, alone, because his wife was still
sleeping in the bedroom. When he saw the unicorn, he went to his wife to tell her
about it. But she just turned her back on him. He persisted though because at
first that she did not mind him, he went down to the garden and there he truly
saw the unicorn, that time browsing among the tulips. And then he gave him a
lily, this ate the said flower gravely. Because of his persistence, she grew
agitated to the point of calling him a “booby” and even told him that she would
have him put in a booby-hatch. He did not like such words. He left her with his
words, “We'll see about that” and went
down to the garden where he sat down
among the roses and went to sleep. The wife, on the other hand, jumped out of
bed, dressed up fast and called up the police and a psychiatrist and requested
them to hurry to their house and bring with them a strait-jacket. The police
and the psychiatrist responded immediately, but when they got to their house
and she started reporting to them about the unicorn her husband saw in the
garden, they suspected her sanity. They leaped over her and got her into the
strait-jacket. Just as this was so, the husband came up and saw her, but he did
not care at all. In fact, when the police asked him, “Did you tell your wife
you saw a unicorn?” he denied it. This denial made him believe that they were
right in getting her into the strait-jacket and putting her in an institution
because she is as crazy as a jay bird.
e. its point of view
the author
f. its theme
Evil thoughts against others can turn around against the evil
thinker. This can really be a case against anybody who thinks evil of others.
5. Writing the summary
with a beginning, body and ending
a. the beginning
“Unicorn in the Garden” is a short story about what a unicorn
in the garden one sunny morning did to a couple, two characters of the short
story.
b. the body
It appeared that the husband saw a white unicorn with a golden
horn in the middle of his forehead as this was cropping some roses in the
garden. He was taking his breakfast then, alone, because his wife was still
sleeping in the bedroom. When he saw the unicorn, he went to his wife to tell
her about it. But she just turned her back on him. He persisted though because
at first that she did not mind him, he went down to the garden and there he
truly saw the unicorn, that time browsing among the tulips. And then he gave
him a lily, this ate the said flower gravely. Because of his persistence, she
grew agitated to the point of calling him a “booby” and even told him that she
would have him put in a booby-hatch. He did not like such words. He left her with
his words, “We'll see about that” and
went down to the garden where he sat
down among the roses and went to sleep. The wife, on the other hand, jumped out
of bed, dressed up fast and called up the police and a psychiatrist and
requested them to hurry to their house and bring with them a strait-jacket. The
police and the psychiatrist responded immediately, but when they got to their
house and she started reporting to them about the unicorn her husband saw in
the garden, they suspected her sanity. They leaped over her and got her into
the strait-jacket. Just as this was so, the husband came up and saw her, but he
did not care at all. In fact, when the police asked him, “Did you tell your
wife you saw a unicorn?” he denied it. This denial made him believe that they
were right in getting her into the strait-jacket and putting her in an
institution because she is as crazy as a jay bird.
c. the ending
This can really be the case against anybody who thinks evil of
others. Evil thoughts against others can turn around against the evil thinker.
Putting all of these
together
“Unicorn in the Garden” is a short story about what a unicorn
in the garden one sunny morning did to a couple, two characters of the short
story.
It appeared that the husband saw a white unicorn with a golden
horn in the middle of his forehead as
