Writing a Summary

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 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.

            This can really be the case against anybody who thinks evil of others. Evil thoughts against others can turn around against the evil thinker.