Expository Summary

All About Expository TextExpository text makes up the bulk of what we read.

Expository texts include essays, speeches, lab procedures, journals, government documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and directions, among other things.

While each type of text shares certain characteristics with the others, they each make their own demands on the reader through the unique use of structure, devices, features, and conventions.

Students must know how to read each type as they encounter it if they are to read them successfully.

Why Summarize?Summarizing is a comprehension device that allows a reader of any type of text, specifically texts of expository nature, to explain what information was read and understood.If a reader can accurately and effectively summarize what was read through verbalization or written expression, then it is assumed that the reader comprehended the text.

Expository Summary Essentials

An expository summary must include the following:

Main ideaSupporting DetailsConcluding Sentence

Main IdeaThe main idea of a summary of an expository text should include the following:

Title of textAuthor of textBasic idea of the entire piece; What is it that the author trying to tell the audience?General information about the structure of the text (compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, sequential/descriptive, process/how-to)

Supporting Details

Supporting details should do just that; support the main idea of the text. Be sure to include only the most important information from the text in this part of your summary, eliminating any details that the reader doesn’t need to know in order to comprehend the text. Supporting details must include the following:

Quotes/examples directly from the textParaphrased information from the textAuthor’s attitude/opinion/perspective toward the topic (bias, supports, against)Author’s purpose for writing the textSentences that explain the topic

Concluding Sentence

Brings the summary to a close:Re-state the main ideaRefer to the author again by last nameFurther suggestions/questions to ponder presented by the author; not by youRemind the reader of the author’s purposeMake the reader feel like the paragraph is completeDo not introduce any new topics