How to write a summary

Summaries are usually set in paper 2, one of the three examinable English papers in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. It tests the ability of the candidate to reduce a long text to only a few sentences. 

A summary must, therefore, be a shorter version of the original text. The process of shortening, however, must not lose any of the main ideas of the original text. 

Summary is commonly set in question 1, comprehension, but can as well be set in question 2, extract from a compulsory text or even question 3, oral literature or poetry. 

What to observe 

1. Marks allocated for the question i.e 6 marks imply that at least six responses (points)  are needed, each scoring a mark. 

2. Prose-the responses must be combined to form a paragraph made of grammatical and sensible sentences. Do not write in point form because this is punishable. Any candidate writing in point form will score half the mark allocated for that answer. 

3. Proper punctuation, sentence structure and appropriate wording. Avoid using the wrong words and wrong punctuation by going through your final draft. When a candidate writes a word that changes the intended meaning, they score a mark with a glimmer (minus a quarter a mark). The same happens to wrongly punctuated sentences. One glimmer does not count: 2, 4 and 6 will combine to form full marks that will be deducted from the total mark scored. In case of 3,5 or 7, the lone glimmer will be ignored. For example, if a candidate has 5 glimmers, 4 will be combined to give -1 full mark and the fifth will be ignored. 

N/B Weak candidates are advised not to use the fullstop throughout their work. This will help them avoid losing marks through glimmers because their entire paragraphs will be treated as one sentence and will only be glimmered once: only one glimmer is permitted in one sentence regardless of the number of mistakes committed. 

4. Word count-ensure that the number of words used is within the number given

  In not more than 50 words means the total number of words should not exceed 50. The best a candidate can do is writing between 45 and 50 words. writing more than 50  words is not directly punishable but the penalty comes in when some of the candidate's points are not marked because of falling outside the scope that's counted. If the maximum is 50 words as in the above example, all the 10 extra words in an answer with 60 words will not be marked.  

 

On the other hand, 'in about 50 words' gives the candidate an allowance of + or -5 words. Therefore, the candidate should write a maximum of 55 words and a minimum of 45 words. 

6. Repeating an answer. When a candidate rewrites an answer, this answer receives a mark with a zero as a superscript. This mark does not count.  Therefore, candidates should not waste their time repeating an answer. 

contextual example 

Researchers have found that eating a meal with plenty of proteins leaves you feeling more satisfied for longer when compared to a meal loaded with low-qualith carbohydrates. Your body takes longer to digest proteins, leading to a gradual increase in blood sugar. The high protein breakfast will, therefore,  carry you through the morning and more importantly, through your tea break. Many high carbohydrateeals are absorbed quickly and send blood sugar on a roller coaster ride, taking your appetite with it and depleting your energy. 

Question

In not more than 35 words, summarize the effects of eating carbohydrates. (4 marks) 

Marking scheme

a. Raises blood sugar levels 

b. Raises the appetite

c.  Depletes the energy quickly 

d. Makes one feel hungry quickly 

Sample answer

Since carbohydrates are digested quickly, they raise the blood sugar levels pretty fast(1mk). At the same time, they also raise the appetite(1mk). Also, they deplete the energy (1mk) and make one feel hungry quickly(1mk). (32 words) 

N/B: candindtaes should literally count the words and forget this other fallacy of multiplying the number of words in one line by the total number of lines. At the marking centre, examiners usually literally count one word after the other.