PRECIS WRITING:
Précis writing is a basic and very useful skill. It has been
variously referred to as "abbreviations”, "subtraction”, "abstract”,
"summary" and "condensation". The French give the name
"précis"-the pruning away of all that is inessential.
DEFINITION OF PRECIS WRITING:
A précis is a brief, original summary of the important ideas
given in a long selection. Its aim is to give the general effect created by
original section. It is concise and lucid summary that forsakes all unnecessary
details (including illustrations, amplifications, and embellishments) in a
favor of reproducing the logic, development, organization, and emphasis of the
original. Retaining the substance of fuller statements, it seeks to articulate other
author’s thoughts by extraction the maximum amount of information and carefully
conveying. It is the minimum numbers of words.
THE PURPOSE OF PRECIS WRITING:
Précis writing aims at intelligent reading and clear
accurate writing. It is a skill of both analysis and genesis that critically
questions every thought included and excluded. Each word used to express those thoughts
and the proportions and arrangements of those thoughts-both in original and in
the précis. In its exaction it mercilessly reveals an author's wordiness and
looseness or thinness of thought and construction. It should strengthen our
style, our sense of proportion and emphasis, and our sensitivity to word
meanings and an author's viewpoint.
GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL PRECIS WRITING:
1) Understand the essential facts or dominating idea of the
passage
2) In your opening sentence express what the passage trends
to show.
3) With a few sentences as possible enlarge on the essential
shown in the opening sentence.
4) Summarize only what the author says; do not add your own
opinions.
5) As far as possible, use your own words
6) Ask whether the précis is clear to one who has not seen
the original.
METHOD OF PRECIS WRITING:
"It will be well to remember the object of précis
writing: a brief and clear summary-or précis-of what you have first carefully
read. No words, phrases, clauses, or sentences which are unessential to the
thought of the selection are considered. Every unnecessary word is discarded
until all that you have left in thought, the dominating ideas, of what you have
read. Then in your own words, give this thought as briefly and clearly as
possible. Your sentences must be carefully constructed. Do not omit any
essential articles, prepositions, or conjunctions."
HOW TO WRITE A PRECIS:
FIRST READING:
1) Read every word slowly and carefully until you clearly
understand the sense of the passage.
2) Look up all unfamiliar words, phrases and allusions.
3) Identify the dominating ideas, the essential thoughts of
the passage .Ask if this idea were omitted, would the fundamental meaning of
the passage be changed?
4) Determine what emphasis and space to give the thought in
each section: write a heading for each section.
SECOND READING:
1) Underscore with a pencil the important facts containing
the essential thoughts. This is the process of differentiation between what is
essential and what is not. Generally you will omit examples, illustrations,
conversation and repetitions.
2) Reread your selections to see that they are wide and
adequate.
3) Determine if your underscoring expresses the main ideas.
FINAL READING:
Rapidly and intensely reread the origin, dwelling on the
important facts selected for a précis.
RULES OF MAKING A PRECIS:
A well written précis should be a serviceable substitute for
the original work. The goal of a précis is to preserve the core essence of the
work in a manner that is both clear and concise. While writing a précis, the
writer should follow the below given rules to make it an effective piece of
work.
READ CAREFULLY:
First read the passage twice or thrice carefully to
summarize it. This will enable you to understand the main theme of the passage.
UNDERLINING:
Underline and mark the important ideas and essential points
from the original texts.
OUTLINE:
With the help of underlined ideas, draw the outline of your
précis.
OMISSION:
Omit all the unnecessary information or tithe long phrases
which could be replaced by one word. All the adjectives and adverbs can also be
omitted in order to make a good précis.
DON'T OMIT:
While making a précis, the writer should never omit the
important points and ideas which are essential to be described.
SIZE:
Keep the fact in your mind that the length of the précis
should be the one third of the original passage.
INDIRECT SPEECH:
A précis should be written in indirect speech. If there is
direct speech in a passage, it should be changed into indirect speech.
TENSE AND PERSON:
It should be written in a third person and a past tense. In
case of universal truth the present tense should be used.
OWN WORDS:
A précis should be written in your own words and writer
should abstain from borrowing words from original passage.
OBJECTIVE APPROACH:
A précis writer should adopt an objective approach. He
should not add his personal ideas to the précis. Put all the important points
and ideas in a logical order.
ONE PARAGRAPH:
There should be two of more paragraphs in an original text.
While making a précis, write all the ideas in one paragraph.
ROUGH DRAFT:
After omitting all the unnecessary idea, the writer should
prepare a rough draft to finalize it.
FINAL DRAFT:
Having read the rough draft and pointed out some mistakes
which may be found in the rough draft, the writer can prepare a final draft.
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