Precis Writing:

 Precis Writing:

 

Précis-writing:

 

Precis writing definition:

“A precis is a brief, original summary of the important ideas given in a long selection. Its aim is to give the general effect created by the original selection.” Precis writing is a concise summary that forsakes all unnecessary details (including illustrations, amplifications, and embellishments) in favor of reproducing the logic, development, organization, and emphasis of the original.

Precis 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 the original and in the precis. 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,

Four main pillars of Precis
1. Simple
2. Concise
3. Clear
4. Complete

Elements of Good Precis
1. A good Precis should give leading thoughts and general impression of the passage
summarized.
2. A good Precis should be a continuous and compact piece of prose.
3. A Precis should be clear, concise and complete in sense of original thoughts.
4. The precis should be written from the original author’s point of view, without editorializing.
5. Indirect Speech should be used.
6. 3rd person pronoun should be used and should be in past tense.

A Precis must fulfill the following requirements
1. All Important/relevant Ideas must be included
2. All unimportant/irrelevant ideas must be excluded
3. It must be in the form of a continuous narrative

What should we avoid?

      1. Avoid your own comments and other irrelevancies.

      2. Avoid borrowing sentences and phrases from the original passage.

      3. Avoid emphasizing the wrong points.

      4. Avoid exceeding the prescribed length (1/3). “5 Words could be”

      5. Avoid Bad style of Grammar and Structure.

      6. Avoid redundancies of expression.

      7. Avoid introductory remarks, Illustrations, Examples and side-remarks.

      8. Avoid Informal language.

Method of Precis Writing

1. Reading:

 

First Reading:

(i)    Read every word slowly and carefully until you clearly understand the sense of the passage.

(ii)   Look up all unfamiliar words, phrases, and allusions

(iii)  Identify the dominating idea, the essential thought, of the passage. Ask if this idea were omitted, would the fundamental meaning of the passage be changed?

(iv)  Determine what emphasis and space to give the thought in each section; write a heading for each section.

Second Reading:

(i)   Underscore with a pencil the important facts containing the essential thoughts. This is a process of differentiation between what is essential and what is not. Generally, you will omit examples, illustrations, conversations, and repetitions.

(ii)   Reread your selections to see that they are wise and adequate.

(iii)  Determine if your underscoring expresses the main ideas.

Final Reading:

(i) Rapidly and intensely reread the origin, dwelling on the important facts selected for a precis.

(ii) If you need for more reading, you should read again, The main idea of the passage should be clearly understood by the student.

2. Title:

We must give a striking title to our precis. The title of the precis can be found either in the first Paragraph or sentence or the last last paragraph.

3. Practice is merely important for the students to achieve the goal of good precis.

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 rules of making a precis to make it an effective piece of work.

Rules of Making a Precis

 

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 text.

Outline

With the help of underlined ideas, draw the outline of your précis.

Omission

Omit all the unnecessary information or the long phrases which could be replaced by one word. All the adjectives and the adverbs can also be omitted 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 a direct speech in the passage, it should be changed into indirect speech.

Tense and Person

It should be written in the third person and past tense. In the case of universal truth, the present tense should be used.           

Own Words

A précis should be written in your own words, and the writer should abstain from borrowing words from the original passage.

Précis of a Dialogue

The précis of dialogue or conversation should always be expressed in the form of narrative.

Objective Approach

A précis writer should adopt an objective approach. He should not add his personal ideas to a précis. Put all the important points and ideas in a logical order.

One Paragraph

There could be two or more paragraphs in the original text. While making the précis, try to write all the ideas in one paragraph.

Rough Draft

After omitting all the unnecessary ideas, 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 the final draft.

In order to accomplish this goal, it helps to follow a six-step process:

Things not to be used while writing a PRECIS

1.       Examples in the passage

2.       Stories

3.       Proverbs

4.       Quotations

5.       Idioms

6.       Repetition of similar sentences or ideas

7.       Long phrases

8.       Complex sentences having long clauses

9.       Direct speech

 

 

Do’s of Precis Writing

Start your precis with the main idea so that reader can quickly understand the essence of the precis

He/she will know beforehand as to what should they expect in the written precis

While writing a precis, make a suitable environment where all the points can be described and discussed equally.

As the main idea or the essence is established, you can follow it up with some methods, facts, points, etc

As a precis is concise, compress it and make sure that the length is available for you to retain the important data, keywords, and the concept

Removing the irrelevant data or sentence is as important as writing the relevant points

Thus, identify the superfluous data and facts and keep the core idea of the work only in the precis

If you are mentioning anything related to history or any historical data than make sure that it is written in the past tense only

Also, remember to put the purpose as to why you are writing a precis in the writing piece

This will help the reader understand what you wrote in the precis

Don’ts of Precis Writing

A precis writing is a formal way of writing a shorter form of the given paragraph

So, even though you have read and understood the Precis well, do not form your own opinions

You cannot insert your own remarks and criticism in a precis

Always take the fact and data that is given in the paragraph only

Also, during a precis writing, you cannot insert a question. If for any reason you need to insert make it in the form of a statement.

For a precis writing, avoid using contractions and abbreviations

Write the full form of any given words only

Avoid being jerky. This will show that you have not understood the passage properly and have started writing a precis

How Good a Precis Can Be?

Now that we have understood what things you should do and what things you shouldn’t while doing a precis, let’s understand what a good precis is? That is to say what things should be included for a good precis? A good one should include this rules of precis writing.

1.       It should be precise and clear

2.       A precis writing is not just lifting the words from the original paragraph

3.       It should be written in a precise manner in your own words

4.       It should be a summary or a miniature version of the original paragraph

5.       The precis must be logically connected and should have a good flow of words

6.       It should be coherent and for this, it can use the linking words such as and, because, therefore, etc.

7.       A precis should have an appropriate title and the order ideas need to be original

8.       The details found in the precis must match the details found in the paragraph

When all of these above points are understood and used in a precis, a good precis is bound to be written.

Top 10 Rules for Good Precis Writing

 

1. Decide Theme of the Passage

The main theme of the passage should find out through careful reading and then the main points and ordinary points find out for giving importance. These things are essential for brief and clear presentation of precis.

2. No Reproduction of Important Sentences

The sentences of the original passage cannot be used for precis-writing. Precis-writing is an art of remodeling of sentences without affecting the main theme of the original passage.

3. Have Brevity and Clarity

Brevity is the soul of precis-writing. But, at the same time, clarity should not be given up. Mere deletion or addition of few words of original passage cannot be a precis-writing. Moreover, brevity should not create any ambiguous in the minds of the reader.

4. Reflects the Intelligence of the Precis-writer

The style of language and words used in the precis-writing indicate the intelligence of the precis writer. In other words, the precis-writing preserved the spirit of the original passage with different words and sentences.

5. Use Own Language

The precis-writer should use his/her own language for precis-writing. The writer should not retain any significant phrases or technical terms of the original passage. It means that the writer should use his/her own sentences for precis-writing.

6. Avoid Direct Speech and Use Indirect Speech

The precis-writing is presented in third person point of view. The text of the original passage is presented in direct speech. Now, it is the duty of the precis-writer that he/she should present in indirect speech.

7. The inclusion of Statistical Information

If statistical information is included in the original passage, they can be used in the precis-writing for maintaining quality. If statistical information is excluded, it affects the very purpose of precis-writing and conveys a different meaning.

8. Observe Proportion

Original passage is divided into many parts. Each part is dealt with according to importance but not according to length. In this way, the objectives of precis-writing are achieved.

9. No Comments but Conclusion

The precis-writer need not give any comments over the original passage but should give conclusion. It means that the precis-writer need not evaluate the mind of the author but interpret the original passage in a meaningful way.

10. One-third of Original Passage

It is the general practice that the length of precis-writing should be one-third of original passage. If so, reader can get full information and do his/her job very effectively.

 

Uses of precis-writing:

 

 

1). precis-writing is a very fine exercise in reading, most people read carelessly, and retain only the vague idea of what they have read. You can easily test the value of your reading. Read in your usual way a chapter, or even a page, of the book and then, having closed the book tries to put down briefly the substance of what you have just read. You will probably find that memory of it is hazy and muddled. Is this because your memory is weak? No; it is because your attention was not fully centered on the passage while you were reading it. 

The memory cannot retain what was never given it to hold; You did not remember the passage properly because you did not properly grasp it as you read it.

 

Now precis-writing force you to pay attention to what you read; For no one can write a summary of and passage unless he has clearly grasped its meaning. So summarizing is excellent training in the concentration of attention. 

It teaches one to read with the mind, as well as with the eye, on the page.

 

2). precis writing is also a very good exercise in writing a composition. 

It teaches one how to express one’s thoughts clearly, concisely and effectively. it is splendid corrective of the common tendency to vague and disorderly thinking and loose and diffuse writing. 

Have you noticed how an uneducated person tells a story? he repeats himself, brings in a lot of irrelevant matter, omits to from its proper placed what is essentially a drags it in later as an after-thought, and takes twenty minutes to say what a trained thinker would express in five. 

The whole effects are muddled and tedious. In a precis you have to work within strict limits, You must express a certain meaning in a fixed number of words. 

So you learn to choose your words carefully, to construct your sentences with an eye to fullness combined with brevity, and to put your matter in a strictly logical order.

3). So practice in precis-writing is of great value for practical life. in any position of life ability to grasp quickly and accurately what is read, or heard and reproduce it clearly and concisely means, is of the utmost value. for lawyers, businessman, and government officials it is essential. 

METHOD OF PROCEDURE:

you must make up your mind from the beginning that precis-writing means intensive brain work. There is no easy shortcut to summarizing a passage. To tear the hurt out of passage means concentrated thought, and you must be prepared for close attention and hard thinking.

1) READING: 

(A) First read the passage through carefully, but not too slowly, to get a general idea of its meaning. If one reading is not sufficient to give you this clearly, read it over again, and yet again. 

The more you read it, The more familiar will it become to you, and the clearer be its subjects, and what is said about that subject. 

Ask your self “what is it I am reading? what does the author mean? what is his subject? what is he saying about it? Can I put in a few words the pith of what he says”?

(B) usually, you are required to supply a title for your precis. This is a good stage at which o do this. 

Think of some word, phrase or short sentences that will sum up briefly the main subject of the passage. Sometimes this is supplied by what we may call a key-sentence. 

 

This key-sentence may be found at the beginning or at the end of the passage. 

(C) Further reading is now necessary to ensure that you understand the details of the passage as well as its main purport. Take it now sentence by sentence, and word by word. If the meaning of any word is not clear, look them up in a dictionary. 

Detailed study of this kind is necessary, because a phrase, sentence,  or even a single word, may be of prime importance, and the misunderstanding of it may cause you to miss the whole point of the passage.

2) WRITING:

(A) ROUGH DRAFTS:

You should now be ready to attempt the writing of the precis, but be sure of the limits within which it must be compressed. 

If the numbered of words is given you, this is easy: but if you are told to reduce the passage to say, a third of its length, count the number of words in the passage and divide by three. 

The draft will probably be too long. In fact, you may have to write out several drafts before you find to express the gist of the passage fully within the limits set.

(B) IMPORTANT POINTS:

 1) The precis should be all in your own words.

2) The precis must be a connected whole.

3) The precis must be complete and self-contained.

4) it is only the gist, main purport, or general meaning of the passage which you have to express.

5) The precis must be in simple, direct grammatical and idiomatic English.

(C) THE ART OF COMPRESSION:

you are not bound to follow the original order of thought to the passage to be summarized if you can express its meaning more clearly and concisely by transposing any of its parts.

3) REVISION:

 when you have made your final draft, carefully revise it before you write out the fair copy. Be sure that its length is within the limits prescribed. Compare it with the original to see that you have not omitted an important point. 

See whether it reads well as a connected whole, and correct any mistakes in spelling and punctuation, grammar and idiom.

Then write out the fair copy neatly. prefixing the title, you have chosen.

·         Characteristic and Rules of precis

·         Characteristic of precis

·         Some characteristics of precis are given below:

 

 

Conciseness:

This is the quality which gives the precis its name because precis is written for the purpose of conciseness. The writer should compress the main message in the fewest possible words without any vagueness.

Clearness:

A good precis is always easy to understand therefore the writer should write it in simple and clear words. The basic aim of the precis writing is to convey the main theme of the passage across the reader so in order to achieve this aim the writer should read the passage twice and thrice for clear and vivid understanding.

Coherence:

There is a coherence in a good precis. It means that each part must be related to other parts. In order to achieve the quality of coherence, words are combined with the help of, however, similarly, finally etc.

Completeness:

An incomplete passage could not be called a precis. A good precis contains all the important points. The writer should ensure if all the important ideas are included in the precis.

Correctness:

A good precis is correct in every aspect. An error of any type just like grammar, punctuation, and spelling is not included in a good precis.

Faithful Presentation:

An excellent precis is always the reflection of the original idea. The writer does not include his own thoughts or ideas in it.

Length:

A good precis is almost one-third of the original passage. Therefore the writer excludes all the unnecessary details from his precis.

Outdated Words:

In good precis, there is no place for outdated words and phrases. The writer takes maximum care to use current vocabulary.

Write in  Own Words:

The writer of a precis does not borrow words from the original passage. He expresses everything by using his own words and idioms to short it.

Grammar:

A good precis is always written in indirect speech. There is no mistake of grammar in it. The passage may be written in present or past tense. The use of idioms is also very useful.

Punctuation:

The use of punctuation makes the precis easy to understand. Therefore the writer should use these wherever necessary.

Rules of Precis Writing

Some rules of precis writing are given below:

Careful Reading:

The first step toward making a precis is to read the original passage very carefully. Of course, reading the passage once is not enough. A second reading will give you a clear idea o what is required to be summarized.

Understanding Main Points:

The reader should underline all-important idea or key sentences in the passage and omit all the rest.

Make A Rough Draft:

write all these important ideas in a sequence it will become the first rough draft of your precis.

Order Can Be Change:

The Order of the main idea can be changed it is permissible to re-arrange the ideas in the order that writers think better.

One Paragraph:

A precis is written in the shape of a paragraph, not in loose sentences.

Final Draft:

In the end, you should re-read and check if there is anything missing. If the precis exceeds its limits, you should revise it and exclude the unimportant points.

Some More Rules of Precis Writing:

 

·         Not to be confused with paraphrasing

·         The language should be clear, brief and precis

·         It should be written in short sentences

·         Logically connected

·         No extra information

·         The inclusion of essential ideas, and omission of non-essentials.

Rhetorical Précis Worksheet

A rhetorical précis differs from a summary in that it is a less neutral, more analytical condensation of both the content and method of the original text. If you think of a summary as primarily a brief representation of what a text says, then you might think of the rhetorical précis as a brief representation of what a text both says and does. Although less common than a summary, a rhetorical précis is a particularly useful way to sum up your understanding of how a text works rhetorically. 

 

The Structure of a Rhetorical Précis

Sentence One: Name of the author, genre, and title of work, date in parentheses; a rhetorically active verb; and a THAT clause containing the major assertion or thesis in the text.

 

Sentence Two: An explanation of how the author develops and supports the thesis.

 

Sentence Three: A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an “in order to” phrase.

 

Sentence Four: A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience. 

Précis Writing Worksheet

 

Sentence 1 – What is the author doing?

 

_________________________________, __________________________________________________,

author                                                     phrase describing author

 

in _________________________________________________________________________(________)

                                                                                title                                                                                                          date

 

____________________ that ____________________________________________________________

power verb                                                                               thesis (quote, if possible, with page #, if necessary)

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________.

 

 

 

Sentence 2 – How is the author doing this?

 

____________________________   _____________________________________________________  

Author’s last name                                    another power verb (phrase)                     

 

__________________________________________________________________________________ by

                what he/she is doing

 

___________________________________________________________________________________,

first argument he/she makes with example(s)

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________________________,

second argument he/she makes with example(s)

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

and _______________________________________________________________________________.

third argument he/she makes with example(s)

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Third Sentence – Why does the author do this?

 

He / She _____________________________________________________________________________

Summary of your argument – what he/she is doing and how

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

in order to ___________________________________________________________________________

Why you think he or she is doing this – what is his or her purpose?  Provide evidence.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________________________.

 

 

 

Fourth Sentence – For whom is the author doing this?

 

______________________ is ________________________   ____________________________  

Author’s last name                    adverb describing tone                                              verb describing tone

 

________________________________________________________________ because he / she

audience

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

How do you know that this is the audience?  Provide evidence.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

__________________________________________________________________________________.