Imagine you’re reading a long, captivating novel, filled with intricate plot twists, rich characters, and layers of meaning like “The Gods Are Not to Blame” by Ola Rotimi. As much as you’d love to share the story with a friend, you know they won’t have the time to read the entire book. So, what do you do? You carefully distill the essence of the novel, capturing its core message and the most compelling details, all while keeping your friend’s interest. This, in a nutshell, is the art of writing a précis.
Precis writing is a type of summary writing that focuses on the main points of a text. It is typically used to summarize articles, essays, or other long pieces of writing. This form of writing can be helpful for students who need to learn how to synthesize information, and it can also be useful for professionals who want to quickly get a sense of the main points of a document.
In this article, we shall discuss in detail, how to write a precis, the Dos and Don’ts, followed by some sample precis writing examples and questions.
What is Precis Writing?
A precis writing is a gist of any passage in as few words as possible. It summarises comprehension in limited words, covering all the important aspects and details of the passage given.
When writing a precis, it’s vital to remain objective and focus on the main elements of the passage. Read the paragraph attentively to determine what is important in an article or story. It may take some time to read it the first time, but as you continue, subsequent readings may be as simple as skimming the pages. To transmit the same idea in smaller form, precise writing necessitates a thorough comprehension of the tale or text.
Rules of Precis Writing
To avoid making any errors in writing a precis, follow a set of rules as mentioned below:
- Read the comprehension thoroughly
- Write the important points
- Make a rough draft of the precis
- Write in simple and precise language, as much as possible
- Draft the final precis once all the points have been included
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What Makes A Good Precis Writing?
Precis writing is all about condensing a passage or paragraph into fewer words. It focuses on the core topic of the passage or paragraph and prevents you from adding your own thoughts and ideas to it.
Precise writing must be brief and concise to express everything in as few words as possible, as opposed to a standard summary, which is typically longer.
When writing a precis, you should keep the following in mind:
- Focus on the major points of the passage or paragraph. Do not include any of your thoughts and opinions.
- Keep it concise and crisp, communicating everything with as few words as possible.
- Ensure that the precis provides an accurate summary of the original content.
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How to Write a Precis in 6 Steps
Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to write a precis in 6 steps:
Step 1: Pick the article, work, or story you will write a precis on
Unless you were assigned to write your precis on some specific material, you will have to choose the original piece yourself. In this case, be sure to choose an article or work that is publicly available in its full length, so that you can read the whole thing.
Take notes while reading to capture the relevant information presented by the author. One of the most important aspects of a précis is identifying the key concepts and arguments that are crucial to the author’s thesis.
A smart way to start is to write down everything you think is essential as you read. In the next phase, you’ll learn how to determine which information is critical, but for now, just make a note of everything that appears relevant.
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The purpose of your précis is to gather and summarize the author’s most important information.
Remember: you’re looking for the most important information in the text. Your reader does not have to view every piece of evidence or data. If they desired that, they would just read the original text.
Step 3: Re-read it and take notes
Go back to the original piece after you’ve already read it and grasped the general idea. Now, your goal is to interpret the author’s core ideas—take notes.
Once you’ve understood the author’s main points and ideas, write them down in a paragraph. Keep them in the order they’re presented within the original text.
Here’s the tough part: you must be able to rewrite the author’s points without copying them directly. You are not paraphrasing; rather, you are re-stating them in the same language, tone, and style as the original author. This will not be as tough as totally understanding and presenting material in different words, but it can be challenging to get the terminology correct.
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Step 4: Connect the ideas
Remember, you’re not adding any new ideas here. Your précis is meant to summarize the information from a text. Therefore, after you’ve extracted the essential information from your text and re-worded it into paragraph form, you can connect the points together with transition words to fill in the gaps.
Step 5: Write the precis
When writing a precis, ensure you follow your professor’s guidelines and the outline you have. Use simple language and structure, and keep an eye on the size of your precis.
Step 6: Proofreading and editing
Finally, check your draft for any mistakes—including punctuation, grammar, style, and any other errors. Carefully polish it until it looks good.
With any good assignment comes the important editing step, and précis writing is no different. You should never hand in the first draft of your work. At the very least, you should be running it through spell check software such as Grammarly, leaving it and coming back to it later with fresh eyes, and reading it out loud to see how it sounds.
If your précis is worth a significant portion of your grade, it won’t hurt you to hire a professional summary writer to give you an expert touch and ensure the work is up to standard.
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Common Mistakes To Avoid While Writing A Precis
Here are a few mistakes you must avoid when writing a precis:
- When writing a precis summary, it is important to read the text carefully and identify its main points.
- The next step is to focus on the main points of the text while avoiding including any irrelevant information. In a precis, you need to write a concise summary that accurately reflects the main points of the text.
- Always avoid re-writing or summarizing the entire text, and ensure that you include only the necessary details in your precise summary.
- Making the summary longer than the original text. This defeats the purpose of writing a precis
Sample of Precis Writing
Here is an example of precis writing with a solution:
Sample 1
“The internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and access information. With the click of a button, we can connect with people around the world, share ideas, and stay informed about current events. This instant access to vast amounts of information has both positive and negative implications. On the positive side, it allows for unprecedented global connectivity and the democratization of knowledge. However, it also raises concerns about privacy, misinformation, and the potential for online abuse. As we navigate this digital age, it is essential to strike a balance between the benefits and challenges posed by the internet.”
Precis
“The internet’s transformative impact on communication and information retrieval is evident. Instant global connectivity and knowledge democratization are positive outcomes, yet concerns arise regarding privacy, misinformation, and online abuse. Striking a balance between the benefits and challenges of the digital age becomes crucial.”
FAQs On Precis Writing
The main point of writing a precis is to read the passage carefully to summarise it.
Precis Writing is a summarized gist of any passage in as few words as possible. A precis should mention all important details of the original paragraph so that anyone who is reading it can understand the idea of the original passage.
Yes, you are supposed to give a title to the precis. It conveys the core idea of the passage.
The length of a précis varies greatly. A precis can be 100 to 200 words or approximately one-fifth to one-sixth of the length of the original comprehension.
Conclusion
The purpose of precis writing is to summarize a text in approximately 100 words. This technique can be applied to any sort of writing, including articles and book chapters. With the help of this blog post, you should now have all of the resources you need to write an amazing precis.
We hope that by reading this information and following our advice, students can become more confident writers capable of completing their tasks promptly and stress-free!
References
- leverageedu.com – Precis Writing
- unacademy.com – Do’s and Don’ts of Precis writing
- homeworkhelpglobal.com – How to Write a Précis: Everything You Need to Know to Ace Your Assignment
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