Summary and synthesis

Both terms refer to reducing a text to main or more important ideas. Although there is a difference between these terms since the text is not changed in the summary , it is written literally, the information is only reduced by cutting out what is written.

In the synthesis, the summary is simplified and written with the own words and with the main ideas, giving the own interpretation and with greater depth of the text. It follows from this that in the synthesis there is a greater intellectual process, with greater elaboration and in the synthesis , instead, what stand out are the main ideas. The abstract is instead a short exposition using the same main paragraphs of the author without expressing an opinion.

What is a summary:

Brief and concise exposition of the content of a text or even a speech, or of the phases of an event.

Characteristics of an abstract

A summary must have the following characteristics:
* It must be precise, clear and concrete . The main ideas are used with the same words.
* The parts of the summary should be organized in such a way as to relate the main ideas.
* It should cover the main ideas of the text to be summarized. While the secondary is discarded.
* The author does not express personal opinions.
* Its length must not exceed the length of the original text.

How does a summary

Why is it so important and so difficult to make a good summary? Because the abstract shows your level of understanding of the text and tests your ability to communicate it to potential readers. The difficulty is always the same: you run the risk of including too much information or, on the other hand, of summarizing too much. Our guide will show you the best and fastest way to write a summary that will leave the teacher amazed. It is a way to study well and fast! Here are our tips for quickly writing a perfect summary!

* Make the division into sequences . During the first reading of the text, divide it into sequences. Always do the division into sequences during the first reading, to summarize more quickly. So make sure you understand the text in each part.
* Deep reading . Then proceed with a useful reading to identify the argumentative cores of the text and the evidence with visual indicators. You will need this reading to understand the tone and style of the author.
* Active reading.The second reading is the active reading phase. Emphasize the main sentences of the text and read the important concepts in the margins. “Erase” the details and concepts that you consider superfluous for your. The first three phases may seem long and boring, but you will find that with a little training, reading and re-reading the text will become child’s play, taking very little time. If you use speed reading techniques, you can also summarize the former in a single operation.
* Make a stopover.Once we have divided the text to be summarized and identified what we want to insert in our summaries and what information to remove, we move on to writing the alignment that will serve as our guide. Thanks to the previous steps, drawing a scale will be very easy: it will be enough to develop our notes in the margins, or summarize the sentences that we have underlined in the text.
* Organize how to make a summary. Your general plan. At this point, re-read the alignment. Do you think there are holes? Are you clear about the logical links between one point and another in the alignment? Getting a good alignment is essential to making a good summary, once it has been corrected and improved, your overall plan is ready and you can get down to writing the perfect summary.
* Write the summary.Going from alignment to summary is very simple. Develop each step of the alignment and make sure each core is well developed and linked with the proper linguistic tools (time markers, prepositions, etc.) to the one before and the next.

Tips for summarizing

Here are some tips to make a good summary
* Use the same verb tense used by the author (unless the task instructions ask you to do otherwise)
* Try to produce a text that contains at least 70% of the information. n in the source text
* If you mention the author, use quotation marks.
* Do not enter your opinion, the summary is a task that does not require criticism or comment.
* Correct the abstract . Like any other written assignment, the abstract must be read and corrected before it is submitted.
* Check the veracity of the statements of the text, their coherence with what the author wrote and the presence of spelling and grammatical errors.

What is a synthesis:

Reduction of a set of logical elements or objective data of a text . In this case, the synthesis is done with the words themselves, so that the person who performs it writes his or her interpretation of the text in a reduced way.

Characteristics of a synthesis

Syntheses can be used as a summary of content to precede or be at the end of, for example, a Thesis, a Degree Project. It can also be a literary synthesis at the beginning of a work.

A synthesis must have the following characteristics:

* Must be objective and synthetic syntheses.
* The author of a synthesis is free to interpret and expand the concepts. The important thing is that it is original, with its own style.
* Preferably when writing, use the third person.
* The text should contain all the main ideas used in a logical way.
* Moderate use of adjectives.
* That it is an understandable text both for the one who made the synthesis and for the one who reads without having read the original text.

How to make a synthesis

* The first step is to orient yourself in the subject to have a global vision of the scope of the investigation. It also includes the preparation of a list of keywords that will serve as the basis for the next step and an analysis of the text to be summarized.
* Read a recent post on the subject. Preferably from an author known in the field and who understands as many facets as possible of the topic you discussed. This will allow you to have a complete overview of your research and, for any issues or concerns, please contact your speakers.
* When reading, mark the most important and relevant terms beforehand and discard secondary information.
*  Create a listof all these terms that will be your keywords in the synthesis.
* Once you have identified the most useful sources for your research, consult the publication’s bibliography to return to other useful sources, this research method is also called an avalanche or chain or snowball. Does the name of an author still appear? It usually means that this author has done numerous studies and research on the subject. Take a look at his personal website or look up his name in online catalogs to make sure you have access to as many results as possible.
* Proceed to perform the synthesiss with your own words, taking into account the key words and with the help of your own memory, without looking at the original text
* Finally, re-read the written text only as a control.