Precis Writing

Precis Writing

← Precis writing aims at squeezing the meaning of text or paragraph into the fewest words. ← Precis must have its own unity and coherence.

← The object of precis writing is to give short cut but accurate account of what the original writer has said without changing or add anything to it. ← The original sense of the passage must not be distorted by omission or addition or by leaving out the essential information.

✓ While making precis of a given passage, one should aim at extracting its main points, expressing them clearly and as briefly as possible.

✓ The aim of precis is to be concise, but it must not result in abrupt transitions of thoughts, inadequate expressions or jerky broken sentences.

✓ Precis writing must be written in good literary form.

Qualities Essential to Precis Writing

Compactness ← All the ideas reproduced from the original document should form a compact whole. ← The words and sentences should convey a sense of unity with each other.

Conciseness ← Brevity is the essence of a good precis.

← It can be achieved by omitting unessential information , by avoiding repetition and by omitting ornamental phrases.

← Brevity should not be achieved at the stake of clarity. ← Essential ideas should be given clearly but briefly .

← There should be economy of words but not of ideas.

Clarity ← Precis should have clarity of expression. ← Avoid circumlocutions ← It should be intelligible to even those readers who have not gone through the original document.

Coherence ← All sentences and ideas should follow one after the other in an unbreakable chain. ← There should be reasonable and natural order of development. ← Precis should not look like a collection of disjointed sentences, but a well connected whole.

Steps to Effective Precis Writing ← Let the reader read the passage carefully in order to grasp its general theme and also the key ideas.

← A precis writer is required to supply a suitable title for the given passage. ← Find out the key sentence of the passage that expresses the subject. ← It should be remembered that the title is short.

Precis writer cannot afford to show the flourishes of learning, the flights of imagination and rhetorical talent.

Precis writer can neither add nor exclude, not even a single idea from the given passage. Do not add your comments.

Precis writer should aim remodeling. He is not supposed to use the same sentences.

. He will have to present the writer’s ideas in his own words in lucid style.

Precis writing should be written in indirect speech and third person.

It should be written in past tense.

Precis writer should confine himself to that word limit which is generally about 1/3 or 1/4 of the length of the original passage.

There should be link between the sentences, each developing out of the previous one.

Jerkiness or abruptness should be avoided.

Precis writing may be divided into sections or paragraphs but these may not appear as separate notes.

Precis writer must have firm hold on vocabulary, for this can help us write the passage more briefly.

If we find that we have exceeded the number of words, we can cut down the words further by little bit of literary pruning .

For eg- Men who mane illicit liquor-bootlegger, a work whose author is unknown- anonymous

Precis writing must be written in correct grammatical form.

Notes on Precis Work ← Identifying the Reader and Purpose of the Precis- This determines how much detail should be included and how formal the precis needs to be.

← For Eg- The precis you make of a text book chapter for your own study purposes does not have to be as carefully refined as the executive summary of a formal report for an important client.

Read the Original Document

← Skim-read the document to get an over view, then read it again slowly to identify the main themes and to distinguish the key ideas and concepts from the unimportant ones.

Underline the Key Ideas and Concepts ← Each paragraph should have one key topic, which the rest of the paragraph clarifies, supports and develop.

Write down a title which sums the theme of the passage ← The title or heading of a precis indicates what is to follow. ← It should reflect the central idea of the passage. ← It can be a word, a phrase or even a short sentence. ← A suitable title must be provided even if not asked.

Write a note-form summary of each paragraph ← It is better to sum up the passage in the form of points. ← Use your own language as far as possible. ← Omit all irrelevant material.

Write the précis ← Paraphrase to express the summarized points more concisely and to develop them into coherent sentences, expressing all important points in a generalized form.

Write the précis ← Eliminate any repetitions or irrelevant details. ← Use third person and indirect speech while writing the precis . ← Do not add your comments.

Review and Edit ← Compare your precis with the original document and make sure that it emphasizes the same points. ← Ensure that the precis is readable, concise and coherent.