A summary that repeats is a list of separate points, each restated in similar words. The repair is to group related points, find the relationship between them, and write one sentence that carries the group. This page shows the method with an original passage and a before-and-after answer.
What does the problem look like?
You might say: “I included everything important, but my summary is still too long, and it says the same thing again and again.” The pattern is usually short sentences that each begin with the same subject and avoid any link between them.
The facts are not the problem. The missing step is combining.
Why does it happen?
Three academic causes are common.
- Point-by-point copying. Each sentence of the passage becomes a sentence of the summary, so related points stay apart.
- No organising principle. Without groups such as cause and effect, every point looks equal and stays separate.
- Fear of losing a point. Combining feels risky, so points are kept apart to be safe.
A method that works
- Underline the points that answer the task focus, and ignore the rest.
- Group them by a principle: causes, results, obstacles, or before and after.
- Name each group in a few words so you know what it says.
- Write one sentence per group, using a connective that shows the relationship.
- Check against the task focus, then against the original for accuracy.
The summary selection and paraphrase studio gives you practice selecting relevant points on original texts and writing your own wording.
Worked example
Here is an original passage.
Each lunch hour the school canteen fills eleven bins, and by Friday the bins overflow. Plastic cups make up most of the waste, but students will not bring reusable bottles from home because they find them heavy. The cleaners say they spend the first hour of each morning sorting what could have been recycled. A trial in Form 2 cut waste by a third, but it needed a teacher at every bin, which the school cannot afford to repeat.
Task: Summarise the difficulties of reducing canteen waste.
A repeating answer:
“The canteen has a lot of waste. The bins overflow by Friday. There are too many plastic cups. Students do not bring bottles. Bottles are heavy. The cleaners have to sort waste. The trial in Form 2 worked but needed teachers.”
It has the right facts, but “bins overflow” and “a lot of waste” say the same thing, and “students do not bring bottles” and “bottles are heavy” are one idea split in two.
Grouped points:
- Cause: cups dominate the waste, and students will not carry bottles because they are heavy.
- Consequence: cleaners lose time sorting.
- Obstacle: the trial that worked needed supervision the school cannot afford.
A combined answer:
“Waste is hard to reduce because plastic cups dominate yet students will not carry heavy bottles, cleaners lose time sorting what could be recycled, and the one trial that worked needed supervision the school cannot afford.”
The overflowing bins are left out because they describe the problem, not a difficulty in solving it. Two pairs of points became two clauses, and the connectives “because”, “yet” and “and” show how the ideas relate.
The mistake to watch for
The common slip is to combine points with “and” only, which produces a long list in one sentence. A combination needs a relationship: cause, result, contrast or condition.
Check each joined sentence: what does the connective say about the two points? If the answer is “nothing”, find the real relationship or keep them apart.
Try it yourself
Combine these into one sentence, keeping the meaning: “The library opens at eight. The library closes at four. Students asked for later hours. The librarian has only two assistants.”
Show a model answer
“Students want the library, open only from eight to four, to stay open later, but the librarian has only two assistants.” The hours are one detail. The request and the staffing limit are linked by “but”. You could also reorder it to start with the obstacle, as long as all points stay.
Where to practise next
Work through separate a relevant point from an interesting detail, combine repeated ideas without losing meaning and group points using a clear organising principle. Use the writing revision compare view to compare your first and second drafts, and the summary practice set to test yourself. The parent module is summary selection and synthesis.
When tuition may be worth considering
If you follow the method and your summaries still read as lists, the difficulty may be in seeing relationships between points. A teacher who reads your drafts can show where two points belong together. That is what online one-to-one English First Language tuition offers.