What is Precis Writing

Writing a Précis

A précis is a brief summary. Writing a précis is valuable training in composition. Since the writing requires you to be clear and concise, you must choose your words carefully and arrange them skillfully so you get the maximum amount of meaning into the minimum space.

In addition to its value as a writing exercise, précis work is excellent reading practice. In order to summarize another's ideas in your own words, you must understand the idea thoroughly.

In school and in life after school, there are many situations that call for the writing of a brief, accurate summary of reading. You are frequently asked to prepare a summary of what you have read in your textbook or in the library. Answers on examinations often require a brief summary. People in business, in club work, and in social work must prepare short digests of articles and reports.

Study the following facts about précis and the basic steps in writing.

1.      A précis is a short summary. It is not a paraphrase, which merely says in different and simpler words exactly what the passage being paraphrased has to say. A paraphrase may be as long as the passage itself. A précis rarely is more than one-third the length of the original selection and may be only one-fourth as long.

2.     A précis gives only the "heart" of a passage. It omits repetition and such details as examples, illustrations, and adjectives unless they are of unusual importance.

3.     A précis is written entirely in the words of the person writing it, not in the words of the original selection. Avoid the temptation to lift long phrases and whole sentences from the original.

4.     A précis is written from the point of view of the author whose work is being summarized. Do not begin with such expressions as "This author says" or "The paragraph means." Begin as though you were summarizing your own writing.

In writing a précis proceed as follows:

1.      Read carefully, sentence by sentence, the passage to be summarized. Try to grasp the writer's main point. Spotting the topic sentence will help. Look up in the dictionary any words whose meaning is not absolutely clear. As you read, take brief notes to be used in your writing.

2.     When you have finally decided what the author's main point is, write it out in your own words. Do not use the wording of the original except for certain key words which you may find indispensable. If you cannot translate the idea into language of your own, you do not understand them very well. Be especially careful not to rely too much on the topic sentence. Do not add any opinions or ideas of your own.

3.     Revise your writing until you are sure that you have given an accurate summary.

4.     Usually you will find your précis is too long, if it is more than one-third the length of the original, it is too long, continue your revision until you have reduced the précis to the proper length.  For the purpose of this class your précis should be no longer than 1 typed double spaced page with 1” margins (approx. 200 – 250 words).

PRECIS WRITING PASSAGE 14

Scientists now say that when it comes to wooing a lady, the malodorous male may enjoy a distinct advantage over his sophisticated and sanitized rival, much to the indignation of the latter. It seems that such discrimination might be due to the karmic consequences of using deodorants. A recent study conducted by biologists at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed that the locker room aroma of male perspiration helps to reduce stress and induce relaxation in women. If the way to a man’s heart is said to be through his stomach, it seems that the way to a woman’s favours is via her nose. When asked, why women choose the men they do, a philosopher is said to have replied “Who knows?” in fact, ‘Who nose’ might have been more apt. it can, however, be argued that the face or the physique was never a serious consideration in the rat race for female affections, considering that women were reputed to have a nose for greenbacks rather than an eye for biceps. But now it seems the dice is heavily loaded in favour of what lies beneath the arm rather than what lies between the ears, with eau de pasina scoring heavily over eau de cologne. Always accused to smelling a rat where none existed, women can now hope for a legitimate way of sniffing around. Perfumed deodorants may go our of fashion as men learn to enhance their natural bodily odours by egg or onion sprays. Always fastidiously clinging to the proper use of the language, Dr. Johnson, the lexicographer, was once assailed by a lady at a party with the words, “Oh! Sir, you smell!” Which the good man was quick to correct as, “No, ma’am you smell. I stink”.

Precis--Scent of a Man

Biologists have come to the conclusion through their study that men’s body smell emanating from perspiration helps women to reduce their tension. In this finding there is a suggestion that men not using synthetic pleasant smelling scents are more likely to be favoured by women than the men stopping the unpleasant smell by using sophisticated scents. Therefore, the way to woman’s favour is through her nose and the nose must get man’s natural body odour.

PRECIS WRITING PASSAGE 13

Friendship is above reason, for, though you find virtues in a friend, he was your friend before you found them. It is a gift that we offer because we must; to give it as the reward of virtue would be to set price upon it and those who do that have no friendship to give. If you choose your friends on the ground that you are virtuous and want virtuous company. You are no nearer to true friendship than if you choose them for commercial reasons. Besides, who are you that you should be setting a price upon your friendship? It is enough for any man that he has the divine power of making friends, and he must leave it to that power to determine who his friends shall be. For, though you may choose the virtuous to be your friend, they may not choose you; indeed, friendship cannot grow where there is any calculated choice. It comes like sleep, when you are not thinking about it; and you should be grateful, without any misgiving, when it comes.

So no man who knows what friendship is ever gave up a friend because he turns out to be disreputable. His only reason for giving up a friend is that he has ceased to care for him; and, when that happens he should reproach himself for this mortal poverty of affection, not the friend for having proved unworthy. For it is inhuman presumption to say any woman, when you have fallen out of love with her, that she is unworthy of your love. In friendship and in love we are always humble, because we see that a free gift has been given to us; and to lose that humility because we have lost friendship or love is to take a pride in what should shame us.

Precis : True Friendship

Friendship is a natural gift. It cannot be argued or discussed. It develops instinctively. We do not contract friendship with a person either because he is virtuous or because we expect to gain something form him. To put a price on friendship is to degrade it. If we fall out with a friend, we should not find fault with him. We should rather blame ourselves for being unworthy of retaining the friendship.

PRECIS WRITING IBPSEXAM

Precis writing tips

The summary or précis of a passage has to be expressed in the fewest and clearest words possible. In a summary you should mention only important points and leave out all unnecessary details.

What is a good precis?

A summary or précis is the shortened form of a passage. A good summary should be complete in itself. It should be able to convey the ideas expressed in the original passage so that a reader who does not have enough time to read the original one should have no trouble getting the message.

A summary should be brief, clear and precise. It should be brief, but it shouldn’t be a number of disjointed simple sentences. A good summary should give ideas, facts or points in the order in which it appears in the original. Note that it is best to write summaries in the same tense as the original.

The original passage may contain pieces of conversation. When you summarize it, all the sentences given in the direct speech should be changed into indirect. The summary should be in the writer’s own words. As far as possible, avoid using the vocabulary used in the original. Also note that a summary shall not contain points not mentioned in the original.

How to summarize a given passage?

Read the given passage thoroughly and try to understand what it means. If you don’t understand the passage after reading it once, read it twice or thrice. Try to find out what the passage is really about. And then provide a title for it.

Underline important points in the passage. Prepare a sketch or outline summary, containing all the points which you have marked in the passage. Compare the outline with the original passage. If you have left out some points, add them. If the outline contains some unnecessary details, strike them out.

Prepare your summary with the help of your notes. Don’t refer to the original. Finally, read what you have written. Correct all spelling or grammatical errors if any.

Some important points

If the passage is in poetry, express its ideas in prose. Write the précis in simple language. Avoid lengthy sentences containing many clauses. Don’t use phrases such as ‘the writer says’, ‘I think’ or ‘in my opinion’.