Summarization

The skills needed to interpret and use excerpts of text to answer questions involve first recognizing the text and second, understanding what the text is saying. There are many different tips that can be used to make this easier.

  1. Look for clues provided with the text. Clues include: source of text, title, dates written, etc.
  2. Remember your 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When, Why, if you find all of your W's it becomes easier to put together the main idea
  3. Read the question first so you know what to be on the look out for
    *Note: this should only be done if you are in a time crunch, otherwise you may miss crucial details of the text



The following excerpt was taken from Library of Congress

“An act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitution rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes…” – Civil Rights Act of 1964		 Using the excerpt to the left, we can determine
  • The source is Library of Congress
  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a piece of legislation
  • 1964 was the heart of social equality and change during the civil rights movement

  • The main idea of the excerpt is: equality is universal and no one shall be discriminated against in any fashion in the United States

 

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