How to Write a Key Detail Summary A Key Detail summary shows that you have read and understood information and can distinguish
what is useful to support a Claim and Reason (even if you haven't discovered your claim yet). It is
common in many 100 and 200 level classes to get assignments that ask you to read a certain
number of articles and summarize them. This is also a very common type of writing assignment in
graduate school.
How to produce a summary:
1. Choose the key details based on the Guiding Questions:
2. Copy/paste original material
3. Delete trivial material unnecessary to understanding
4. Delete repetition
5. Condense using your own words
6. Revise for coherence; add attributions
The features of a summary: I
1. Represents the original accurately and fairly. Written with precise, accurate language in a
neutral, objective tone.
2. Never put any of your own ideas, opinions, or interpretations into the summary. This means
you have to be very careful of your word choice.
3. Periodically remind your reader that this is a summary by using phrases such as the article
claims, the author suggests, etc. These are Attributions.
4. Write a complete MLA citation at the end of your summary.