Based on your reading of Chapter 4 and sections 4.1, 4.4, 4.7, and 4.8 in the APA manual, 7th ed.,
please share three things you learned about summarizing that will help you become a stronger
writer. (200-250 words).
After reading Chapter 4: Writing Style and Grammar from the APA Manual 7
th
Ed., it covered great
points regarding summarizing and also the difference between paraphrasing. I appreciate that
this chapter took the time to clarify the difference between summarizing and phrasing as to me
they seemed fairly similar. From this chapter, there were a few enlightening take aways. The first
is getting comfortable with using a thesaurus. Many times writers will use the same phrases such
as “According to..” repeatedly; this can show a lack of creativity from the writer. Another point was
with summarizing we don’t want to get in the habit of reiterating the original writer’s words, rather
we want to find the main points and re-write it in our own words. A condensed version can be just
as informative as paraphrasing. The last point goes hand-in-hand with the previous point of
summarizing, ensure what we’re summarizing aligns with what we read. Ensuring the information,
we’re summarizing is analyzed and summarized correctly. Again, summarizing and paraphrasing
sound similar but are indeed distinct in their purposes of writing. Summarizing is a skill we as
writers need to master and the best way to do this is by practice, practice, practice.
