The Sunday News
Charles Dube
LAST week I made reference to the summary question which comes as number 3 in the comprehension passage set at O-level. Some points were mentioned in the answering of the summary question save for a few which I highlight here as important facts about a summary.
Researchers state that a summary contains neither interpretation nor rating. Only the opinion of the original writer is reflected — expressed in new words without quotations from the text. A summary contains 10 opening words that introduce the topic. A summary must exclude unnecessary examples, descriptions and digressions. Obviously a summary should be significantly shorter than the original, hence, minor facts have to be left out.
Always start your summary with the 10 opening words as they give you the subject and the tense of the summary. Once you misfire on the tense you will automatically lose a lot of marks on grammar. Chances are also high that your answer will lack co-ordination. You should be brief, using co-ordination and subordination to compress ideas. Throughout the summary, do not insert your own opinions or thoughts.
Summarise what the writer has to say about the subject. Finally, read your summary and check for accuracy. Ensure that what you have written answers the given question. In any examination make sure you answer the question only, nothing else but the question. Check if you have not omitted something important. If your summary is too long, cut out words rather than ideas. Look for non-essential information and delete it.
Remember you are not using a computer in your English Language examination so you cancel out neatly that which is unnecessary in your summary. Before you leave the summary make sure you correct grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. After the summary question, there is question 4 which is basically the language section. Learners are asked to show skills in language usage. How well can learners express themselves in correct English Language?
Various language skills are covered in this section from simple sentence construction and parts of speech. At times learners are asked to show correct usage of punctuation. Punctuation is about marks such as full stops, commas, colons, question marks, exclamation marks and apostrophes that we use in writing to divide words in sentences and clauses. Punctuation helps the reader to realise when to pause, when to hesitate and where to stop.
Do not lose marks unnecessarily because you think the use of some of them is obvious. For example, using capital letters we discussed last time seems obvious, yet, most valuable marks have been thrown away. Make sure that your capital letters are obvious — they should be twice as big as normal letters. Use capital letters at the start of sentences. The dog barked. I like reading. “I” has a capital letter wherever you use it.
Use punctuation to finish sentences correctly. Full stops end sentences. Each sentence you write ends with a full stop. Question mark shows the end of a question. Question marks show that you are asking a question. Why are you late for the lesson? Exclamation marks show strong emotions or to emphasise something: “Oh! I’m hurt.” What a surprise! If you use exclamation marks in your writing, never use more than one to end a sentence like, what a surprise!!! is wrong, use the former.
Do not use exclamation marks too often — they will lose their impact. Without commas, lists would be a jumbled-up mess, and long sentences would not make much sense. Commas separate items in a list. This has been shown on these pages before.
Colons and semi-colons have several uses, for example introducing lists or joining sentences. You can use a colon to show that what follows gives you more information. This can sometimes take the form of a list: These are the main themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, racism, dreams and death. Semicolons separate things in a list. Semicolons also break up lists of long phrases: In your introduction, outline the main argument of your essay; use separate paragraphs to explain each point clearly; in your conclusion, bring your argument together; if you have time, read your essay to check for mistakes.
You need a semicolon before the “if” even though it is the last item in the list. Colons and semicolons are used differently. Putting a colon or semicolon into a sentence can change its meaning. A colon introduces an explanation of what comes before it, but a colon just links the two sentences. Irene was happy; Mary was thinking about the trip. The semicolon shows that the two parts are related, but does not explain why Irene was happy.
Irene was happy: Mary was thinking about the trip. The colon shows that Mary thinking about the trip is the reason for Irene to be happy. Colons and semi-colons are only impressive if used correctly. A reminder on apostrophes — when you use a shortened form like “I’ve” instead of “I have,” you need to use an apostrophe to show that there are letters missing. Apostrophes replace missing letters.
Shortened words or phrases like “you’ve” or “doesn’t” use apostrophes to show where the letters have been removed. Avoid using shortened forms of words like “we’re” and “they’d’ in your essays — it is better to write “we are” or “they had”. All this is given here to help learners master concepts of the English language which will help them achieve high grades in the final examinations. Do not cram individual words, but, use them in sentences, that is use the functional approach.
Just like they say, practise makes perfect. Attempt as many questions from self-help exercises where the various forms of language discussed here have been used.
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