Summary Writing

A summary is a brief statement that highlights the main points of a passage without including unnecessary details. There are two common methods for answering summary questions in WAEC: the Caption Method and the Roman Numeral Method.

Summary writing involves presenting a concise version of a lengthy passage. Students are expected to read and understand a given passage and then accurately identify and express its key points. The goal is to test the student's ability to comprehend and effectively summarize information.

Key Features of a Good Summary

  1. Brevity: A summary should be short and to the point, avoiding unnecessary details or elaborate descriptions.
  2. Relevance: The summary must accurately reflect the original passage without adding extra or unrelated information.
  3. Comprehensive Coverage: All essential points should be included to provide a complete and meaningful summary.
  4. Clarity: The summary should be written in clear and straightforward language, ensuring the author's original meaning is accurately conveyed.

How to Answer a Summary Question

  1. Use your own words: Instead of copying directly from the passage, express the key points in your own words.
  2. Keep it short and concise: Avoid unnecessary information. Include only relevant details from the passage.
  3. Write in full sentences: Answers should be in complete sentences. If a preamble (introductory phrase) is used, it must flow naturally into the sentence.
  4. Use correct grammar: Answers should be grammatically correct and free of errors in expression.

Common Mistakes in Summary Writing

  1. Writing incomplete sentences: Answers must be in complete sentences with a subject and verb; otherwise, partial marks will be awarded.
  2. Copying directly from the passage: Simply copying the passage’s wording (verbatim lifting) shows a lack of understanding and results in zero marks.
  3. Incorrect preamble: If the introduction does not align with the sentence, marks may be deducted.
  4. Exceeding the required number of sentences: Only the specified number of sentences will be marked, and any additional ones will be ignored.
  5. Lack of conciseness and relevance: Including unnecessary or unrelated details leads to a deduction of marks.
  6. Combining multiple points in one sentence: If two key points are merged into a single sentence, only the first will be graded.
  7. Grammar and expression errors: Each grammar or expression mistake results in a loss of ½ mark.

Example

Passage (WAEC 2004 Paper 1):

For some, grass is just the green stuff outside the house that they have to mow. For farmers and football players, it is indispensable. For children, it is the ideal playground. And those who live in most urban areas assume they have very little to do with grass of any sort. However, almost all of us have daily contact with some type of grass and the products made from it.
Grass makes up a major part of the vegetation that covers the earth. And no wonder, since it is one of the most adaptable plant groups on earth, growing Polar Regions and deserts, in tropical rain forests, and on wind-swept mountain slopes. Entire vegetation areas are dominated by grass.
Unlike many other plants, grass grows, not at the tip, but in growth areas above the nodes. New shoots might start from stems growing horizontally on or under the ground. So when the lawn mower or the cow cuts away the tip, or fire rages through a field, grass keeps growing, whereas many other plants stop. Furthermore, with most grasses, if the stem is bent over by the wind or trodden underfoot, it can raise itself erect by growing faster on the side facing the ground. For these reasons, grass usually recovers quickly after being damaged, which gives it an edge over other plants in the fight for sunlight.
Grass is not only the most abundant but also the most important flowering plant family on earth. A botanist once described grass as the foundation of our food. It is "like dam protecting mankind from famine". Try to remember what you ate today; Did you start with a bowl of cereal made with millet, rice, oats or sorghum? Well, then, you ate grass seeds. Or perhaps you had a roll or other kind of bread. The flour used was made from grass kernels — wheat, rye, barely, and other grains are all grasses. Cornflakes and other products are no exception, as corn or maize is a grass too. You had sugar in your coffee or tea? More than half of all sugar is made from sugarcane, a grass.
Grass is not only good for food, however, if your house has walls made of clay and straw, it is grass that gives them the necessary strength. In different parts of the world, roofs are thatched with grass. One of the advantages of such roofs is that they keep the interior of the buildings cool regardless of the external temperature.
Grass covers and adorns much of the earth. Apart from the beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing sight of a green meadow or a well-kept lawn, grass is a major oxygen supplier, because of the sheer mass of the green vegetation that it produces.

Finally, its fine roots perform the all-important function of protecting the soil from erosion. Keeping it versatility in mind, we are not surprised to learn that the usage and cultivation of grass has a long history. The next time you see a waving cornfield, a lush green meadow, or just humble blades of grass growing between stones is a sidewalk; you might stop and think of this marvelous and mostly versatile plant family!

Solution

For a, the two answers can be found in the second and third paragraph. The second paragraph begins with that statement and focuses on grass's ability to survive in any environment. As for the third paragraph, it continues the sentiment by exploring grass's resilience to damage. For these reasons, putting:

  1. Grass can grow everywhere on earth
  2. Grass recovers quickly from damage

or something similar would secure you your full marks.

This answer for a uses the roman numeral method. Here, you give your answers in the form of short bullet points

To answer the question using the caption method:

grass forms a major part of the earth's vegetation because

  1. it grows everywhere on earth
  2. it can quickly recover from damage

Here, a short preamble is given before the answers. With the use of the caption method, you need to make sure the preamble matches the points. for example,

"grass forms a major part of the earth's vegetation because it grows everywhere on earth." is a complete sentence so it works.

Note that the penalty for wrong use of a preamble is losing half of the marks available as the case may be.

As for B, the last four paragraphs give you your four uses for grass.

  1. Grass is a source of food.
  2. Grass is used for building houses
  3. the roots of grass prevent soil erosion
  4. Grass beautifies the environment

You will notice this pattern in summary texts. Each paragraph gives you one bullet point to the questions. However, This pattern is not present in all summary texts.