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chapter is that…”, “Especially revealing is the author`s analysis of…”, “Of
special interest is his argument that…”, etc).
3) those forming a conclusion to which the reader`s attention is drawn (“The
author comes to the conclusion that…”, “The author draws the following
conclusion…”, “The author concludes by saying that…”, “The basic approach
of the author is that…”, “Underlined is the conclusion that…”, etc).
An abstract is a summary of an article, a monograph or a thesis published separately
from the work with abstracts of other works in the same field. One of the main purposes
of an abstract is to enable the reader to form a quick opinion as to whether the matter is
worth to begin detailed reading or not. But if a short content of the work is printed at the
end of the article or paper, it is more appropriate to use the word “summary” in which
case its French equivalent is “resume”.

III Précis – writing

A précis is a brief account of a given passage of prose or verse in the smallest
number of words possible retaining the meaning, main idea, organization and style of
the original.
Unlike a summary, it is more formal exercise based not on generalization of
information but on picking out the important points in each paragraph of the original
and conveying them in simpler sentences. This technique is applied to a paragraph, a
passage or a chapter but not to a complete work, like a novel or play. It is frequently
used for official purposes, when a summary of letters or documents must be prepared
for an official who has no time to read the originals. The length of a précis is usually
expected to be two or three pages out of ten. So, it is clear that much must be omitted.
The art of précis – writing lies in making the right omissions, and in skillfully
combining what is left. The omissions depend on the type of précis you are writing.
The informative précis preserves the greater part of the material contained in the
original. The indicative précis, characterized by maximum semantic compression,
requires greater condensing and omissions. The précis based on one informational
source is called monographic précis. The précis founded on two or more pieces of
writing which are discussing one topic (theme) is called a review précis. When writing a
précis you may follow such steps as:
1. Read the passage and discover the author`s purpose and point of view.
2. Number the paragraphs of the passage.
3. Read the passage again and underline its key fragments. Look for the author`s
own compact summaries.
4. Arrange your key fragments into a kind of plan.
5. Think it over and begin organizing your précis keeping the logical order of the
author`s ideas. Omit illustrations, quotations and repetitions. Add no comment of
your own to the original. Also, no introductions or conclusions are to be made.
6. Compare your précis with the passage to make sure that nothing important is
omitted and the précis conveys the essential meaning of the original.

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