Table Of Content

How to Write a Precis This page intentionally left blank How to Write a Precis PAMELA RUSSELL School of Translators and Interpreters Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa University of Ottawa Press University of Ottawa Press, 1988 ISBN 0-7766-0143-1 Printed and bound in Canada Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Russell, Pamela R. (Pamela Ruth), 1947- How to write a precis ISBN 0-7766-0143-1 1. Abstracting. 2. Abstracting—Problems, exercises, etc. I. Title. PE1477.R98 1988 808'.062 C88-090306-6 UNIVERSITE g§j| UNIVERSITY D'OTTAWA liiH OF OTTAWA Typesetting by Reprographic Services University of Ottawa Text and cover design by Peggy Heath Table of Contents PREFACE ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XI INTRODUCTION xiii PART ONE CHAPTER 1 What Is a Precis? 3 DEFINING THE PRECIS 3 TYPES OF SUMMARIES 3 The Precis 3 The Abstract 4 The Popularized Abridgement 4 Summary Records of Proceedings 5 THE SUMMARY AS A SURROGATE TEXT 5 CHAPTER 2 How Is the Precis Used? 7 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 7 PRECIS-WRITING AND TESTING 8 PRECIS-WRITING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING 8 PRECIS-WRITING AND TRANSLATOR TRAINING 9 BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL PRECIS: VARIATIONS OF SUMMARY-WRITING EXERCISES 10 Variations of the Intralingual Precis 10 The Interlingual Precis 10 The Summary Record 11 The Synthesis-Summary 11 The Abstract 11 V CHAPTER 3 How Do You Write a Precis? 13 A FIVE-STEP APPROACH 13 Reading and Understanding the Text 13 Analysing the Content 13 Selecting and Compressing Important Material 14 Preparing the Draft Precis 14 Revising the Precis 15 APPLYING THE PRECIS-WRITING PROCESS: A SAMPLE PRECIS 15 CHAPTER 4 Guidelines for Precis-Writing 19 METHODS OF SHORTENING 19 REPORTING SPEECH 20 THE QUESTION OF STYLE 21 USING TERMINOLOGY FROM THE ORIGINAL 21 ADHERING TO A PRESCRIBED LENGTH 21 APPENDIX I Evaluating the Precis: Guidelines for the Teacher 23 APPENDIX II A Proposed Writing Skills Program for Translators 25 BIBLIOGRAPHY 27 PART TWO Introduction to Part Two 31 SECTION 1 Comprehension 33 Exercises 1-8 33 SECTION 2 Analysis of Meaning 39 Exercises 9, 10 39 SECTION 3 Brevity 43 Exercises 11-16 43 SECTION 4 Paraphrasing 47 Exercises 17, 18 47 SECTION 5 Precis-Writing 49 Exercises 19-31 49 VI SECTION 6 Summarizing Spoken Texts 59 Exercises 32-34 60 SECTION 7 Interlingual Precis-Writing 65 Exercises 35-37 67 SECTION 8 Popularization-Summaries 69 Exercises 38, 39 70 SECTION 9 Abstracting 73 Exercise 40 74 vn This page intentionally left blank Prefacee How to Write a Precis should be of interest it can be easily used as a complement to to language teachers and language stu- other texts and material in an English lan- dents in general, and to teachers and stu- guage course, and instructors can select dents of translation in particular. just those exercises which are appropriate The material in this book was compiled for their classroom. The exercises and texts primarily for use by students and teachers provided are of varying difficulty, and the of translation at the university level. The teacher can choose those which suit the precis is an exercise that is admirably level of proficiency and the special inter- suited to developing language skills, and ests of a particular group of students. the exercises presented here were initially This book will also be of value to sec- developed and used in first-language and ond-language teachers. Precis-writing can second-language courses for translation play a key role in second-language teach- students. ing; it develops both passive and active But the applications of the precis extend language skills by requiring the student to far beyond translator training. Precis-writ- both read and write in his or her second ing has often been a component of high language. In addition to being a vehicle for school courses in English composition, and teaching second-language writing tech- the guidelines and exercises presented in niques, it also provides a framework for this text would certainly be of interest to exposing the student to interesting texts secondary school English teachers. More- written in a variety of styles and on a vari- over, since the scope of this book goes ety of topics in the second language. well beyond the introductory approach found in secondary school textbooks, the To the Student material included herein could be applied This book contains a course in precis-writ- to a wide variety of post-secondary ing. It tells you exactly what a precis is courses in communication skills, writing and how the exercise of precis-writing can techniques, and business English. help you learn to write well, whether you are a student of English composition, To the Teacher translation, or English as a second lan- Precis-writing is an excellent exercise for guage. The book includes theoretical back- developing students' writing skills. This ground, practical step-by-step instructions manual can be used to advantage by on how to write a precis, some general teachers of all types of English composi- guidelines, and some sample precis. It also tion. The manual, accompanied by a good provides a variety of exercises to give you English grammar book, can provide the hands-on experience as you become adept basis for a full writing course. In addition, at precis-writing. IX