Summary Writing
English Language · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3
Summary is the most mechanical section of the paper and the easiest to score once you know how the marks fall. Nearly every lost mark comes from ignoring the instruction about the number of sentences or from copying the passage word for word.
What you need to know
- The rubric is part of the question. When WAEC says 'In three sentences, one for each, state three reasons...', three sentences means exactly three, and a fourth sentence earns nothing while a combined sentence may lose a point.
- Each sentence must carry ONE point only. Packing two reasons into one sentence usually means the examiner credits only one of them.
- Marks are normally split between content and expression for each point: you get the content mark for finding the right idea, and the expression mark only if the sentence is grammatically correct and in your own words. A correct idea in broken English loses half.
- Lifting a whole sentence from the passage scores zero for that point, however relevant it is. Change the structure and the key words while keeping the meaning exact.
- Answer only from the part of the passage the question names. If it asks for the advantages discussed, do not include the disadvantages, no matter how clearly the writer states them.
- Do not add your own examples, opinions or general knowledge. Summary measures what the writer said, not what you think about it.
- Write in continuous prose, not in note form, and not in bullet points. Fragments such as 'Teaches time management' lose the expression mark even when the content is right.
- Each sentence must stand on its own and make full sense without the question. Starting with 'That it teaches...' or 'Because they are...' leaves an incomplete sentence.
- Find the points by reading paragraph by paragraph and locating the topic sentence of each. Most WAEC summary points sit one per paragraph.
- Distinguish the main point from its illustration. If the writer says farmers lose money because produce rots before it reaches market, the point is the loss from poor storage; the rotting tomato example is the illustration and does not count as a separate point.
- Keep each sentence short, around fifteen to twenty words. Long sentences invite grammatical errors that cost the expression mark.
- Keep one tense throughout, usually the present tense when reporting what a writer says.
- Write a rough version in your answer booklet, then write the fair version and cross out the rough neatly with a single line. Uncrossed rough work may be marked instead of your final answer.
- Number your sentences to match the question, so the examiner can see at a glance that you produced the required number of points.
Key terms
- Summary
- A short restatement, in your own words, of the main points of a passage on a stated aspect.
- Rubric
- The instruction attached to a question, stating what must be done and in how many sentences.
- Content mark
- The mark given for identifying a correct point from the passage.
- Expression mark
- The mark given for stating that point in correct, original and complete English.
- Note form
- Writing in incomplete fragments rather than full sentences, which is not accepted in WASSCE summary answers.
- Illustration
- An example given to support a main point, which does not itself count as a separate summary point.
Worked examples
Read this paragraph: 'Boarding school teaches a child to live with others, to manage his time without a parent standing over him, and to settle quarrels without running home. These habits outlast the certificate.' In one sentence, state two benefits of boarding school mentioned by the writer.
- Underline the listed items: living with others, managing time without supervision, settling quarrels independently.
- The question asks for two, so choose the two clearest and ignore the rest.
- Drop the final comment about habits outlasting the certificate; it is a conclusion, not a benefit.
- Reword rather than copy: 'live with others' becomes 'get along with other people', and 'manage his time without a parent standing over him' becomes 'organise his own time without supervision'.
- Join the two points with and inside a single complete sentence.
Answer: Boarding school trains a child to get along with other people and to organise his own time without supervision.
A candidate answered the question above with: 'Boarding school is good because it teaches a child many things, and these habits outlast the certificate.' Explain why this scores no content mark and rewrite it correctly.
- Test the first half against the passage. 'Many things' names no actual benefit, so no point has been identified.
- Test the second half. 'These habits outlast the certificate' is lifted word for word from the passage, so even if it were relevant it would earn no expression mark.
- Note that the sentence also answers a different question: the writer was not asked whether boarding school is good.
- Rewrite by naming two specific benefits in your own words.
Answer: It names no specific benefit and lifts a clause word for word. A correct version: 'Boarding school helps a child to live peacefully with others and to resolve disputes on his own.'
The mistake to avoid
Candidates write four or five sentences when the rubric asked for three, believing extra points are safer. They are not: the examiner marks only the number requested, and the extra writing eats the time the essay needed. The other fatal habit is copying whole sentences from the passage.
In the exam
Copy the rubric's number onto your rough page and count your finished sentences against it before you move on. Begin each sentence with a different word from the passage's own opening so that lifting is impossible. Spend about fifteen minutes here, no more, because summary marks are capped while essay marks are not.