Thinkabara

✂️ How to Write a Summary · Lesson 2 of 6

Finding the main idea

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The thesis, topic sentences and the one-sentence test.

Where to look

Title and abstractOften state the main claim directly
End of the introductionThe thesis or research question usually lives here
Topic sentencesThe first sentence of each paragraph usually states its point
ConclusionRestates the main idea and what it means

Read twice

  1. First read: quickly, for the big picture — don’t take notes
  2. Write one sentence: “This is about…”
  3. Second read: slowly, mark the topic sentence of each paragraph or section
  4. Revise your one sentence so every section fits under it

The one-sentence test

If you could tell a classmate only one sentence about the text, what would it be? That is the main idea. If your sentence only fits part of the text, it’s too narrow; if it would fit a hundred texts (“Sleep is important”), it’s too broad.

Main idea vs. topic

Topic: “remote work”. Main idea: “Remote work raises productivity for focused tasks but weakens collaboration, so hybrid schedules work best.” The main idea is a claim about the topic.

Tip

💡 Put the main idea at the top of the summary builder (step 3) before you write anything else. Everything else hangs on it.

✏️ Practice: your turn

  1. Take an article from one of your classes and read it once without notes
  2. Write a one-sentence main idea
  3. Read again and list each paragraph’s topic sentence
  4. Test your sentence: too narrow, too broad or just right?

✏️ Summary & outline builder: main idea → key points → summary draft

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. Where is a thesis usually found?
2. “Sleep is important” is…
3. What is a topic sentence?
4. The first read should be…

0 of 4 correct

All lessons in How to Write a Summary

  1. 📝 1. What a summary is — and isn’tShort, accurate, neutral and in your own words
  2. 🎯 2. Finding the main ideaThe thesis, topic sentences and the one-sentence test
  3. 🗂️ 3. Key points and an outlineChoose 3–5 key points, drop the details, and order them
  4. 🔄 4. Paraphrasing without plagiarismChange the words and the structure — and still cite
  5. ✏️ 5. Writing and cutting the summaryDraft from the outline, link the ideas, then trim to length
  6. 🔬 6. Summarizing research articlesAbstracts, annotated bibliographies and literature reviews