Writing a Precis

**Abhishek** Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:12 pm

Abhishek: Forum Admin; Posts : 547
Join date : 2011-04-08
Age : 36
Location : Kolkata

Post n°1

Writing a Precis

Abhishek Fri Apr 29, 2011 8:12 pm

Some Bankin Exams nowadays asks the cndidates to write a Precis of approximately 100 words from a Passage.

So what is actually a Precis ?

When you read something it is easily forgotten – especially if you read it once
and wish to recall it weeks or months later. In studying Law, Citizenship or Politics
you will read many materials (for example the textbook, case notes, internet
materials and newspaper articles) that you will need to recall for class discussions
and/or your examinations. In addition, when you read materials it is necessary to
be able to understand, interpret and analyse it’s meaning and any principles
involved.

To do this, you need to précis what you read. So, what is a précis?

In simple terms, a précis is a summary of what you have read. To provide a
summary you do not copy the exact words from the text. Indeed, the idea is to
use your own words to describe the important elements of what you have read.
In doing this, you will learn to recognise the important bits and then write those
down for future reference. The act of summarising, in this way, will develop your
reading, memory recall, interpretation and analytical skills – something which is
vital for subjects like Law, Citizenship, and Politics. One simple method I often
use is to skim read the entire text and then slowly re-read while picking out
important phrases and sentences with a highlighter pen. To produce a summary, I
then convert the highlighted words into my own words and file it for future
reference.

What are the factors which Constitutes a good Precis ?

The following Points must be taken care of while writing a Precis -

Goals of the Précis

Compress and clarify a lengthy passage, article, or book, while retaining important concepts, key words, and important data.

Remove what is superfluous and retain the core essence of the work.

Give a brief description of key terms and A suitable tile

Give a brief description of methods – an idea of the general approach used by the researchers.

State the purpose of the research or piece of writing (why was it important to conduct this research or write on this topic?)

When finished, the précis should clearly state:

This is what was studied (argued, discussed).

Focus of the article

What was learned from the article.

Why it is important.

How to write a Precis ?

I know most of you have directly jumped to this section , considering the ealier literature as a boaring stuff - However to write a well organised Precis , do consider the above mentioned factors . Smile

Presentation of the Precis is equally Important and for the said purpose we are going to draw a Table and Present our Data in it...

This will help you to count the words and at the same time presents your Precis neatly...

Title - Of the Precis

	1	2	3	4	5
1	Write	your	precis	in	this
2	box.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10	Hyphenated	words	like	ice- cream	should
11	be	counted	as	a	single
12	word.
13
14
15
16	Punctuations	should	never	be	considered
17	as	a	word.
18
19
20