The Gist (idea, point, meaning, a general idea or picture), means the main subject without details or a piece of information.

A precis is a gist of a passage conveyed in as few words as possible and should give all key points so that anyone reading it will be able to understand the idea expressed in the original passage. It is, therefore, a summary, an exercise in compression.

A precis is different from paraphrasing, a paraphrase will be as long as the original or sometimes longer. You should give all the details and should not leave out any detail. A precis is always shorter than the original and should express only the main topic or theme as concisely as possible. As a general rule, it should not contain more than a third of the total number of words as in the original article. Precis writing compels the reader to pay attention to what they read. No-one can write a precis of a summary unless they read it carefully. To summarize teaches a person to read with concentration.

The Gist

Most people read carelessly and fail to fully comprehend the meaning of the passage, but when writing a precis it forces them to pay attention to what they read because no one can write a summary of a passage unless they read it carefully.

The Precis and its usefulness

Precis-writing is the art of presenting clearly and concisely the salient points of what has been read or heard so as to convey the main purport of the original.

Summarizing teaches one to read with concentration and it teaches you to convey your thoughts succinctly, unambiguously and effectively. It teaches to chose your words carefully and construct your sentences in a logical an concise manner. It also improves your overall writing skills.

This form of the composition provides a valuable educational exercise because it trains the mind to discriminate, to separate the important from the unimportant, to concentrate on essentials. Summarizing is not a tiresome school exercise: it is of great practical value in everyday life. The student knows how necessary it is to have brief and readable summaries of the books he may be studying or of the lectures he ha attended; the head of a business firm has no time to wade through a series of voluminous reports, he must rely on his secretary's succinct and exact summary; newspaper reporters must learn to condense, for they have to furnish the readers of the paper with brief and accurate summaries of the affairs and events of the day.

A Summary of The Three Little Pigs

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What constitutes a good precis?

In order to answer this question, we must consider the purpose of a precis. The object of the precis is that anyone who has not read the original may, by reading the precis, be in possession of all that is essential.
It will be a good precis if:

it contains all that is important and nothing that is unimportant
it presents this in a connected, intelligible and readable form, and as briefly as is compatible with clearness. (There are circumstances where a greater degree of compression may be necessary; e.g. when the head of a department needs an abstract of a series of long documents. In such cases only summary headings are given).
it gives a just impression of the spirit of the original.

Rules when Writing a Precis

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Read the passage carefully and understand what you are reading
Underline or jot down important ideas
Find the central idea of the passage
Use the underlined or the jotted idea
Keep following principles in mind when writing your precis:
-- Do not repeat any idea in the summary
-- Do not add any ideas
-- Your summary must be logical
-- There must be continuity of thought and it must have unity, with other words, completeness
-- Precis must have only one paragraph
--Write precis in your own English or whatever language you are writing in. Do not reproduce the sentences from the original text
Must be one-third of the original text

Word Choice

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Precis must be in a simple, effective and idiomatic language
It must be free from grammatical errors, spelling, structure, etc.
The passage of the precis must be in the first person. If you know who the author is you can use the third person
Use proper punctuation marks in the precis
The precis must retain the tone and the spirit of the original text

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