Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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LEARNING FROM TEXTBOOKS 201

2. Consider Summarizing the Material. A summary is a brief statement
   that identifies the major ideas in a section of a textbook, play, news-
   paper article, or story. It is particularly useful in preparing for essay
   exams or when reading literature. For example, writing a summary of
   the plot in a novel incorporating information describing who did
   what, when, and where can be useful in determining that you under-
   stood the reading.
   The following are some suggestions for writing summaries
   (McWhorter, 1995, p. 238):
   
   
   • Start by identifying the author’s main point; write a statement
     that expresses it.
   
   
   • Next, identify the most important information the writer
     includes to support or explain his or her main point. Include
     these main supporting ideas in your summary.
   
   
   • Include any definitions of key terms or important new princi-
     ples, theories, or procedures that are introduced.
   
   
   • Try to keep your summary objective and factual. Think of it as
     a brief report that should reflect the writer’s ideas, not your
     evaluation of them.
   
   
   
   


3. Consider Outlining the Material. At times, answering questions is suf-
   ficient to confirm that you remembered what you read. However,
   sometimes because of the complexity of the material, you may decide
   to outline or graphically represent (i.e., map) the information. Both
   strategies organize the material by identifying the relation between
   main ideas and supporting details.
   The easiest way to show the relationship between ideas and details
   in an outline is to use the following format:

I. Major topic

A. First main idea

1. First important detail


2. Second important detail


3. Third important detail
   B. Second main idea


4. First important detail
   a. Minor point or example


5. Second important detail
   II. Second major topic
   A. First main idea

Notice that the most important ideas are closer to the margins, with

less important ideas or examples indented toward the middle of the

page. The purpose of this format is to be able to look at the outline

and quickly determine what is most important.