This document discusses what a summary is and how to write one. A summary is used to determine the essential ideas from a text by identifying the key points and main ideas in 3 sentences or less without copying verbatim. To write an effective summary, one should clarify the purpose, read the full text to understand it, highlight key ideas and phrases, write those ideas without copying sentences, eliminate redundant information, check for accuracy, and properly format the summary including citing the source.