Can We Talk About the Precis?

[HollyinNNV]

I've been reading about various writing structures that I've never taught. One type that intrigues me is the precis. As I was never taught it in school, I was wondering if a few of you more experienced folk could tell me more about it.

 

In a nutshell, I understand that a precis is a75%-80% shrinkage of the original article/chapter and gives all the important information of the original. It leaves out all secondary information.

 

What would be a good step-by-step approach to teaching the precis, assuming the students are already good writers, grades 8-12?

 

What are the benefits to teaching the precis?

 

What size article would you start with & what is the largest selection that you would write a precis from?

 

What do students find the most challenging about the precis?

 

What would be something students would do that would be "incorrect" in a precis?

 

Thanks so much for any & all input!

Holly

[Jane in NC]

Someone posted this on the old boards:

 

http://www.classicalco-op.com/co_op_new/ce_tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Precis%20Writing

[Tina in Ouray]

Holly,

 

 

I'll talk. The link that Jane put up is to stuff that I've posted at the Classical Co-op.

 

 

I'm a believer in the value of precis writing as a tool of learning. Precis writing can help students both learn to read more intelligently and to write more accurately and clearly.

 

 

Students learn to read more intelligently because they are forced to pay close attention to exactly what was and what wasn't said. This is the analytical side of precis writing. A precis-writer must thoroughly understand the vocabulary in the original (and all the nuances and subtleties of the author's own choice of words), the sentence structure of the original (where thoughts are subordinated or coordinated, for example), the arrangement of an argument or exposition, the ways in which an author has developed his thoughts, and the particular style and tone in which those thoughts are expressed.

 

 

Students learn to write more accurately as they then are asked to express these same thoughts (with the same degree of emphasis and the same tone of voice) in their own words and in a condensed form. Such writing demands a tightness and clarity of expression that is hard to achieve in other writing exercises. Since there is a standard (original) to compare a precis with, it is possible to gain a lot of mileage in working and reworking a single passage.

 

 

With young students (8-10) I begin with single sentences. It's possible to write a precis of a book. This would be akin to writing a summary, the difference being the special attention paid to emphasis and to style. Changing the thought or the emphasis or

 

 

Different students find different aspects of precis writing to be difficult. For some students it is most difficult at first to even pick out what are the essential verses accidental (non-essential) elements of the original passage. They focus on the minors instead of the majors or miss key elements. Other students have a hard time putting things in their own words while reproducing (rather than changing) the original thought. Some students have a hard time simply keeping within a word limit or in writing a precis of their own precis. And students who have mastered all those things will still find it challenging to write a precis that conveys the feeling and tone of the original.

 

 

The most common mistake in a beginner's precis is leaving out essential information and/or including unnecessary stuff. Once you've seen this mistake made by student after student, you begin to appreciate how difficult it really is to accurately listen to someone else and to hear what they are saying.

 

 

I'm working with a couple eighth grade boys right now on precis writing. I generally assign paragraphs that are from 200-250 words long. This seems to be a good length for us to work with. On the other hand, I assign precis writing in various subjects for shorter and for much longer works. Sometimes I will do things like have students write a single sentence precis of each paragraph of an article or a chapter and then write a precis of the chapter as a whole. This type of assignment points out that just as some sentences in a paragraph are non-essential ideas, so some whole paragraphs are non-essential to a longer selection.

 

 

The sky is the limit on what you can do with precis writing.

 

 

Tina in Ouray, CO

[HollyinNNV]

Wow-with the new board, these messages move off the main page fast!

 

Thanks for the link Jane. That's a helpful website.

 

Thanks for the extra explanation Tina. You helped tighten up the definition of precis for me.

Thanks guys!

Holly