How to Summarize a Story
How to Summarize a Story
"I just read this great story. You have to check it out!"
"Oh yeah? What was it about?"
When you recommend a book to someone, one of the first things they want to know is what it is all about. You could go on and on about what happened in the book or you could just give them summary. A summary is a short explanation of the main details in a story.
Whether you read a short story or a long novel, it may seem like a challenge to sum it all up in a few words. However, it doesn't have to be that hard. Just think...
SOMEBODY WANTED BUT SO THEN
These 5 words are the key to summarizing a story.
SOMEBODY
Who is the main character? Who is the story about? This is your somebody.
WANTED
What did the main character want? This is your wanted.
BUT
What was the problem? What got in the main character's way? This is your but.
SO
How did the character try to solve the problem? What did the main character do? This is your so.
THEN
What was the resolution of the story? How did it end? This is your then.
Let's try summarizing an actual story:
Writing a Book by Mrs. W.K. Clifford
"Let us write a book," they said; "but what shall it be about?"
"A fairy story," said the elder sister.
"A book about kings and queens," said the other.
"Oh, no," said the brother, "let's write about animals."
"We will write about them all," they cried together. So they put the paper, and pens, and ink ready. The elder sister took up a fairy story and looked at it, and put it down again.
"I have never known any fairies," she said, "except in books; but, of course, it would not do to put one book inside another—anyone could do that."
"I shall not begin to-day," the little one said, "for I must know a few kings and queens before I write about them, or I may say something foolish."
"I shall write about the pig, and the pony, and the white rabbit," said the brother; "but first I must think a bit. It would never do to write a book without thinking."
Then the elder sister took up the fairy story again, to see how many things were left out, for those, she thought, would do to go into her book. The little one said to herself, "Really, it is no good thinking about kings and queens until I have known some, so I must wait;" and while the brother was considering about the pig, and the pony, and the white rabbit, he fell asleep.
So the book is not written yet, but when it is we shall know a great deal.
SOMEBODY
Two sisters and a brother
WANTED
To write a story
BUT
They could not agree what to write about
SO
They decided to think more about their stories.
THEN
They ended up not writing a book, but will someday.
Now let's look at another story:
The Sandy Cat by Mrs. W.K. Clifford
The sandy cat sat by the kitchen fire. Yesterday it had had no supper; this morning everyone had forgotten it. All night it had caught no mice; all day as yet it had tasted no milk. A little grey mouse, a saucerful of milk, a few fish or chicken bones, would have satisfied it; but no grey mouse, with its soft stringy tail behind it, ran across the floor; no milk was near, no chicken bones, no fish, no anything. The serving-maid had been washing clothes, and was hanging them out to dry. The children had loitered on their way to school, and were wondering what the master would say to them. The father had gone to the fair to help a neighbor to choose a horse. The mother sat making a patchwork quilt. No one thought of the sandy cat; it sat by the fire alone and hungry.
At last the clothes were all a-drying, the children had been scolded, and sat learning a lesson for the morrow. The father came from the fair, and the patchwork quilt was put away. The serving-maid put on a white apron with a frill, and a clean cap, then taking the sandy cat in her arms, said, "Pussy, shall we go into the garden?" So they went and walked up and down, up and down the pathway, till at last they stopped before a rose tree; the serving-maid held up the cat to smell the roses, but with one long bound it leaped from her arms and away—away—away.
Whither?
Ah, dear children, I cannot tell, for I was not there to see; but if ever you are a sandy cat you will know that it is a terrible thing to be asked to smell roses when you are longing for a saucerful of milk and a grey mouse with a soft stringy tail.
SOMEBODY
The sandy cat
WANTED
food to eat
BUT
everyone forgot about the cat
SO
the cat ran away
THEN
The reader learned a lesson - What good is smelling roses when you really just want something to eat?
The practice questions and worksheets below will give you more chances to practice summarizing a story.
Related Worksheets:
Related Lessons: