The ability to summarize effectively is one of the most important communication skills you can master. In most professional contexts, readers want to know "the bottom line" up front; clear summaries provide that information by telling them everything they need to know quickly. Well-done summaries help focus documents and presentations, and consequently give your audience a clear, concise idea of what matters most.

In English 3764, you may write summaries as part of several different assignments, including:

• Progress or status reports
• An annotated bibliography or research summary for your major project
• An executive summary or introductory paragraph for your proposal
• A letter of transmittal for your final project

Goals
After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Analyze your audience and purpose to determine the information required in a summary.
• Effectively summarize documents.
• Identify and compose abstracts, annotated bibliographies, and executive summaries.

Types of Summaries-->