This writing form helps a reader/writer to summarize information into a concise paragraph that reflects both the data read as well as the reader’s understanding. Key in this form is the ability to identify and react to the writing and interact with the discourse (conversation) that occurs in the mind as one reads.

Margaret K. Woodworth, former professor of English at Hollins College and Virginia Tech, developed this form, and the following summation comes from her article, "The Rhetorical Précis", published in entirety in Rhetoric Review (1988).

Made up of 4 sentences, the précis challenges the writer to express clear evaluation of a reading by using a step-by-step analysis: (See the following example for a look at how these sentences relate to a reading.)

Sentence #1: Begin with the author’s name, identification of the genre (type of writing) and title of the work, and the date of publication in parentheses; add a rhetorically accurate verb (such as "asserts," "argues," "suggests," "implies," "claims," etc..); continue with a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis) of the work.

Sentence #2: Add an explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis. Use chronological order.

Sentence #3: Continue with a statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an "in order" phrase.

Sentence #4: Conclude with a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with that audience.

Sheridan Baker, in his essay "Attitudes" (1966), asserts that writers’ attitudes toward their subjects, their audiences, and themselves determine to a large extent the quality of their prose. Baker supports this assertion by showing examples of how inappropriate attitudes can make writing unclear, pompous, or boring, concluding that a good writer "will be respectful toward his audience, considerate toward his readers, and somehow amiable toward human failings" (58). His purpose is to make his readers aware of the dangers of negative attitudes in order to help them become better writers. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of college students who are interested in learning to write "with conviction" (55).

From The Complete Stylist, 1966; in Elements of the Essay: A Reader for College Writer, Ed. H. Wendell Smith (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1981, 55-57.

**Note the author’s use of quotation from the writing.**

This précis looks fairly simple, doesn’t it? But understand that Woodworth cautions, in her article, that this writing took four students working through an entire class session to come up with this little jewel.

To accomplish this form on one’s own time, follow a specific and directed path:

1. Read your work carefully, taking side notes to identify main points and supports.

2. Read to absorb—go slowly and let the information get into your head. Turn off the TV and the stereo and the IM and the computer if need be!!

3. Immediately write your first reaction to the writing. What is it that impresses you from the start? Who’s the audience? What’s the writer’s attitude toward the subject? What stands out to you about the writing?

4. Let it sit for a bit!!

5. Write a beginning DRAFT of the précis—and understand it’s going to be messy and a bit hair-pulling at first, but you’ll get there.

6. Condense, condense, condense.

7. Revise, revise, revise.

8. Be proud of your précis.

A good précis demands critical thinking and TIME. Don’t hurry the process—it’ll save you time in your research project, but it’ll drive you nuts if you try to rush through the process.

One of the biggest benefits in using this "summation form" to look at your sources comes in helping you identify the heart of that source—you can see immediately what connects with or supports your research. You can then make more accurate choices for YOUR project and weed out unnecessary info that can clog your writing process. By forcing yourself to "boil down to basics," you gain a clearer understanding of the reading as well as its connections to your research project, and you can use the information more effectively.