Mastering Precis Writing: Extracting Main Points Clearly and Concisely

Essay, Pages 2 (332 words)

Views

621

Precis Writing

While making precis of a given passage, one should aim at extracting its main points, expressing them clearly and as briefly as possible. The aim of precis is to be concise, but it must not result in abrupt transitions of thoughts, inadequate expressions or jerky broken sentences. Precis writing must be written in good literary form.

Qualities Essential to Precis Writing

Compactness
Conciseness
Clarity
Coherence
Steps to Effective Precis Writing

Precis writers cannot afford to show the flourishes of learning, the flights of imagination, and rhetorical talent.

Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on

“ Mastering Precis Writing: Extracting Main Points Clearly and Concisely ”

Get custom paper

NEW! smart matching with writer

A Precis writer can neither add nor exclude, not even a single idea from the given passage. Do not add your comments. Precis writers should aim at remodeling. It is not supposed to use the same sentences. It will have to present the writer’s ideas in his own words in a lucid style. Precis writing should be written in indirect speech and the third person. It should be written in the past tense.

Precis writer should confine himself to that word limit which is generally about 1/3 or 1/4 of the length of the original passage. There should be a link between the sentences, each developing out of the previous one. Jerkiness or abruptness should be avoided. Precis writing may be divided into sections or paragraphs but these may not appear as separate notes. A Precis writer must have a firm hold on vocabulary, for this can help us write the passage more briefly.

If we find that we have exceeded the number of words, we can cut down the words further by a little bit of literary pruning.

For eg- Men who mane illicit liquor-bootlegger, a work whose author is unknown- anonymous. Precis writing must be written in correct grammatical form.