This unit considers how the length of a text affects the kind and amount of
information it can convey, and what aspects of it suffer when it has to be rewritten
in fewer words. The aim of the unit is to show students that what they
know as precis can be related to the way a piece of writing conveys information,
and that the relationship between length and what can be said in that length
is not simple.
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[1] This session requires the class to summarise a passage in the familiar way, but different members of the class should be given different word-limits within which to work. The limits should range from one-eighth to one-half of the original. Circulate the answers for comment, and ask the class to judge which length is most suited to an effective summary of the passage in question. Organise the class into small groups, and ask each group to prepare a summary of a second passage, using a length which they think appropriate to the text.
[2] Circulate these drafts among the groups, and discuss the effect of content on the optimum length for a summary of it. To explore this question further, choose a second passage and again ask the groups to summarise it to differing limits.
[3] This session makes use of the summaries made in [2]. Attach to each a brief editorial instruction calling for further reduction in length and, in older classes, an editing instruction. Allocate each script, with its instructions, to a group other than the one which produced it and ask for the instructions to be carried out.
[4] Assemble the three stages of the work (original material, first summary' and edited summary) for each of the groups and circulate for comment and discussion. Where the lengths specified vary widely, the study of several texts will help a class to see what aspects of a text have to go as the word-limit falls, and how few words may suffice for the basic argument of the passage.
The material required for [3] can be a sample of serious journalism, a set of material such as passages from three different history texts, four different newspaper accounts of the same event, or a set of facts and figures calling for interpretation in written text. The editing instructions can be very diverse, e.g. 'Cut the jargon and halve it.' 'Save 150 words.' 'Our readers aren't babies.' 'Paras 3, 5, 8--clarify or out.' 'You simplify too much.'