10 Rules of Precis Writing in English, Precis Writing Tips for Students.

Precis Writing

A precis is an abstract or abridgment of a given passage. While making a precis, the following points should be borne in mind:

1. The student should read the given passage a number of times to under-stand its meaning thoroughly.
2. Then the main points in the proper, sequence should be jotted down.
3. A rough precis comprising about one-third the numbers of words in the given passage should be written down with the help of the points jotted down.
4. The fair precis should be written down after the student is satisfied in all respects with the rough precis.
5. The precis should be written, as far as possible in student’s own language, words, phrases and sentences should not be copied from the given passage.
6. It should contain only the main points. All repetitions, quotations, illustrations, proverbs, digressions etc. should be excluded.
7. There should be a proper sequence of ideas, such that precis looks like a literary piece and not a jumble of words.
8. The language used should be simple and idiomatic but not bombastic.
9. Sentences should be short and pithy long bombastic sentences should be avoided.
10. The precis should be written, as far as possible, in third person, in past tense and in indirect speech.
11. The title must be given even if the student is asked to do so or not.