Synopsis writing

Synopsis

Definition:

A Synopsis is a brief summary or overview.

It is a brief restatement of the essential thought of a longer composition.

It reproduces the theme of the original with as few words as possible.

Writing Techniques

The procedure of synopsis writing: Reading---Writing---Revision

(1) Reading

A. Read the passage through carefully to get the gist of it.

B. Give a title to your summary.

C. Decide what parts of the passage are essential and what parts are comparatively unimportant and can be omitted without much loss.

D. Jot down in brief notes the main points ---the subject, the title, and the details which you consider essential or important.

(2) Writing

A. A synopsis should usually be about 1/3 to 1/4 as long as the original passage.

B. The synopsis should be all in your words. ( It must not be a patchwork (拼凑物) made up of phrases and sentences quoted from the original passage.

C. Follow the logical order of the original passage.

D. The synopsis should be self-contained. It must convey the message of the original fully and clearly. ( so that your reader need no reference to the original to understand what its main ideas are.)

E. Tips of synopsis writing

a. Omit the details. (Only the important points should be included)

b. Reduce the examples. (Out of 5-6 examples given in the original passage, 1or 2 may be chosen for the synopsis.)

c. Simplify the descriptions. (If in the passage, there are 10 sentences describing a person or an object, it will be enough to keep one or two)

d. Eliminate all repetitions.

e. Compress wordy sentences and change phrases to words.

Ex. His courage in battle might without exaggeration be called lionlike.

---He was very brave in battle.

Ex. He was hard up for money and was being pressed by his creditor.

---He was in financial difficulties.

f. Use general words instead of specific words.

Ex. She bought home several Chinese and English novels, a few copies of Time and Newsweek and some textbooks. She intended to read all of them during the winter vacation.

---She bought home a lot of books and magazines to read during the vacation.

g. Use the shortest transitions.

Ex. At the same time---then

On the other hand---but

h. Put the main points of a dialogue in indirect speech.

Ex. Kate looked at Paul disapprovingly: “You use too much salt on your food,----It’s not at all good for you!”

---Kate suggested to Paul that he should eat salt less.

(3) Revision

a. Compare with the original one

b. Compress by remodeling sentences

c. Correct mistakes

d. Make the language simple and direct.

Synopsis of Romeo and Juliet The Capulets（凯普莱特，朱丽叶家族） and the Montagues （蒙太古，罗密欧家族）are sworn enemies（世仇）. Romeo goes to the assembly made by old lord Capulet and then meets and falls in love with Juliet. After the supper, Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchard and makes himself known to her and they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence, they are secretly married the next day. The same day, Tybalt（提尔伯特，朱丽叶表兄） and Mercutio（马库修，罗密欧好友） fight till Mercutio falls and dies. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo slays Tybalt. The Prince exiles Romeo from Verona. Capulet, threatens to disown（脱离关系） her when she refuses to marry Count Paris（维罗纳亲王亲戚）.

Juliet visits Friar（修士） Laurence for help, and he offers her a potion that will put her into a deathlike coma （昏迷）for 24 hours and promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo. The messenger does not reach Romeo. Romeo learns of Juliet's apparent death and goes to the Capulet crypt.（墓穴） Romeo encounters Paris and kills him. Still believing Juliet to be dead, he drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud（长期争斗）.

On Various Kinds of Thinking

-----James Harvey Robinson

A third kind of thinking is stimulated when anyone questions our belief and opinions. We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told that we are wrong we resent the imputation(归罪) and harden our hearts.

We are incredibly heedless（不留心的） in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit（不正当的） passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is obviously not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem, which is threatened. We are by nature stubbornly pledged to（承诺） defend our own from attack, whether it be our person, our family, our property, or our opinion. We may surrender, but rarely confess ourselves vanquished（被征服）. In the intellectual world at least peace is without victory.

Few of us take the pains to study the origin of our cherished convictions; indeed, we have a natural repugnance（抵触） to so doing. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true, and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions leads us to seek every manner of excuse for clinging （依附）to them. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do.

Synopsis

A third kind of thinking occurs when we are told that our beliefs and opinions are wrong. We may have been heedless in their formation, but our self-esteem will not permit us to change. We may have to give up, but we are not convinced. We do not study the origin of our beliefs; we believe as we have been accustomed to believe, and we seek arguments for continuing to believe as we already do.