Précis Under a Strict Word Limit: Selecting and Compressing
A student must reduce the following 105-word passage to a précis of no more than 40 words for a notice board:
'Handwriting is slower than typing, yet it leaves a different trace on memory. When students write by hand, they cannot record every word of a lecture; they must listen, select and compress. That very effort forces them to process meaning rather than transcribe sound. Typing encourages completeness, and completeness can become a substitute for thought. Schools that have dropped handwriting practice often report faster note-taking but weaker recall of concepts. The answer is not to ban keyboards but to teach both tools deliberately: use the pen when understanding must be built, and the keyboard when speed and storage matter most.'
The teacher adds: preserve the contrast and the recommendation; do not copy whole phrases; do not add your own opinion.
1. Write the précis in no more than 40 words. Then explain two deletions you made and why they were safe to cut.
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Précis: Handwriting is slower than typing but forces selection and deeper processing, aiding memory; typing favours speed and completeness. Schools should teach both deliberately: pens for understanding, keyboards for speed and storage. (31 words)
Deletions: I cut the lecture example ('they cannot record every word of a lecture') because it illustrates the general claim that handwriting forces selection; the claim survives without the example. I cut the report about schools that dropped handwriting practice because it is supporting evidence for weaker recall, not a new main point. I kept the contrast (slower versus faster/completer) and the recommendation (teach both deliberately), as required. I also avoided copying long phrases: 'process meaning rather than transcribe sound' became 'deeper processing', and 'when speed and storage matter most' became 'for speed and storage'. The précis does not add an opinion such as 'handwriting is better', which the passage explicitly refuses.
2. Which sentence would best begin the paragraph that follows the précis? Choose one and justify: (a) 'Thus, handwriting is clearly better.' (b) 'The claim is not that one tool is superior, but that each has a purpose.' (c) 'In conclusion, typing is harmful.'
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Best choice: (b). It accurately reflects the passage's balanced recommendation: the writer says 'The answer is not to ban keyboards but to teach both tools deliberately.' Sentence (b) preserves that balance and sets up a paragraph explaining the purposes of each tool.
(a) overstates the passage. The writer says handwriting aids memory but does not claim it is 'clearly better' in all respects. (c) is also too strong and is not supported: typing 'encourages completeness', which can substitute for thought, but the passage does not say typing is harmful. Both (a) and (c) turn a nuanced contrast into a one-sided judgement. In a précis follow-up, the topic sentence must match the précis's scope; otherwise the paragraph will argue beyond the source. Choice (b) is also more formal and less conversational than the alternatives.
3. The teacher says 'do not copy whole phrases'. How did that constraint affect your choice of wording, and what is one risk of paraphrasing too aggressively?
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The constraint pushed me to convert the source's verbs and clauses into shorter noun phrases: 'they must listen, select and compress' became 'forces selection', and 'completeness can become a substitute for thought' became 'favours speed and completeness'. This is not decoration; compression requires grammatical restructuring because the 40-word limit leaves no room for the source's examples and repetitions. I kept key terms such as 'handwriting', 'typing' and 'memory' because replacing them with vague synonyms would lose precision.
The risk of aggressive paraphrase is distortion. If I had rewritten 'completeness can become a substitute for thought' as 'typing makes students thoughtless', I would have turned a warning into an absolute accusation. Similarly, 'teach both tools deliberately' could become 'ban neither tool', which changes a positive recommendation into a negative one. A précis must be shorter and differently worded, but it must not invent a stronger claim, drop the qualification, or alter the relationship between the two tools.