Brief retelling
A brief retelling requires special preparation from the student. It is imperative that you practice in advance before giving a brief retelling. This method is not new and is used not only for a brief retelling of a work, but also before a report or public speaking. We recommend making a plan for a brief retelling and if you have difficulty speaking in public, then write it on a piece of paper and take it with you. Many prominent figures always had such a “cheat sheet” with them. Over time, once you have mastered the basic techniques of summarizing, you will find it easy to speak not only in front of your class, but also to larger audiences.
Types of retelling
Retellings can be of several types. They can be classified into different groups.
By volume: brief (compressed), standard, detailed retellings.
- Brief summaries usually consist of a few sentences, regardless of the amount of background information. Such retellings are required when making annotations or when answering in class. They are often called “in a nutshell,” although there are, of course, more words. But such a definition was given in brief retellings due to their compressed data transmission.
- Standard paraphrases contain all the basic information from the source text. They should not omit important events and main characters. These retellings add an introduction and conclusion to summarize the information being conveyed.
- A detailed retelling involves conveying information very closely to the text. There must be an introductory part, the main one, which is divided into the number of chapters, parts available in the source text, and a final part with conclusions and an expression of one’s own opinion on the information.
A detailed retelling cannot be done well without a plan. It is the plan that will help not to miss all the details, to dwell on every significant event described in the original text, to emphasize and concretize the images of the main and minor characters.
By source of information: by listening to the text, by viewing it, by reading it.
The retelling can be based on audio information, for example, it could be news, some sensational messages. A short, concise summary is suitable for this type of retelling. It is important to focus on facts here.
A retelling of a film or TV series you have watched can be either brief or standard. In very rare cases, films are retold in detail, but this is not required. The usual standard retelling is enough to tell about all the interesting moments of the film. If the retelling is of interest, a person will want to personally watch this film with all the missing details.
The most difficult retelling is considered to be a retelling based on what has been read. Reading is generally a difficult process, since a person has to concentrate on the text, use his imagination in order to “see” and feel what is written.
It is very difficult for children, especially in primary school, to retell texts from a textbook, since they see letters, put words and sentences together from them, but still cannot understand the meaning.
It's a shame that schoolchildren are not even taught retelling techniques. They are simply asked to talk about what is written. It is not the same.
Retelling is an art if you take this process seriously. Retelling is an experience, and only then a presentation.
According to the presence of expressive language means: dry retellings, retellings using expressive means, creative ones.
If you just need to talk about what is written in the text, then it is enough to list the events dryly and give a brief description of the characters.
Using the means of expressiveness, we get a living story, as if experienced together with the narrator. Epithets and phraseological units are used here. Such a retelling is not without conveying the emotions and feelings that were caused by the information received.
Creative retellings are supplemented with their own details, introductory words and figurative expressions are used.
Summary
To confidently master summaries of not only literary works, but also performances taking place in culturally significant places, you need to train your memory. Memory training is not a tedious process. Rather, it is a game that you can play by yourself without outside help.
Sooner or later we will have to briefly summarize what we saw or said. For example, at school, when the teacher, after a long monologue, asks you to repeat what “did I just say?” . Here, not only an excellent memory will come to the rescue, but also humor - an undoubted companion of every person. How do we write a summary? The presentation is usually read to us several times. Listen to it for the first time without recording or getting distracted. After you have listened, break the text into parts in your head and highlight the main thing - this is not easy for the first time, but in the future this technique will make your life easier at university. Listening to the presentation a second time, highlight the main thing in each aspect of the presentation. This way the summary will be almost ready. Do not forget the names of the main characters and their relationships in the work.
summary will be incomplete if you miss the climax - this is one of the most important aspects. Of course, watch out for errors not only spelling, but also stylistic ones. Keep in mind that the brief content of the work will remain in your memory for a long time and competent speech is not only an adornment to a person, it is an opportunity to find a common language, to communicate freely not only with your friends, but with strangers. Competent speech is a succinct, concise presentation of not only one’s own thoughts, but other things that saturate our lives.
Summarize. To learn a brief retelling and summary, knowledge of the rules of the Russian language is not enough - you need to train in public speaking, train your brain to memorize. The best way to practice memorization is to learn poetry by heart. In addition to training your brain, memorizing poems will be useful: you can recite a poem at any opportunity: in the company of friends, at a birthday party, on a date or for a walk with your loved one.
As a guide, we provide brief summaries of works of Russian literature:
LITERATURE OF THE XI—XVIII CENTURIES
Prayer of Daniel the Imprisoner
Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh
A Word about Igor's Campaign
Life of Sergius of Radonezh
The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom
Life of Archpriest Avvakum
“Walking across Three Seas” by Afanasy Nikitin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
Poor Lisa
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev
Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin
Minor
LITERATURE OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin Bakhchisarai fountain
Boris Godunov
Dubrovsky
Eugene Onegin
Prisoner of the Caucasus
Captain's daughter
Bronze Horseman
Poltava
Gypsies
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
Dead Souls
Auditor
Taras Bulba
Overcoat
Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov Woe from Wit A brief retelling of the world of the heroes of the comedy “Woe from Wit”
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov Hero of our time - The world of heroes of the work “Hero of our time” in a brief summary and retelling of Mtsyri, The world of heroes of the work “MTSYRI” in a summary
A song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, a young oprichnik and the daring merchant Kalashnikov. The world of heroes of Lermontov's poem
