The Five Sentence Summary

The 5 Sentence Summary

1st Sentence: Include the author (if known) and title of the work and a brief who-what (Who the story is about – and what that person does - in General). This sentence should be able to stand alone as a brief summary. Avoid “The story LRRH is about. . .” by using an ACTION verb.

In the traditional tale, “LittleRed Riding Hood,” a young girl travels through the woods with a basket of food to visit her sick grandmother.

The 5 Sentence Summary

2nd Sentence-4th Sentence: 3 main details from the item in chronological (time) order with transitions (first, second, later, then, etc.). Other organizational patterns and transitions may

be applied as necessary.

In the beginning, Little Red Riding Hood is warned to stay on the path and avoid talking to strangers. She promptly ignores her mother’s advice and tells a wolf all about her grandmother. After that, the wolf races to the grandmother’s house, kills her, and takes her place, intending to kill LRRH when she arrives.

The 5 Sentence Summary

5th Sentence : Tell how the item ends.

In the end, Little Red Riding Hood escapes, enlists the help of a woodcutter to kill the wolf, and all live happily ever after.

The 5 Sentence Summary

DO NOT: Comment on what you are summarizing.

I really liked the story “Little Red Riding Hood.”

The 5 Sentence SummaryRemember: Words in a title are capitalized, and titles should be marked in one of two ways:1. underlined or italicized: Complete works such as a book, magazine, Movie title2. “Title” (Put in quotations): Short or partial works, such as the titles of short stories, articles, chapters, and poems

Night (Novel)“The Iliad” (Epic Poem)Newsweek (Magazine)To Kill a Mockingbird (Novel)“The White Heron” (Short Story)“After Apple Picking” (Poem)“Turk Boys Overcome 48 Year Drought” (Article)

The 5 Sentence Summary

1st Sentence: Include the author and title of the work (if applicable) and a brief overview of the item, including a who-what. This sentence should be able to stand alone as a brief summary. Try to avoid “The novel Something Wicked This Way Comes is about. . .” by using an ACTION verb.

In the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes , by Ray Bradbury, two young boys try to avoid the temptations presented by a magical, evil traveling carnival.

The 5 Sentence Summary

2nd Sentence-4th Sentence: 3 main details from the item in chronological (time) order with transitions (first, second, later, then, etc.). Other organizational patterns and transitions may be applied as necessary.

At the beginning, the boys watch the carnival arrive and anticipate a fun time. After seeing the magical carousel causing the carnival owner to become young, they disagree about whether to try to sneak on to become older. Later, both boys realize the danger posed by the carnival and attempt to hide from the other carnival owner, Mr. Dark.

The 5 Sentence Summary

5th Sentence: Tell how the item ends.

In the end, with the help of one boy’s dad, they defeat the carnival using the power of laughter and hope, but they recognize that the evil brought out by the carnival will likely return in some other form another day.

The 5 Sentence Summary

DO NOT: Comment on what you are summarizing.

I was disturbed by the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes.

The 5 Sentence SummaryRemember: Words in a title are capitalized, and titles should be marked in one of two ways:1. underlined or italicized: Complete works such as a book, magazine, Movie title2. “Title” (Put in quotations): Short or partial works, such as the titles of short stories, articles, chapters, and poems

The Catcher in the Rye (Novel)“The Iliad” (Epic Poem)Newsweek (Magazine)To Kill a Mockingbird (Novel)“The White Heron” (Short Story)“After Apple Picking” (Poem)“Turk Boys Overcome 48 Year Drought” (Article)