english grammar

PRECIS-WRITING A precis (A French word ( pronounced pressee) connected with the English word Precise) is a summary, and precis-writing means summarising. Precis-writing is an exercise in compression. A precis is the gist or main theme of a passage expressed in as few words as possible. It should be lucid, succinct, and full (i.e. including all essential points), so that anyone on reading it may be able to grasp the main points and general effect of the passage summarised. Precis-writing must not be confused with paraphrasing. A paraphrase should reproduce not only the substance of a passage, but also all its details. It will therefore be at least as long as, and probably longer than, the original. But a precis must always be much shorter than the original; for it is meant to express only the main theme, shorn of all unimportant details, and that as tersely as possible. As the styles of writers differ, some being concise and some diffuse, no rigid rule can be laid down for ...