How+to+Summarize

When you summarize sections or chapters of these works of fiction, you will need to use no more than five sentences. This is not a hard and fast rule; it is simply something that you will need to do for these books. It is difficult to summarize with these restrictions, but you can do it. Try this (your summary doesn't have to be in this exact order):

 Who: Who's involved?  What: What are they doing?  Where: Where are they doing this?  Why: What seems to be their motive?  How: How are they accomplishing this?

 (There is a "When" part to the usual "Five W's", but it does not need to be included here.)

 Following an excerpt of __Birthmarked__ by Caragh O'Brien is a very short summary using the above suggestion:

 In the dim hovel, the mother clenched her body into one final, straining push, and the baby slithered out into Gaia’s ready hands.  “Good job,” Gaia said. “Wonderful. It’s a girl.”  The baby cried indignantly, and Gaia breathed a sigh of relief as she checked for toes and fingers and a perfect back. It was a good baby, healthy and well formed, if small. Gaia wrapped the child in a blanket, then held the bundle toward the flickering firelight for the exhausted mother to see.  Gaia wished her own mother were there to help, especially with managing the afterbirth and the baby. She knew, nor­mally, she wasn’t supposed to give the baby to the mother to hold, not even for an instant, but now the mother was reaching and Gaia didn’t have enough hands.  “Please,” the young woman whispered. Her fingers becko­ned tenderly.  The baby’s cries subsided, and Gaia passed her over. She tried not to listen to the mother’s gentle, cooing noises as she cleaned up between her legs, moving gently and efficiently as her mother had taught her. She was excited and a little proud. This was her first delivery, and it was an unassisted delivery, too. She had helped her mother many times, and she’d known for years that she would be a midwife, but now it was finally real.  Almost finished. Turning to her satchel, she drew out the small teakettle and two cups that her mother had given her for her sixteenth birthday, only a month ago. By the light of the coals, she poured water from a bottle into the kettle. She stoked up the fire, seeing the burst of yellow light gleam over the mother with her small, quiet bundle.

 I**n a poor house which appears to have no electricity, 16 year old Gaia delivers her first baby as a midwife. She is successful, unassisted, and excited because she had always wanted to be a midwife. The baby is perfect, but for some reason Gaia isn't supposed to give the baby to the mother to hold.**

<span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> Who: Gaia, a 16 year old midwife, baby and new mother <span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> What: Gaia is delivering her first baby <span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> Where: A poor home with no electricity <span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> Why: Mom in labor. For some reason, Gaia's own mom is not there. <span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> How: Normal birth, Gaia is unassisted; she gives the baby to the mom, even though she isn't supposed to.

<span style="color: #1867a5; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Borrowed from The Human Project Lives