= Partner SiteSummary
A summary of a story recounts it in a succinct way and includes only the most important information, ideas, or details. It may include supporting details to the main idea as well as the sequence of the story (e.g. beginning, middle, end or chronological order).
Granville Tailer Woods was born in 1856. It is thought that his mother may have been Native American and his father was black. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where he went to school until he was ten years old. At that time he went to work to learn how…
Henry drew his fist back, ready to let it fly. “Halt!” yelled Constable Evans. “All you do is get into brawls, Henry.” Henry glared at the teen who would have received his punch. “Yeah, fighting is in my blood. One day I will lead men with that fighting spirit.” When…
Famed naturalist John Muir went with a group of shepherds into the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1869. The shepherds were taking their flock to summer pasture. It was Muir’s first trip into these mountains, and he would return many more times. This passage is from his diary of the trip.…
O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter, wrote the short story “The Gift of the Magi.” It was published in 1910. Below are the opening paragraphs of the story. ———————- One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved…
“Hey, Ben, let’s go ride to the park,” called Dion. He and Thomas were on their bikes and wanted Ben to come along. Ben shook his head sadly. All of his friends had bicycles. He did not. Ben wished he had one so he could go riding with his friends.…
Heidi is the story of a young girl who goes to live in the mountains of Switzerland with her grandfather. She makes friends with Peter, a neighbor boy who herds goats. In this passage, Heidi is with Peter when he takes the goats to the pasture on the mountainside. Two…
Lewis Carroll’s delightful story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tells of an English girl named Alice who explores a strange world. In this passage, Alice has been attending a trial of the Knave of Hearts who is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Just as Alice is called as a witness,…
Swara liked her teacher, Ms. Gooden. She liked her so much that she helped her clean up after school. She wiped the desks off with a wet cloth. “Thank you very much, Swara,” said Ms. Gooden. “See you tomorrow.” Swara picked up her backpack and went outside. It was warm and sunny. She was about…
Once upon a time there was a king and queen who for a very long time had no children, and when at length a little daughter was born to them they were so pleased that they gave a christening feast to which they invited a number of fairies. But, unfortunately,…
Prometheus is the son of a Titan, one of the early gods of Greek mythology. The Titans fought Zeus, called here by his Roman name, Jupiter. The king of the Titans was Cronus, called here by his Roman name, Saturn. ———————————- In those old, old times, there lived two brothers…
