Retelling an Article Retelling-chart for an article
The steps of article retelling
Find the information about the author and the source of the article.
Read the title and try to guess what this article is about.
Read carefully the first paragraph and scan the rest of the text to find out if you were right. Try to formulate the theme and the problems.
Divide the text into parts and give each of them a heading. Read again if necessary.
Read every paragraph carefully and choose (underline) the key ideas from each paragraph. Pay your attention to statistics and examples.
Make up a summary of the article using the phrases for summary. Try to avoid details and focus on the key information.
Find the sentences which represent the author’s conclusion. If it is implicit try to make surmises about this.
Formulate your opinion.
Think who this article may be interesting or useful to.
Proof-read your review for accuracy. Don’t forget to use the appropriate language!
Remember that the listener (the reader) should be able to understand the article based on your summary alone!
Useful phrases
Title, author and source:
The title of the article I’ve read is …
It was written by … and published in … on …
Theme and problem:
This article is about … / This article tells about …
The article deals with the problem of …
The author discusses the problem(s) / the idea(s) of …
Summary:
At the beginning (of the article) …
… the author says that / tells about / describes / characterizes / gives statistics (examples) / cites = quotes / explains / analyses / underlines / comments on / reveals / touches upon …
Then / Next … / Further on …
At the end …
Author’s conclusion:
In conclusion the author …
The author draws the conclusion that …
Your opinion:
Actually I have read about this problem / topic in … about (three months) ago. That article / that programme was about … It differs from this article in the following ways: …
As far as I know …
Frankly speaking, I have never come across this problem / topic.
I agree / disagree with the author that ….
On the one hand …, on the other hand ….
In my opinion …
To my mind …
As for me …
I was surprised to read that …
There was some new information for me: …
I find this text …
- interesting / boring
- funny / serious
- up-to-date / out-of-date
- instructive
- informative
In conclusion I’d like to say that …
Recommendations:
I think this article may be interesting / helpful to …
Retelling a Story Retelling-chart for a story
Useful phrases
Title and author:
The title of the story I’ve read is …
The story was written by …
Characters:
The main character is …
The main characters are …
There are (two) characters: …
This is a story about a man (a woman) who … (whose name is …)
Setting:
The action takes place in … (when and where?)
Plot:
(retell 5-7 main events from the story in a chronological order)
To begin with … This is how the story begins.
The problem was that …
The problem was solved when …
At the beginning … / First …
Then … / Next …
At the end … / Finally …
Author’s message:
I think the main idea of the story is that …
Your opinion:
As for me …
I have (never) heard (have read) a similar story. It was about …
I like (dislike) the story.
My favourite character is … because …
My favourite part is where / about … because …
I especially dislike …
I find this story …
… interesting / funny / boring.
… instructive / informative / empty.
… up-to-date / out-of-date.
If such a story happened to me, I would …
If I could change this story I would …