Explain how you actually go about writing a précis depends largely on your ability to restate the writer’s central ideas after you have assimilated them in your own mind.

I’ve attached a pdf of what you’re supposed to read for this gig. How to prepare a précis: A summary or a précis is NOT a personal interpretation of a work or an expression of your opinion of the idea; it is, rather, an exact replica in miniature of the work, often reduced to one-quarter to one-fifth of its size, in which you express the complete argument! What actually happens when you write a précis? First, you must understand the complete work so that you can abstract the central argument and express it cogently and completely. Next, you must develop the argument exactly as the writer has presented it AND reduce the work by 75-80% of its size. Of course, this is possible when you consider exactly how you “learn” to critically read the work. The key word here is assimilation. When you read the material, it is probable that you will understand only those parts which have associations within your own experience (intellectual, emotional, physical, cultural, class, gender, sexuality etc.).How you actually go about writing a précis depends largely on your ability to restate the writer’s central ideas after you have assimilated them in your own mind.’ Your précis assignments may be a minimum of 2 paragraphs or maximum 4 paragraphs in length. Your first paragraph should provide a review of the broader topic and perhaps mention the encyclopedia or documentary assignments. However, your second paragraph should annotate/summarize one of the main readings on that week’s topic(s) from  your books or articles available on music & media reserves. Should you choose to read additional chapters, articles, you may annotate them and include your summary as your third paragraph and if you are ambitious and are inclined to read even a third article/chapter— included as a fourth paragraph.