Top 6 Best Essays on 'Practice Summarizing Narrative Texts'

Question 1.

To summarize the short story 'Lão Hạc' by Nam Cao

Order: b -> a -> d -> c -> g -> e -> I -> g -> h -> k.

Summary of 'Lão Hạc':

'Lão Hạc has a son, a plot of land, and a dog. His son went to work at a rubber plantation, leaving Lão Hạc with only the dog, Cậu Vàng. To preserve the land for his son, Lão Hạc reluctantly sold the dog, although he was heartbroken. He sent the money he saved to the teacher and asked him to take care of the land. Life grew increasingly difficult, and Lão Hạc subsisted on whatever he could find, rejecting the teacher's offers of help. One day, he asked Binh Tư for some poison to kill the dog that kept visiting the garden, and they drank together. The teacher was deeply saddened when Binh Tư shared this. Then, Lão Hạc suddenly died in a violent manner. No one in the village understood the reason for his death, except Binh Tư and the teacher.'

Question 2.

Anh Dậu, who was sick, was also assaulted by henchmen, tied up, and dragged to the commune for not paying the tax. Beaten and tortured to the point of near death, he was carried back to his wife. Thanks to a neighbor’s kindness, his wife was able to feed him. Just as she was trembling and bringing the porridge to his mouth, the tax collector and the village chief's family barged in with whips and ropes, demanding the tax payment. Anh Dậu collapsed in fear. His wife, terrified, begged them for more time. But they refused, threatening to beat Anh Dậu. His wife turned pale and desperately pleaded for mercy, but the tax collector punched her and continued to tie Anh Dậu up. At this point, she was so enraged that she fought back, challenging them with all the strength of her love for her husband and her latent resistance. Pushed to the brink, she fought fiercely with an unyielding attitude.

Question 3.

The stories 'I Went to School' by Thanh Tịnh and 'In My Mother's Heart' by Nguyên Hồng are difficult to summarize. – Both texts are excerpts from their respective works 'Motherland' and 'Childhood Days'.

– 'I Went to School' is a short story filled with nostalgia. Beyond its deep emotions, the author created beautiful, striking imagery, but with no clear or fixed sequence, making it hard to summarize.

– 'In My Mother's Heart' is an excerpt from the fourth chapter of Nguyên Hồng's memoir 'Childhood Days'. It tells of little Hồng’s sad and lonely experience after losing his father and being separated from his mother. Due to the true-to-life nature of memoirs, the author recounts events based on memory, resulting in a non-linear sequence, which makes it difficult to summarize.

Question 1: The misery and the beauty of Lão Hạc's character.

To summarize the short story Lão Hạc by Nam Cao, a student outlines the key events and characters, arranging them in the correct order within the text.

Order: b -> a -> d -> c -> g -> e -> I -> g -> h -> k.

Recommended reading: The relationship between material and consciousness.

a. Lão Hạc's misery.

– So poor that he couldn't even afford a wedding for his son, who, in frustration, left to earn money. The son is mentioned but never appears directly. Yet, the mere “hint” of his character allows us to imagine a tragic fate: so poor that a marriage was out of the question. He left, only to end up at a rubber plantation, with no guarantee of return. Rubber is easy to go but hard to come back!

– After saving a little money from the garden's produce for his son, he was struck by illness and spent all of it. Lão Hạc returned to square one, with nothing left.

– With his son gone, Lão Hạc had only his dog, Cậu Vàng, to ease his loneliness. But Cậu Vàng was too expensive to maintain, so Lão Hạc had to sell him.

– Without income, and in a situation where “every penny spent comes from his grandchild’s inheritance,” Lão Hạc resorted to eating sweet potatoes, then bananas, boiled soursop, water spinach, and wild yam... basically anything he could get his hands on.

– His final decision: suicide. Desperation had reached its peak, and with no way out, Lão Hạc chose a painful and tragic death.

b. The beauty of Lão Hạc's character.

– Despite appearing eccentric, foolish, and lonely, Lão Hạc was a man of noble character. He was kind-hearted, even towards his dog. With his son gone, Cậu Vàng helped alleviate his loneliness. Lão’s happiness and sadness mirrored that of Cậu Vàng. Lão loved his son dearly. After losing his wife early, he poured all his affection into raising his son. He kept the garden for the sake of his son. Lão even sought death for his son’s future (he still had money when he died). This was an enormous sacrifice.

He was a man of dignity, even preparing money for his own death to avoid being a burden to anyone.

Question 2:

The key event: The neighbor gave a bowl of rice to cook porridge, and when the porridge was ready, chị Dậu let it cool. She carried the porridge to give to her husband, anh Dậu, but before he could eat, the police arrived. She pleaded with them, but they still bound anh Dậu. The chief insulted and beat chị Dậu. She fought back fiercely, determined to go to prison rather than let them continue tormenting her. Summary of the excerpt 'Tức nước vỡ bờ': Chị Dậu's family had to sell their child and all their dogs to pay the tax for anh Dậu. However, the chief demanded that the tax be paid for anh Dậu's deceased uncle. With nothing left to sell, anh Dậu, ill, was dragged out and beaten half to death. A neighbor gave chị Dậu rice to make porridge, which she cooled and prepared to give to anh Dậu. Before she could serve it, the chief and the village head’s men barged in. Despite chị Dậu’s pleas, they tried to abuse anh Dậu. chị Dậu rushed to stop them, and when the chief attempted to strike, she threw him off balance. When the headman's men raised their sticks to strike, chị Dậu grabbed one by the hair and tossed him down the steps. She fought back vehemently, willing to go to prison rather than allow them to continue their tyranny.

Question 3:

Both works, 'Tôi đi học' by Thanh Tịnh and 'Trong lòng mẹ' by Nguyên Hồng, are hard to summarize because they focus on describing emotional states rather than events. These texts emphasize the inner thoughts, feelings, and personal reflections of the characters, not following a straightforward sequence of events but rather a flow of memories or emotions. As such, they are indeed difficult to summarize. However, both works can be summarized as follows: The work 'Tôi đi học' is recounted as a recollection of the narrator’s first day at school. It was a cool autumn morning, with leaves falling, and the boy felt both joyous and anxious: 'Only those skilled can handle a pencil and ruler.' In his new clothes, the boy felt more 'proper and dignified.' When he arrived at school and heard the bell toll three times, he felt nervous about the new experiences and challenges ahead. The kind words of the headmaster encouraged the new students, and the narrator broke into tears, comforted gently by his mother as he entered the classroom. The boy looked at his desk, the classmate beside him, and felt a sense of familiarity, even though he had never met them before. He then put his arm around the desk and obediently began to spell the words his teacher wrote: 'Tôi đi học'... In 'Trong lòng mẹ,' Hồng, an orphan with a stepfather, had to live with his aunt while his mother worked far away. As the anniversary of his father’s death approached, Hồng had not seen his mother, and his aunt constantly criticized her. The aunt's cruel words made Hồng doubt his mother, but despite this, Hồng still held on to the love for his mother, hoping she would return. Finally, after much waiting, on the anniversary of his father’s death, Hồng’s mother came back. They reunited joyfully, and Hồng was happy to once again be in his mother’s embrace, feeling the sweetness of maternal love.

1. Key Concepts to Understand

1.1. Narrative works typically have a plot, characters, details, and significant events. However, some works seem to lack a plot (e.g., certain lyrical short stories by Thạch Lam), making it difficult to summarize them or resulting in overly simple summaries. Summarizing a narrative involves capturing its main characters, details, and key events while omitting irrelevant characters and secondary elements.

1.2. There are different methods for summarizing a narrative work depending on the requirements. However, to effectively summarize a narrative, it’s crucial to read carefully to understand its main theme, identify the core content, and organize the information logically. The summary should faithfully reflect the essence of the work, ensuring objectivity, completeness, and balance.

A. GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE LESSON

I. What is Summarizing a Narrative?

In daily life, we often encounter narrative texts we have studied. To record their main ideas for personal use or to share with others, we must summarize these works.

Summarizing a narrative involves using your own words to concisely present the key content (including significant events and characters) of the text.

The summary should faithfully represent the original content of the narrative.

There are various ways to summarize a narrative, depending on the purpose and specific requirements of the situation.

II. How to Summarize a Narrative

1. Requirements for a summary

- Must reflect the purpose and requirements of the summary.

- Must be objective; no added or omitted details or events compared to the original text; no additional commentary while summarizing.

- Must maintain the integrity of the original text, balancing the coverage of key events, significant characters, and essential elements appropriately.

Read the summary in the textbook (page 60) and answer the following questions:

a) The summary recounts the content of the story "Sơn Tinh, Thủy Tinh" and highlights its main ideas.

b) Differences between a summary and the original work:

– The length of the summary is much shorter than the original text.

– The number of characters and events is reduced in the summary.

– The language of the summary is that of the summarizer, not the original author.

– While key characters are mentioned, not all significant events are covered in full. The reader can understand the basic content of "Sơn Tinh, Thủy Tinh" through the summary. The summarizer needs to add: Thủy Tinh was unable to defeat Sơn Tinh and withdrew but continues to flood annually in revenge.

2. Steps to Summarize a Narrative

To summarize a narrative, one must:

– Carefully read the work: You can only summarize a work accurately if you have read it thoroughly and understood the author’s intent.

– Identify the key content to summarize:

+ The main events that shape the narrative.

+ The important characters.

– Organize the main content logically:

+ The chronological order of events.

+ The appearance of characters in the story.

– Rephrase the identified content in your own words.

B. PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Question 1. The summary of the short story "Lão Hạc" by Nam Cao provided in the textbook (pages 61-63) includes the key events and important characters. However, it lacks coherence and can be rearranged as follows:

a) Lão Hạc has a son, a garden, and a yellow dog.

b) His son works at a rubber plantation, leaving Lão Hạc with only the dog for company.

c) In order to preserve the garden for his son, Lão Hạc sells the dog.

d) He sends the money to the teacher and asks him to take care of the garden.

g) Life becomes increasingly difficult for him, and he falls seriously ill.

e) One day, Lão Hạc asks Binh Tư for some rat poison.

i) The teacher is deeply saddened when he learns about this from Binh Tư.

h) Lão Hạc suddenly dies – a tragic and shocking death.

k) The village doesn’t understand why he died, except for Binh Tư and the teacher.

The summary of "Lão Hạc" is as follows:

Lão Hạc has a son, a garden, and a yellow dog. When his son goes to work at a rubber plantation, Lão Hạc is left alone with only the dog. In order to save the garden for his son, Lão Hạc reluctantly sells the dog. He sends the money he has saved to the teacher, asking him to look after the garden. However, life becomes harder, and Lão Hạc falls gravely ill. One day, he asks Binh Tư for some rat poison. Upon hearing about this, the teacher feels sorrowful. Lão Hạc then suddenly dies in a tragic and shocking manner. The whole village is puzzled by his death, except for Binh Tư and the teacher.

Question 2. Key events and important characters in the excerpt "Tức nước vỡ bờ".

– Due to the lack of money to pay the taxes for his deceased brother, Dậu is beaten by the henchmen.

– An old woman brings some rice to Dậu’s wife so that they can cook porridge for the family.

– As the porridge is cooking, Dậu’s wife is cooling it down when the village head’s men arrive.

– They threaten to demolish Dậu’s house if the money isn’t paid.

– Dậu’s wife pleads for more time, but the village head’s man insists on tying Dậu up.

– Dậu’s wife fights back, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him out the door.

– The village head’s men try to strike Dậu’s wife, but she fights back, grabbing one by the hair and knocking him to the ground.

The summary of the excerpt "Tức nước vỡ bờ" is as follows:

Due to the lack of money to pay the tax for her deceased brother, Dậu is severely beaten by the henchmen. An elderly neighbor, noticing the family hasn’t eaten since the previous day, brings rice for Dậu’s wife to make porridge. When the porridge is ready, as she’s cooling it down, the village head’s men storm in. They aggressively threaten to tear down her house unless the tax is paid. Dậu’s wife desperately pleads for more time, but they insist on tying Dậu up. In a fit of rage, Dậu’s wife seizes the throat of the village head’s man and shoves him outside. The village head’s men approach to strike her, but she struggles fiercely, pulling one by the hair and tossing him to the ground.

Question 3. "Tôi đi học" and "Trong lòng mẹ" are two narrative works that contain few events, characters, or social conflicts. These works primarily explore the inner thoughts of the characters, making them rich in poetic elements. The summaries of the two works are as follows:

– "Tôi đi học": The story is structured as a recollection of the narrator’s first school day. It captures the feelings of excitement, nervousness, and wonderment about the school path, the new clothes, the notebooks, the playground, and the classmates, blending emotions of unfamiliarity and familiarity, uncertainty and confidence, solemnity and emotionality as the narrator enters his first lesson.

– "Trong lòng mẹ": The story is told from the narrator’s perspective. As the anniversary of her father’s death approaches, the boy’s mother, who has been away seeking work in Thanh Hoá, has not returned. His aunt continually makes cutting remarks to him. But when the boy’s mother finally returns, he rushes into her arms, overwhelmed by the happiness of maternal love.

Exercise 1 (page 61, Literature 8, Volume 1)

- The way presented in the textbook is unclear, it can be reorganized into the following points:

b. Lão Hạc has a son, a piece of land, and a golden dog.

a. Lão Hạc's son works as a laborer at a rubber plantation, leaving only “Cậu Vàng” (his dog).

d. To leave the land for his son, Lão Hạc must sell the dog.

c. Lão Hạc sends his savings to the teacher and asks him to take care of the land.

g. Life becomes increasingly difficult, Lão Hạc lives on whatever he can find to eat and falls severely ill.

e. One day, Lão Hạc asks Binh Tư for some poisoned food for the dog.

h. Lão Hạc suddenly dies – a very tragic death.

k. The whole village is puzzled about his death, except for Binh Tư and the teacher.

Exercise 2 (page 61, Literature 8, Volume 1)

Chị Dậu’s family is among the poorest in the village. Due to not having enough money to pay the tax, she has to sell her dogs, her child, and run around to gather the money to pay for her husband’s tax. Anh Dậu is brutally beaten by the henchmen and is carried home by the villagers. An elderly neighbor, seeing the hardship, brings a bowl of rice porridge for Anh Dậu to eat. Before he can eat, the tax collector and the local official’s family arrive to demand the tax payment. Despite Chị Dậu’s desperate pleas, they refuse to relent, beat her, and angrily demand to tie up Anh Dậu. Unable to bear it any longer, Chị Dậu storms forward and throws the tax collector and the local official’s family member to the ground in the yard.

Exercise 3 (page 61, Literature 8, Volume 1)

- The two texts 'I Went to School' and 'In My Mother's Heart' are both narrative texts with few events, characters, and societal conflicts.

- The authors write about their memoirs, focusing mainly on describing the characters’ inner thoughts and emotions, making the texts deeply lyrical. They can be summarized as follows:

+ I Went to School: The story recounts the narrator’s memories of their first school day. It expresses a mix of excitement, nervousness, and awe when encountering the road, the school, and new friends. The feeling is a blend of unfamiliarity and familiarity with everything, both amazed and confident, yet solemnly stepping into the first lesson.

- In My Mother's Heart: As the anniversary of the father's death approaches, the mother, who has been away looking for work, has not yet returned. The aunt keeps reminding little Hồng of his pain with harsh words and a mocking smile. Finally, Hồng is reunited with his mother. Overwhelmed with happiness, he rolls into her arms, feeling the sweet joy of maternal love.

Question 1 (page 61, Literature 8, Volume 1):

The list has highlighted key events and important characters from the story. However, the order is not correct. The correct order should be: b → a → d → c → g → e → I → g → h → k.

- A brief summary of the text Lão Hạc:

Lão Hạc is a poor farmer whose wife died early, and his son couldn't afford to marry, so he left to work on a rubber plantation. Lão lived alone, poor, with his dog, Cậu Vàng, as his only companion. After a severe illness, Lão could no longer work as he did before. Desperate, he made the painful decision to sell Cậu Vàng. He then entrusted his money and land to Mr. Giáo, a poor intellectual who often visited Lão to discuss funeral preparations. Lão lied to Binh Tư, a dog thief, telling him he would use dog bait to catch Cậu Vàng, but in reality, he was ending his own life. Lão died in agony and confusion, with only Binh Tư and Mr. Giáo knowing the truth of his death.

Question 2 (page 62, Literature 8, Volume 1):

The significant events and characters in the excerpt 'Tức nước vỡ bờ' (When the Water Breaks):

- Chị Dậu takes care of her sick husband.

- The tax collector and the landowner's family come in, demanding payment.

- Chị Dậu pleads for an extension, asking to delay the payment.

- The tax collector insists on taking her husband away.

- With no other options, Chị Dậu fights back against them.

- The tax collector and the landowner's family are knocked down by the determined woman.

Question 3* (page 62, Literature 8, Volume 1):

The two texts 'Tôi đi học' (I Go to School) and 'Trong lòng mẹ' (In My Mother's Heart) are difficult to summarize because they are narrative texts but don't contain many events or characters, instead focusing on emotional expression and internal character reflection.

- 'Tôi đi học': The story is a recollection of the narrator's first school day. The feelings of excitement, nervousness, and awe are conveyed as the narrator experiences the sights of the school, classmates, and teachers.

- 'Trong lòng mẹ': After the father passes away, the mother leaves to seek work, leaving young Hồng in an emotionally deprived environment. His aunt constantly criticizes him with harsh words that separate him from his mother. However, Hồng never stops yearning for his mother, and when she returns, he is overwhelmed with joy, feeling warmth and love in her embrace.

Question 1: To summarize the short story 'Lao Hac' by Nam Cao, one student mentions the key events and important characters as follows. Follow along to fulfill the requirements below (see Literature Textbook, Grade 8, Volume 1, pages 61-62).

Answer:

- The list provided covers most of the significant events and important characters from 'Lao Hac.'

- The events are ordered logically as follows: b, a, d, c, g, e, i, h, k.

- Write the summary text:

Lao Hac had a son, a garden, and a yellow dog. His son went to a rubber plantation, leaving Lao Hac with only the dog. In order to preserve the garden for his son, Lao Hac reluctantly sold the dog, though he was deeply saddened. He used all his savings to give to the teacher, entrusting him with the care of the garden. Life became increasingly difficult for Lao Hac, as he only ate what he could find and rejected the teacher's help. One day, Lao Hac went to Binh Tu for some poison to kill the dog that had been disturbing his garden. He invited Binh Tu to drink with him. The teacher was deeply saddened when he heard this from Binh Tu. Later, Lao Hac died a violent death. The entire village was confused about the reason for his death, but only the teacher and Binh Tu understood.

Question 2: List the key events and important characters from the excerpt 'Tuc Nuoc Vo Bo' and then write a summary of the excerpt (about 10 lines).

Answer:

- Key events:

+ After receiving a bowl of rice from a neighbor, Chi Dau hurriedly cooked porridge for her husband and children.

+ Chi Dau brought the bowl of porridge to her husband, lifting him up to sip some porridge to ease his hunger.

+ As soon as Anh Dau raised his head and brought the porridge bowl to his mouth, the chief's assistant and the headman's men barged in.

+ They tried to beat and bind Anh Dau to take him to the commune because of the unpaid taxes of his deceased brother.

+ Chi Dau was frantic, pleading with them to release her husband.

+ They refused to release Anh Dau, even slapping Chi Dau in the face and hitting her chest.

+ Unable to tolerate the injustice, Chi Dau fought back fiercely, knocking down the chief's assistant and throwing the headman's men to the ground.

+ Chi Dau triumphed over the chief's assistant and the headman's men, thinking, 'I'd rather be imprisoned than continue enduring their cruelty.'

- Write the summary:

Due to the unpaid taxes of a deceased relative, Anh Dau was beaten, bound, and dragged to the commune. Just as he was being released, a concerned elderly neighbor brought a bowl of rice for Chi Dau to cook porridge. Anh Dau, about to drink the porridge, was interrupted by the chief's assistant and the headman's men barging in with whips, ready to arrest him. Frightened and desperate, Chi Dau begged them to spare her husband. When they refused, Chi Dau bravely fought back, knocking down the chief's assistant and throwing the headman's men to the ground. In the end, Chi Dau overcame them, thinking, 'I'd rather be imprisoned than endure their tyranny.'

Question 3: There is an opinion that the texts 'I Went to School' by Thanh Tinh and 'In Mother's Heart' by Nguyen Hong are difficult to summarize. Do you agree? Try to summarize both texts.

Answer:

- It is true that 'I Went to School' by Thanh Tinh and 'In Mother's Heart' by Nguyen Hong are difficult to summarize. These are narrative works that are rich in emotional expression but lack detailed events or actions.

- Summarize both texts:

+ 'I Went to School' (Thanh Tinh)

'I Went to School' tells the story of the narrator's feelings on the first day of school. It was a chilly autumn morning, with fallen leaves everywhere. The road to school, once familiar, now seemed strange. Excited but nervous, the narrator had childish thoughts: 'Only those who are skilled can hold a pencil properly.' In a new outfit, the narrator felt more grown-up and serious. Upon arrival at school, after hearing the bell toll, the narrator felt uneasy and afraid of the unknown challenges ahead. The words of the teacher were warm and encouraging, helping the young students enter the classroom. In a moment, the children burst into tears, but the narrator's mother gently guided them into class. The narrator sat at the desk, looked around at the classmates, and felt a sense of comfort, even though they had never met before. Then, sitting at the desk and obediently repeating the teacher's words, 'I went to school...'

+ 'In Mother's Heart' (Nguyen Hong)

Hồng was born out of a forced marriage, without love. His father was a drug addict, and his mother, longing for happiness, spent her youth with him. After the father's death, his mother remarried and was rejected by her new family. Hồng had to live with his indifferent maternal relatives. Despite being far from his mother, Hồng loved and missed her deeply, though he constantly heard cruel words about her from his wealthy but harsh aunt. Hồng felt immense joy and comfort when he finally reunited with his mother and found solace in her loving embrace.