The Glenfiddich Summary (In Response to Swales & Feak pp.105-130).

A good summary is like a good whisky! That's because a good summary is a distillation of premium substance - and in the case of writing, this "substance" is information. Distillation is both a process and a craft. The challenge in writing (as in good brewing and distillation) however remains to capture the same premium quality substance as one would hope to do in the creation of a good whisky. This can only be done through patience . . . taking time . . . time is needed to both digest the information and divide the important from that which is less important, as well as to capture the important information in a form that does justice to the unique qualities of the "raw material" / "ingredients" / source material that was used in the creation of the distilled product. In other words, the final product should never lose touch with the character of the uniqueness of its origin (as the latest product sourced from a chain of continuous origins, so to speak), and should be representative of 'balance' (p.105). In this sense, writing a good summary demands sensitivity - the hallmark of the great craftsperson.