A précis of an article is an abridged, condensed version of the original article. The goal of a précis is to quite literally 're-present' the article in a shortened form. Hence, a précis does not evaluate, provide interpretation, nor add any material to the article.

Keep what is essential. For philosophical articles, such essential features will include, but not necessarily be restricted to:

(i) the thesis of the article,
(ii) any theories or principles relevant to the thesis
(iii) any arguments essential for arriving at the thesis.

Style:

1. Title: Précis of [Author's Name]'s "[Title of Article/Work]"
2. Each précis is to be double spaced, in a standard 12 point font, and have at least one inch margins on all four sides.
3. Your name and pledge should appear at the end of the précis.
4. All direct quotations are to be in quotation marks and followed by page reference in parentheses. Nothing else requires citation, since the entire précis is a rewriting of the original article cited in the title. Avoid relying on quotations--an acceptable précis comprised primarily of quotations is extremely difficult to pull off.
5. Write in the author's voice--you are providing a condensed version of the article, not a report of what the author says--Eg. Write: "Minds are non-physical thinking substances." rather than "Descartes holds minds are non-physical thinking substances." or "The author thinks minds are non-physical thinking substances."
6. Maintain the order and organization of the original article as much as possible. Reorder or reorganize only in those cases in which such reorganization more clearly presents the essential line of argument.

Evaluation:
Précis will be graded out of 20. Late précis will not be accepted. Some relevant questions that the grader will ask:

Does the précis omit essential parts of the original document?

Does the précis include extraneous parts of the original document?

Does the précis misrepresent the original document?

Does the précis include material not in the original document or attempt to evaluate or interpret the original document?

Does the précis satisfy the stylistic requirements set out above?

Would someone who has never read the original document have a clear and generally accurate understanding of the original document after reading the précis?