“Brevity is the soul of wit.” - Shakespeare – Hamlet. Act II, Sec.2 1. Read through the whole passage carefully, once, twice or as many times as you feel it necessary to comprehend clearly its broad meaning. Determine the main idea of the passage. Generally speaking, you should read t thrice; but if you do not grasp the sense completely even then, you should read it again. The comprehension of the sense of the passage depends on your mental equipment and also on the style of the passage. The more well-up you are in English, the quicker you will comprehend the contents of the passage. The easier the passage, the less the labour required to understand it; but if the passage is difficult or complicated, it will have to be read many times and with great concentration. A careful and close study of the given passage is to be made not only for making a précis but also for answering any questions on it. However, précis-writing is a good test of your capacity to read intelligently and get the pith of whatever you read; and this is what your examiner, who sets a question on précis-writing, wants to know. 2. Give a suitable title to your précis, indicating briefly the subject of the passage. It should be as concise and pithy as possible. Beware of vagueness. Supply the title even if the examiner does not ask for it. In making a précis of a long speech or discourse, the title will be a long one because it must indicate as to who delivered the speech and on what occasion. In other cases and most especially in descriptive passages, the title must be concise and pithy. ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’ and a brief title lends an impressive colour to the whole précis.