Lesson 3: Avoiding Redundancy and Irrelevance

🟦 Introduction

One major reason students lose marks in WASSCE summaries is including too much information—especially things that repeat or go off-topic.

A good summary should be:

• Concise (no extra words),

• Focused (only the relevant points),

• Clear (no repetition or rambling).

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to:

• Spot and remove redundant expressions,

• Avoid irrelevant information,

• Write summaries that go straight to the point—and impress examiners.

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What is Redundancy?

Redundancy means using more words than necessary, often repeating the same idea.

🟨 Why avoid redundancy?
In summary writing, you have a limited number of lines—every word must earn its place!

2. What is Irrelevance?

Irrelevant information is any idea or detail that:

• Does not support the main point,

• Goes off-topic,

• Adds colour but not substance.

Example: If a passage is about the effects of pollution, a sentence about a character’s favourite food is irrelevant—even if it’s well-written.

🟨 In a summary, good writing is not enough—only the right content matters.

3. How to Avoid Redundancy and Irrelevance

✅ Ask: “Is this point essential to the main idea?”
✅ Combine overlapping ideas.
✅ Remove adjectives and examples unless they’re required for meaning.
✅ Skip emotional or dramatic language.

4. Practice Rule of Thumb

🧭 Step-by-Step Walkthrough

🔸 Sample Passage:

“Obesity has become a global health concern. This is due to excessive consumption of junk food, lack of physical activity, and sedentary lifestyles. Many people, especially in cities, eat processed food and rarely exercise. Some even drive to places they could easily walk to. This unhealthy trend has contributed to a rise in heart diseases, diabetes, and other health complications.”

Step 1: Identify the Main Ideas

• Obesity is a major health issue.

• Causes: poor diet, inactivity, sedentary living.

• Results: heart disease, diabetes, other illnesses.

Step 2: Remove Redundancies and Irrelevance

❌ “Some even drive to places they could easily walk to.”
— This example is too specific and adds no new idea.

❌ “Unhealthy trend” → could just be “This has led to…”

✅ Summary Point:
“Obesity is caused by poor diet and lack of exercise and leads to serious health problems.”

🟨 Practice Exercises

Exercise A: Spot and Remove Redundancy

Choose the better version of each sentence.

1. A. “The final outcome of the project was a complete success.”
   B. “The outcome of the project was a success.”
   ✅ Answer: B

2. A. “Each and every student must submit their form.”
   B. “Every student must submit their form.”
   ✅ Answer: B

3. A. “We must collaborate and work together to win.”
   B. “We must collaborate to win.”
   ✅ Answer: B

Exercise B: Identify Irrelevant Sentences

Read this paragraph and cross out the irrelevant part.

“Global warming is causing sea levels to rise and extreme weather patterns to occur. Many scientists believe that this trend is due to increased greenhouse gases. I remember visiting the beach once and seeing very high tides. The situation is becoming dangerous for island nations.”

✅ Irrelevant sentence:
“I remember visiting the beach once and seeing very high tides.”
— Personal experience that doesn’t support the summary.

Exercise C: Rewrite Without Redundancy or Irrelevance

Original: “The main cause for the disease outbreak was because of poor hygiene conditions and dirty environments, which was the main factor that caused the disease.”

✅ Improved Version:
“The disease outbreak was caused by poor hygiene and dirty environments.”

🔁 Recap

In this lesson, you’ve learned that:

• Redundancy repeats ideas unnecessarily and wastes space.

• Irrelevance includes extra information that distracts from the main point.

• Effective summary writing is tight, clear, and sharply focused.

• Practice trimming your writing down to just the core essentials.

🪞 Reflection Prompt

Find a paragraph from a book, newspaper, or article.

• Identify the main idea.

• Remove any redundant words or irrelevant details.

• Rewrite the core message in one clear, concise sentence.