recapitulating

Recapitulating is the act of summarizing or restating the essential points of a text, speech, sequence, or phenomenon. In general usage, it denotes a concise restatement that helps reinforce understanding or memory. In rhetoric and pedagogy, recapitulation often serves to reinforce the message by briefly reiterating core ideas, findings, or conclusions at the end of a section or presentation.

In music, recapitulation refers to a formal section of sonata form in which the principal themes heard in the exposition return in the home key, typically after the development. This restatement provides resolution and unity to the movement, and it distinguishes the recapitulation from the exposition and development sections.

In biology, recapitulation historically described ontogeny recapitulating phylogeny, a theory popularized by Ernst Haeckel in the 19th century. It suggested that embryonic development mirrors the evolutionary history of the organism. Modern biology treats this as an oversimplified rule; while embryonic development reflects evolutionary relationships and conserved patterns, it does not precisely recapitulate ancestral life histories.

Outside specialized contexts, recapitulation generally means a concise recap of earlier material, such as a summary of arguments at the conclusion of a report, lecture, or narrative. The term emphasizes brief, repeatable restatement to clarify or emphasize key points.