{"id":33,"date":"2024-05-28T23:27:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T23:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karenmariepalmer.com\/theroughwritersguide\/chapter\/summary-vs-analysis\/"},"modified":"2024-05-28T23:30:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T23:30:03","slug":"summary-vs-analysis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/karenmariepalmer.com\/theroughwritersguide\/chapter\/summary-vs-analysis\/","title":{"raw":"Summary vs. Analysis","rendered":"Summary vs. Analysis"},"content":{"raw":"\nIn your classes, you may be asked to analyze text. Analysis is not simply summary\u2014summary gives the reader a shortened overview of the topic.\n

Summary<\/h1>\nA summary would be telling the reader what happened in the story. Take for example, summaries about the short story \u201cThe Lottery\u201d by Shirley Jackson:\n
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Example 1 Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n

\n\n\u201cThe Lottery\u201d is about a town that comes together every year for a tradition. The town\u2019s people draw a name, and the person\u2019s whose name is drawn is killed by everyone else.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Example 2 Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n

\n\nThe black box in \u201cThe Lottery\u201d is used to hold slips of paper with the names of the townspeople. It is old and splintered, and every year the townspeople talk about replacing the box, but no one wants to break tradition.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe examples above tell us what the story is about. They present facts, but they are not arguments.\n

Analysis<\/h1>\nIn your courses, you'll be asked do higher-level thinking<\/em>. Summary, which gives a brief overview of the main points, is a lower level of thinking. Using analysis<\/strong> and evaluation<\/strong> are higher levels of thinking. Analysis is when you break down something (in this case, breaking down the story) into parts in order to see how they relate.\n\nEvaluation is to make a judgment about something based on evidence. Analysis and evaluation go above and beyond summary to explain, examine, and tell us what you think or what you believe about the text or topic. They give arguments<\/em>. Take, for example, the same above summaries about \u201cThe Lottery,\u201d but revised to show analytical thinking:\n
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Example 1<\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n

\n\n\u201cThe Lottery,\u201d a fiction story by Shirley Jackson, was written to portray the point that tradition often overtakes reason, and humans sometimes stick to traditions that are outdated or irrelevant simply because they don\u2019t want to make changes.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Example 2<\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n

The black box in \u201cThe Lottery\u201d is symbolic of death and of tradition. It is the color black, which is the color to represent death, it is old and splintery, and it holds the names of the townspeople, one of whom will be chosen to die. In addition, the text says, \u201cMr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box\u201d (Jackson, par. 5). The black box is symbolic not just about death, but it also represents tradition and how some people want to change it but can\u2019t overpower the majority who insist tradition remain.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe above examples don't just give facts; they make arguments about the text. The second example breaks down the symbol of the black box and makes arguments about what it represents.\n

Using Analysis for Arguments and Support<\/h1>\nEach body paragraph of an essay should include analysis. When you're revising your essay, look at each individual body paragraph and ask yourself: Am I simply re-telling the story\/text and giving facts, or am I making an argument<\/strong> about the story?\n\nIn addition to having analysis in each body paragraph, you should also include support. You can tell me that \u201cThe Lottery\u201d is an argument for breaking traditions, but I need to \u201csee\u201d that\u2014you have to prove it to me. This is where using the text and outside sources as quotes, paraphrases, and summaries will come in.\n
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Exercise 1<\/p>\n\n<\/header>\n

\n\nFind a passage of something you have read for a college course\u2014an article, a story, a textbook pages, etc. Then do the following:\n\n1. Read the passage. Then without looking at it, write a summary of it.\n\n2. Now, make an argument in the form of analysis  or evaluation of the passage.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Additional Resources:<\/h2>\n