The differences between a summary and an analysis may seem insignificant at first, yet they are two very different things. Although they both involve the reading of some form of literature, as well as the aspect of creating and writing some sort of response to said literature, they serve a very different purpose.
The objective of a summary is to strip a book, a movie, a person’s life or career, or any situation down to its bare bones. Remove all the cleverness, detail, and adjectives from a story and simply state the basic facts in chronological order. For example, the summary of a man’s life in a newspaper obituary would have a small recollection of when and where he was born, what he did for a living, people that were important to him, and how he died. Or the summary of a book, which would include (without detail), the characters of the story, how it starts, a few events in the body, and finally, how it ends.
An analysis is different because it gives you an opportunity to explore the inner working of a story. You can pick a character, a place, a particular situation, or many other various elements of a plot and break them down into smaller ideas with added significance. Such as your opinions about an individual, your reactions to certain events, or what kinds of underlining meaning an author had while writing the story. Here is a great analysis of the movie “Fight Club”. While there are bits of summary here and there to help back up the author’s ideas, it is more focused on the movie’s level of satire, whether or not it instills violence in younger generations, the acting, and it’s representation of our latest generations. The only bummer…the book deserved this great analysis! It was better!
I think it’s important to know the difference between these two things in terms of your education, and in your life. I feverishly agree with our Professor, and Greg Smith that this wisdom is beneficial and not a burden. While I’m sure there is a fine line with questioning too much, if you never question anything, you will never realize new things!
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/from-the-editorial-nitpick-dept_b19497
So investigate, question, indulge in and explore every aspect of every English paper, every opportunity, and every gift in your life and you will prosper.
You did a great job of breaking up the two. It was interesting to think of an obituary the summary of someone's life. It's so simple and something I've never even thought about! :)
ReplyDelete"if you never question anything, you will never realize new things! "... That quote really stuck with me. It's a great way to look at life in a different sense. Good job! :)