The Differences Between Summary and Analysis
In this essay I am going to explain the difference between a summary and a analysis. A summary tells you what happened, while an analysis tells you what and why it happened. Say you wanted to write a summary and analysis on Homer’s Iliad. A summary of that epic tale would be, “ The Greek armies combined their forces and destroyed the grand city of Troy.” Now that would be sufficient information if you only wanted basic information on the Iliad. If you wanted to have more info on the Iliad, however, that is where you would state an analysis: “The Greek armies combined their forces and destroyed the grand city of Troy. The reason why is a prince of Troy stole Helen and took her back to Troy, and the Greeks swore vengeance.” The reason this would serve to give readers more info is, simply put, it describes a circumstance in which one faction acts in a certain fashion, and the other faction reacts in another way in regards to the first action taken. It’s really all about how much detail is given that is the main difference between a summary and an analysis.
An interesting site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summary
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. I really like the subject matter you chose. While I agree with many of your claims about the dichotomy between summary and analysis. I feel that your "analysis" regarding the Iliad lacks claims and is more akin to a fuller summary of the Iliad. You may disagree, but isn't an analysis supposed to make claims that are substantiated by argument?