Summarizing vs. Analyzing

1
Summarizing vs. Analyzing

• Composition Literary Analysis

2
Summarizing means

• Explaining the PLOT of a story
• Using chronological order
• Only describing the Who, What, Where and When of
  the piece, not WHY or HOW an author writes the
  piece.

3
How do I know if Im summarizing?

• Are you stating something that would be obvious
  to the reader?
• Does your essay use the same chronological order
  that the author uses to tell the story?
• Are you simply describing WHAT happens, WHERE it
  happens, or WHOM it happens to?

4
Analysis means

• Separating the text into parts to show how the
  parts unify to create a whole work.
• Answering the questions HOW? and WHY?
• Including evidence as support for your original
  idea or argument.

5
How do I know if Im analyzing?

• Are you making an original argument about the
  text?
• Have you arranged evidence around your points
  instead of following the authors or plots
  order?
• Are you explaining WHY or HOW an aspect of the
  text is significant?

6
Summary or Analysis?

• The Great Gatsby is the story of a mysterious
  millionaire, Jay Gatsby, who lives alone on an
  island in New York. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the
  book, but the narrator is Nick Carraway. Nick is
  Gatsby's neighbor, and he chronicles the story of
  Gatsby and his circle of friends, beginning with
  his introduction to the strange man and ending
  with Gatsby's tragic death.

7
Summary or Analysis?

• In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald provides
  readers with detailed descriptions of the area
  surrounding East Egg, New York. In fact, Nick
  Carraway's narration describes the setting with
  as much detail as the characters in the book.
  Nick's description of his environment presents
  the book's themes, symbolizing significant
  aspects of the post-World War I era. Whereas
  white and grey symbolize the false purity and
  decay of the 1920s, the color green offers a
  symbol of hope.

8
Summary or Analysis?

• Hamlet explores betrayal and death caused by
  several levels of poison physical, psychological
  and social.  All of these poisons are intertwined
  on a psychological level.  Hamlet was first
  affected by Claudiuss physical poisonthe poison
  that he had poured into the Kings ear, killing
  him.  After Claudius killed the King social
  poison spread throughout the kingdom like a
  disease.  The rebels began to call Laertes Lord,
  disrupting Hamlets claim to the throne, How
  cheerfully on the false trail they cry (IV, V,
  87).  Hamlets suppressed desire, the Oedipus
  complex, for his mother led to his own
  psychological poisoning, Go not to mine uncles
  bed (III, III, 153).  He was upset that he
  desired to kill his father, as his uncle did, in
  order to possess his mother 

9
Summary or Analysis?

• The play Hamlet is one of betrayal and death.  In
  the beginning of the play Hamlets uncle,
  Claudius kills Hamlets father with poison.  He
  does this because he wants to be king, and he
  wants Gertrude, Hamlets mother.  Hamlet is very
  upset.  He becomes even more upset when Claudius,
  his uncle and his mother, Gertrude, announce they
  are to be married.  Hamlet cannot believe that
  they would do this after such a short period of
  time.  Hamlet then decides to kill his uncle to
  get revenge.  However, Hamlet waits to do this.  
  In the meantime Hamlets girlfriend Ofelia goes
  crazy and drowns herself.  Hamlet is also haunted
  by his fathers ghost.  At the end of the play,
  Hamlet dies.