Summary vs. Analysis



By Silviac (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons



Summary vs. Analysis

            After watching a lecture about Summary vs. Analysis from my English Professor, the difference between the two is quite clear.  Summary is basically a book report, telling the reader what the story is about.  Analysis is telling the reader what you learned from the story and your point of view on what the author was trying to convey. 

            In a summary all one is doing is answering the question of what the book is about. Similar to reading the back cover of the book, all you are doing is getting an outline of the story.  There is no emotion or individual thought, no conclusions as to what the author is trying to express.  One wouldn’t normally put their pin on how the book affected them.  It is basically a black and white in context.

            With analysis it is much deeper than that, one can get into the question “What does this book signify to me?”  “What do I see in this book other than just the storyline?”  With analysis people can bring new colorful light to the book based on their own life experiences, which for each reader is different.

            An example would be from one of my favorite books by Jean Auel, “Clan of the Cave Bear.”  A summary of the book would be about an orphaned girl considered to be early modern man,  being raised by a clan of ancient men and women and how she tried to adjust.  An analysis of the book is how modern man treated ancient man in the year 10,000 B.C and I could go on to analyze how modern man has tried to dominate the world ever since.

            While summaries can be useful, I think I prefer analysis because it opens the mind to new ideas and thoughts.  Click on the link for more information on writing an analysis paper:

http://www.users.drew.edu/~sjamieso/Analysis.html