Summary vs Analysis

What is a "Summary" and what is an "Analysis" you might ask.  An average American student would know what a summary is. A summary is what has been a requirement in many English classes from about the third grade and so forth. Simply, a summary would be a brief outline of a writing. This can be anywhere from a short story, poem, article or even a novel.  In my elementary days, I learned the formula for creating a wonderful summary. The elements of a great summary would have to include and address who, what, when, where, why and how. The main purpose of a summary would be to inform others of your reading. It is, in short, telling your reader of what you have read and maybe even gained from your reading.

                Conversely, in literary matters, there is also analysis. So what is the difference  between “summary” and “analysis”? A summary might be a rundown of a writing but analysis is a breakdown of a writing. In my recent studies of “analysis” I would prefer to explain it as a literary dissection.  Taking the writing apart, examining it parts and what might be its meaning or even hidden meaning. Not just reading something to read it but reading in order to gain insight of the author from it. In essence, it is digging into a piece of writing to obtain a bottomless amount of insight you might feel you have received from it.  A literary analysis is like an investigation, in which you are trying to make a point or argument to prove your analysis to be true.

                In my course of this learning experience of the differences of “summary” and “analysis”, I have expanded my skills of reading. I did not realize that I unconsciously analyze many things without knowing that I’m doing it. Unfortunately, I have not used this tool much when reading. It almost seems like too much labor.  However, working in the legal field I can see where summary is a great tool for supporting a better analysis. A summary is the foundation on which the analysis is built. You don’t need too much summary, just enough to get your point of the writing, and then you can build your analysis which has many components and parts but as a whole is a firm argument.

Resource link: http://www.goshen.edu/english/litanalysis.html/
Image source: http://www.ehow.com/about_6657822_introduction-literary-text-analysis.html