By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Aaron Peterson. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Many of the best things in life involve explosions. Some even say Life itself was caused by an explosion. When a violent reaction happens between certain chemicals heat, noise and pressure is released. When driving a car a steady stream of explosions is creating the mechanical force that pushes the vehicle forward. A summary of an explosion is a pretty dull affair. There was a deafening boom and a blinding light a forceful wave of heat could be felt rushing by. But analyzing an explosion can be extremely fascinating. There is no question that an explosion happened but there are numerous questions around why the explosion happened. Was it a natural occurrence? Was it an accident? Was it intentional? What caused it? Who caused it? Where did it start? The possibilities are nearly endless.
When
asked to summarize something, all that is required is a person’s memory of a specific
event or thing. If a group of people were to describe the same explosion odds
are the descriptions will all be pretty similar, the main differences will be
perspective. If the same group were asked to scrutinize the explosion the likelihood
of getting a similar answer is greatly reduced. Investigation, speculation and reflection
of the event are not required for a summary. Searching for the reason behind an
event could lead down many varying paths; the primary difference between which path
is taken depends entirely on the searcher.
If your fancy has been tickled and you would like to read more about explosions, give this link a click. http://www.groundzerofx.com/explosions.htm
By NASA (NASA) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By The High Fin Sperm Whale (Self-taken photo) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
If your fancy has been tickled and you would like to read more about explosions, give this link a click. http://www.groundzerofx.com/explosions.htm
I really like how you tied summaries and analyses together with a real life event to show how they really are different but deal with the same things. The use of questions really lets someone see that an analysis is more about argument as apposed to a summary where you just re-cap what happened. Also I found your picture to be hilarious!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply. Sadly I had to change the picture you found hilarious. I do things first then I read the rules. Operating that way rarely works out in my favor .
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Using explosions to illuminate the differences between summary and analysis didn't really work for me, but I can see where you are going with it. Analysis is taking a work apart and looking at it's elements more in depth in order to come to a personal conclusion. I do agree with you on how perception plays a large role in analysis. What a story means to me can be completely different from what that same story means to someone else. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting way you described summary versus analysis. I had never thought of it that way but it is very true! Honestly I think that you just analyzed a summary (funny how that works). Anyway, I really like the idea of the same story of an explosion being told by the same people the same way, basically, but when you get into analyzing it - it gets a little stickier. That is definitely what I think our teacher was trying to get across when she said that not everyone will agree with your analysis of a piece of writing, but that is the reason you are doing it! To put something out there people might not have thought about before. Thank you for your post, I really enjoyed thinking about it and reading it!
ReplyDeleteYour initial visual really got my attention. I felt myself looking forward to reading what was to come. I did get a bit lost when reading your post but i think you hit the nail on the head when you say "Searching for the reason" is the catalyst of analysis. Why did you see what you saw, what did it mean to you, how did it affect you. I tend to over think so I thank you for bringing it back down to earth.
ReplyDeleteThe use of an explosion to understand the differences between summary and analysis is really interesting. I think that you made some good points when you were talking about how the answers would be quite similar if everyone was summarizing, but how they would be different if the people were asked to analyze the explosion due to the variety of ways any person could go about investigating and reflecting on the event. But, I would have to argue that the analysis of a physical event verses the analysis of literature is very different. An explosion can be scientifically studied more so than a book and does not have much to reflect on (unless it is an act of war or an explosion with a deeper meaning, than BOOM!!!).
ReplyDeleteI love explosions too. Who doesn't? You got my attention right away with this post but I did not follow your explanation of what the difference is between a summary and an analysis. However, you wrote this in a very creative way. It's pretty crazy how gasoline engines work everyday.
ReplyDeleteI read up on nuclear explosions from the site you linked.