ING182U-COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND ACADEMIC REPORTING II
Chapter 7: Essay Types: Summary-Analysis Essay, Review Essay,
and Sample Essay Analyses
Introduction
Summarising is needed at every stage of students’ education life. Students need to learn how to summarise to take lecture notes, to summarise the material they study, to answer exam questions.
It is essential for the student to read and understand the material to be able to speak or write about it. To be able to speak or write about certain material, the student needs to be able to identify the main ideas and distinguish between the main ideas and the details in the text. In most cases, students are also requested not only to summarise but also to analyse and/or evaluate the ideas in the material.
How to Write a Summary
A summary is a short text including the main ideas of the written materials. A summary does not include any details about the target text. The given examples and detailed explanations on the topic are not included in a summary.
There are three basic elements which are influencing the length of a summary:
• the assignment • the length and the complexity • the audience.
The Organization of a Summary
Similar to every text, a summary has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Characteristics of a Good Summary
The most important feature of an effective summary is its being OBJECTIVE. The writer cannot add any comments of her/his about the material to the summary. The readers of the summary should not read any comments about the article which is being summarised. It should also be COMPLETE. The writer of the summary should include all the main ideas of the material, not only one main idea. The readers should have a complete idea about the material. Finally, BALANCE is important for an effective summary. The writer should treat all the main ideas equally. If the writer pays more attention to one of the main ideas, the writer will lose the balance and eventually the objectivity of the summary.
Steps to Follow for Writing a Summary
To be able to write an effective summary, the writer should make sure that the thesis, main ideas, and details are fully understood by the writer. The writer should first read the material, take notes and then write the summary from her/his notes.
Writing Analyses
Analysis is required in most courses at schools and universities. Analysis is a way to understand a topic with a more critical eye. Analysis includes observing, separating, investigating, studying, discovering, and supporting your ideas.
In the academic world, you need to read articles, books, or reports. While reading these written materials, you usually find general feelings and/or opinions whether positive or negative. Analysis helps to foster those feelings in a deeper context.
Writing Summary-Analyses Essay
When you read written materials critically, focus on the parts you agree or disagree with, and write about your views, this is named a summary analysis essay. In some cases, when you read a book and analyse it, and then write a summary about it, it is called a book review. Thus, summary-analysis essays are also reviews of written material that you write about.
A summary-analysis essay is different from the other essay types because it starts with a summary of the written material. More specifically, the introduction paragraph is the summary, so it starts with the name of the author, presents the title of the text, and displays the bibliographic information of the material. Then, the writer presents the main ideas of the material to her/his readers.
The organisation of the body paragraphs starts with an optional background paragraph. As the name suggests, the purpose of this paragraph is to provide the readers with some background information about the topic. Therefore, if the writer thinks that her/his readers already have some information, the paragraph can be omitted. However, if the topic is novel for the audience, then it is better to write a background paragraph.
After the optional background paragraph, for the body part, the writer discusses the point that she/he evaluated in the material.
For the conclusion, the writer should begin the paragraph by referring to the author or title of the material. Then, the conclusion paragraph should present a short summary and a recommendation that is related to the material. Be careful, the recommendation should not belong to the writer of the summary. It should belong to the material that is being written about.
Review Essay
What is a Review?
An academic review presents information about the material such as a film, book, or performance by involving analyses and evaluation of these materials. The review should also demonstrate how the work fits in the field and explain the contribution to the field.
Reviews give a chance to stay up-to-date. They also are a way that can be used to respond to the writers in terms of their studies, books, ideas, and interpretations.
The three reasons to write a review are:
• Analyse a work • See what you know and how you can bridge your knowledge to the information in the material • Have a critical eye on the material
Preparation for Writing a Review
First of all, you should have detailed information about the author and the material. Search for them, read anything you find, and then filter all the information according to your purpose of writing a review. Next, analyse the material with a critical eye and take notes considering your audience. For the pre-writing stage, cover everything, by using your notes, write what you think about the material. Finally, prepare the outline of your review and write.
Writing a Book Review Essay
Writing a book review can have multiple purposes such as demonstrating to the audience your views on a certain material, publishing in an academic journal, or completing your homework assigned at university.
A book review essay has a very simple organisation. Basically, it has three parts: Introduction-body-conclusion. In the introduction, the material should be introduced with relevant bibliographic information. Present a clear scope and nature of the work. Then, state your overall view for the audience as a thesis statement.
In the body paragraphs, information and opinions on the chapters are demonstrated. You may try to answer these questions to develop your body paragraphs:
• Does the work present what its author states as the goal of the material? • Is the information presented valid and accurate? • How does the research fill a gap in the relevant field? • What makes you agree or disagree with this article?
Article Review Essay
Articles have an important role in academic life. Academicians read them, get enlightened and write articles to be published in journals. One of the best ways to be able to write an article is to review an article.
What is an Article Review Essay?
Reviewing articles means recognizing and understanding the central theme, the arguments, and the implications for further research.
An article review can be done in two ways: (a) a critical review: critically analysing only one article and reviewing it to show how it fits the field; (b) a literature review: reviewing more than one article critically to find out and demonstrate the gap in the field.
The goal of an article review essay is:
• to summarise the article • to evaluate the article • to make a recommendation
The questions below can help you to evaluate the article:
• What is the purpose of the article? • What is the theoretical framework or assumptions?
• What is this work’s scholarly or societal significance? • Are the key concepts described in detail? • Are there sufficient and reliable details and evidence? • What place does the article have in the area and literature? • Does it add to our understanding of the topic? • What relevant information—certain types of evidence or techniques for analysis or development—is absent from the work? a specific theoretical strategy? the circumstances of specific groups? • How clear is the author’s writing?
Preparation for an Article Review
First, you should focus on the organisation of the article review. You can focus on the important points, claims, and information and summarise those points. Then, you can discuss the positive sides of the work. You should decide what the good sides are. Later, you can identify the inconsistencies in the work and pay attention to the gap in the work. You should develop a critical eye on the quality and amount of the supporting details and decide whether all questions related to the theme are answered.
Identify the most significant points of the article that you want to mention in your review. At this stage, you need to be able to connect your knowledge and experience to the ideas and information in the article. After this, summarise the article and your observations in your own words. Preparing an outline may be helpful at this stage.
The Outline of an Article Review
After an effective preview of the article, you can prepare the outline of the article review essay. Similar to every essay organisation, the introduction should start by presenting the bibliographic information about the article. Then, you should provide information about the topic of the article and end the introduction with a thesis statement that shows your overall view of the article.
In the body section, it is time to summarise and evaluate the article. If the article has clear-cut sections, then you can write about one section/chapter in one body paragraph. First, you should state what part of the article you are evaluating by presenting the topic sentence. You can also write a short summary of that part and then start your evaluation.
In the conclusion, you can restate some overall information about the article and end the paragraph with your opinion about the article.
You can notice that whether you review a book or an article, you need to have a good summary and note-taking skills and a critical eye on the material. After an effective preview of the material, preparing a detailed outline will ease your writing process.