Evidence v. Summary

1. Evidence v. Summary Make your case!!

2. Think of this as a trial • Summary merely repeats • Summary gives plot details or restates ideas from a poem • Summary is essentially just paraphrase • Paraphrase may include implicit evidence, but… • implicit evidence is not good enough

3. Example of summary • On the night in question, the accused had dinner at IHOP, went to Starbucks for coffee, and picked up his dry cleaning. • SO WHAT????

4. Think of this as a trial • Evidence supports a point • It provides grounds for belief • It is an external sign of an idea • It establishes the point in question • It is explicit

5. Example of evidence On the night in question, the accused had dinner at IHOP, went to Starbucks for coffee, and picked up his dry cleaning. The accused was positively identified at IHOP by the waiter, who confirmed he was there from 5:15 p.m. until 6:15 p.m. The barista at Starbucks remembers chatting about movies with the accused from 6:25 p.m. until nearly 6:45 p.m. The counterman at the dry cleaners confirms the accused picked up his order (two suits and a pair of slacks) at 6:55, right before they closed.

6. NOW MAKE It more evident The accused’s activity is therefore completely accounted for during the time of the murder established by the experts: between 5:45 and 6:45 p.m. on January 12. It is impossible for him to have taken an axe to Alyona’s head during that time frame, as he cannot be in two places at once.

7. Remember idea • Introduce: lead into your quotation, giving context • Better yet, embed the mini-quote into your own writing • Deliver: correctly cite • Be careful! If you misquote, you weaken your argument • Explain: paraphrase (briefly) what the quote said • ANALYZE: this is the MOST IMPORTANT • Analysis should be LONGER than the other parts • Analysis should clearly explain WHY this is important and HOW it relates to your point

8. Summary or evidence? The speaker begins to give advice on what the prophet should say instead of what he should not say. The speaker suggests that the prophet speak of the “world’s own change,” which implies how nature will change. The speaker then begins to use multiple metaphors for nature. He states, “How the dreamt cloud crumbles, the vines are blackened by frost.” These phrases help produce strong imagery within the poem along with referencing nature.

9. Summary or evidence? The speaker uses three metaphors to aid in understanding abstractions. He uses “the rose,” “the horse,” and “the locust.” The use of this imagery is to help readers understand the meaning of the second to last stanza. The final line of the poem, “When the bronze annals of the oak-tree close,” is a spectacular conclusion. It is a metaphor for nature ceasing to exist. It creates an overall tone that is suggestful.

10. Summary or evidence? In the beginning, the speaker addresses the stereotypical “mad-eyed” prophet. The problem he points out is how the prophet can only describe raw destruction mathematically, emphasizing the “long numbers” of “force and range.” The speaker realizes that such descriptions are abstract; people cannot understand such power without first-hand experience. The speaker asks how the people the prophet are warning could possibly be afraid of something they cannot begin to understand—for they cannot “fear what is too strange.”

11. Summary or evidence? It is Ilyich’s injury that begins his process of discovery of the worth of himself as a person in those around him. As Ilyich is injured, he begins to see the follies of his life, first in the realization of his cruelty and indifference as a judge when he is confronted by his own uncaring, purely analytical doctors. In his doctors he sees a reflection of himself putting the condemned to death without any remorse or feeling, as they care only for Ilyich’s illness and not for the pain or eventual death it will bring.

12. Essay Evaluation • Read the essays. • Assign a score, based on AP guidelines (1-9). • Underline the evidence in the essay. • Highlight the analysis in the essay.