English 85: The American Novel
Sections A & F, TA: Melanie Ho

INFORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENT #2-EXPLICATION v. SUMMARY
DUE DATE: Next week-Friday, 10/10 at the beginning of section.

Purpose: It is crucial for your literary analysis skills-and for your success in this class -- that you become adept at distinguishing how an explication is different from a summary. A summary simply tells us what is happening in a passage, perhaps making the passage easier to understand; the summarizer shows that s/he understands what the passage is saying at a very basic level. An explication, on the other hand, goes beyond the summary; the explicator shows that s/he understands how language creates meaning in the passage. An explication points to specific details in the text (choices the author has made, either consciously or not) and explains their importance to how the passage relates to the work at large and a greater issue or theme.

Next week, you will practice writing an explication in class under timed conditions similar to those you will experience during the final exam. For next week's quiz, you will have to write your explication as a mini-essay in paragraph format (see the sample on the "What is Explication" handout). This assignment is meant to help you prepare for the quiz by having you practice explication one step at a time and one sentence at a time.

Directions: Complete the steps below and on the back of this paper. Please print neatly and put your name on the top of this page. You can attach a separate piece of paper if you want, but the space provided should be enough-each question requires no more than a few sentences in response.

Step 1. Read the passage below.

"Upon a still nigher approach, this appearance was modified, and the true character of the vessel was plain--a Spanish merchantman of the first class, carrying Negro slaves, amongst other valuable freight, from one colonial port to another. A very large, and, in its time, a very fine vessel, such as in those days were at intervals encountered along the main; sometimes superceded Acapulco treasure ships, or retired frigates of the Spanish king's navy, which, like superannuated Italian palaces, still, under decline of masters, preserved signs of former state."

Step 2. In the space below and in 1-2 complete sentences, name the work and the author; identify the speaker and/or characters involved, and briefly explain the context of the passage (where it occurs in the work, and any important incidents associated with it):







Step 3. Brainstorm 3 themes/cultural issues that are relevant to this passage and the novel at large:
1.

2.

3.

Step 4. Pick one of the themes/issues from Step 3. Look at the passage again and underline or otherwise mark any words/phrases relevant to your issue. Assert an argument (1-2 sentences) below about how the passage illustrates the novel's attitude toward or stance on your specific theme/issue:









Step 5. I have broken up the passage into separate fragments. For each fragment, you will do the following: (1) Write a summary of the fragment. This should be a very basic fragment of the sentence. You don't have to do any analysis here, just tell me what happened in this sentence in your own words and as quickly as possible. (2) Explicate the sentence. Point out literary characteristics (sentence structure, figurative language, imagery, tone, word choice, point of view, etc) in the fragment or related to the sentence and explain how they relate to the argument you have written above. For each fragment from the passage, you should write 2-3 sentences of explication. You must include both summary and explication for every fragment.

5a. Fragment: Upon a still nigher approach, this appearance was modified, and the true character of the vessel was plain-

Summary:



Explication:








5b. Fragment: a Spanish merchantman of the first class, carrying Negro slaves, amongst other valuable freight, from one colonial port to another.

Summary:



Explication:








5c Fragment: A very large, and, in its time, a very fine vessel, such as in those days were at intervals encountered along the main;

Summary:



Explication:








5d. Fragment: sometimes superceded Acapulco treasure ships, or retired frigates of the Spanish king's navy, which, like superannuated Italian palaces, still, under decline of masters, preserved signs of former state."

Summary:



Explication:








Step 6.  Now you are going to find patterns in the literary characteristics that you discussed above. In which of the fragments above did you discuss each of the following (circle the applicable letters)?

sentence structure:  a    b    c    d
figurative language: a   b   c   d
imagery: a   b   c   d
tone: a   b   c   d
word choice: a   b   c   d
point of view: a   b   c   d
other (if applicable):

____________________ a   b   c   d

List any words or similar words (words that mean the same thing, or that have the same connotation) that you mentioned in your explications above that might be grouped together.

Group A:




Group B:




Briefly (in 1-2 sentences) speculate about why the fragments are in the specific order of the passage. Would it make sense to re-order them (i.e. put the passage in d, c, a, b)? What would that do to the passage?