essays to do good summary

• The Essays of Cotton Mather Summary

by Cotton Mather

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Written by Timothy Sexton

“A Warning to the Flocks Against Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”

Written in response to a growing number of cases of fraudulent ministers in the Boston area. One particular case so incensed Mather that he was moved to write the essay which served as a warning signal to be on the lookout for especially egregious cases like that of a Rev. Samuel May. May turned out to be a simple laborer who had conceived the plan to exploit the natural trust endowed in ministers as way of duping the women of a certain church’s congregation into sex.

“The Reward of Well-Doing”

Essentially an essay calling for people to do good in the name of the proverbial dictum that virtue itself is the reward. The only reward which Mather posits as recompense for virtual behavior is attaining honor in the eyes of God. The only argument which Mather uses to sustain this proposition can be termed weak at best: anyone who can’t see that doing good is its own reward is already lost and not worth trying to convince.

Though one of Mather’s longer essays, the message in “Of Man” is pretty straightforward and simple. Within the grandness of the cosmos, the earth is at the lowest position. And occupying the position of lord over all that is plentiful on this lowest hierarchy of the universe is man. Mather’s argument is basically an affirmation of an existential philosophy: mankind was purposely created by God to fulfill the purpose of being the high priest of this dominion. The proof is in the machine. What other being could possibly make a claim toward being perfectly constructed as a replication of the form of God? In the mind of Mather, in other words, that God might look like an octopus is a fundamental design flaw any worse than which the mind cannot conceive. It is a theory based on reverse engineering principles, but Mather doesn’t seem to recognize this flaw in his reasoning.

“The Diligence of Wicked Men in Doing Evil”

Mather does take note, however, of the propensity for those engaged in the service of wicked acts to put more time, effort and calculation into their actions than those who are engaged in acts of good. The question of why this would be so pursues a logical path toward what is actually a pretty rational conclusion: when people are comfortably assured that what they are doing is honest or at the very least lacking in conscious will to be wicked, one doesn’t really have to be as meticulous in the management of the process. Goodness comes naturally, in other words, not because men are naturally good, but because they recognize when doing good they are less likely to get in trouble. Wicked men must be more diligent in carrying out evil not because evil is more complex, but rather to avoid punishment.

“The Negro Christianized: An Essay to Excite and Assist That Good Work, the Instruction of Negro-Servants in Christianity”

For a time early in the history of the American slave trade, it was generally agreed that instructing African pagans in the ways of Christianity would be detrimental to the system. The argument against enforced religious conversion was that a slave which had been educated in the faith would recognize their conditions of existence as inequitable with the teachings of Christ and therefore discontent would intensify and spread thereby increasing the likelihood of slave rebellions. Mather argued against this interpretation by suggesting—somehow—that Christianity would have the power to mollify the temperament of slaves and serve to moderate the tensions created by recognition of the inequality of their status.

“Ladies and Men of Wealth Have the Means of Doing Much Good”

That everyone should commit no less than a tenth of their income to improving the church and helping the needy is established as something of a Biblical fact. Mather even goes so far as to cast upon anyone who contributes a penny shy of ten percent of their income the potential for an honest accusation of sacrilege. So it is not that the wealthy are not expect to contribute the most because they have the most, but how much above and beyond those who have the most should be expected to contribute to the common good. Ultimately, he leaves it to each to decide for themselves, but with the caveat (which sounds much like the argument for the reward of doing good) that the more contributes to improving the welfare of others, the greater the glory that is cast upon them in the eyes of God.

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The Essays of Cotton Mather Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Essays of Cotton Mather is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Charlotte bought 6 1/5 pounds of apples at the farmers market. Henry bought 2 5/7 pounds of bananas . How many pounds of fruit did they buy?

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Given A(5, –8) and B(–6, 2), find the point on AB̅̅̅̅ that is three-fourths of the way from A to B.

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Study Guide for The Essays of Cotton Mather

The Essays of Cotton Mather study guide contains a biography of Cotton Mather, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Essays of Cotton Mather
• Character List

Sunday, July 31, 2011

"essays to do good" by cotton mather . . . james brainerd taylor, do-gooder for god . . . galatians 6:10.

+ A power and an opportunity to do good, not only gives a right to the doing of it, but makes the doing of it a duty.  (pp. vi, 4)

+ The firstborn of all devices to do good is in being born again [ John 3:3,7 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ].  (p. 22)

+ Without abridging yourselves of your occasional thoughts on the question, 'What good may I do today?', fix a time, now and then, for more deliberate thoughts upon it. Cannot you find time (say, once a week and how suitably on the Lord's Day/Sunday) to take this question into consideration, 'What is there that I may do for the service of the glorious Lord, and for the welfare of those for whom I ought to be concerned?'  (p. 35) 

+ Those who devote themselves to good devices [works], and who duly observe their opportunities to do good, usually find a wonderful increase of their opportunities. The gracious providence of God affords this recompense to his diligent servants, that he will multiply their opportunities of being serviceable.  (p. 36) 

+ What I aim at is this: Let us try to do good with as much application of mind as wicked men employ in doing evil. When 'wickedness proceeds from the wicked [ 1 Samuel 24:13 ], it is done with both hands and greedily.' Why then may not we proceed in our useful engagements 'with both hands,' and 'greedily' watching for opportunities. . . . 'If you will not learn of good men, for shame, learn of the devil; he is never idle' ( Hugh Latimer ).  (p. 27) 

+ A workless faith is a worthless faith. (p.31)

+ Let no man pretend to the name of a Christian who does not approve the proposal of a perpetual endeavor to do good in the world. What pretension can such a man have to be a follower of the Good One?  (p. 18) 

+ Protestants, will you be out-done by Popish idolaters? O the vast pains which those [Roman Catholic] bigots have taken to carry on the Romish merchandise and idolatry!  (p. 155) 

+ 'Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience.' . . . 'A good action is its own reward.' Indeed, the pleasure that is experienced in the performance of good actions is inexpressible, is unparalleled, is angelical; it is a most refined pleasure, more to be envied than any sensual gratification. Pleasure was long since defined, 'The result of some excellent action.' This pleasure is a sort of holy luxury. Most pitiable are they who will continue strangers to it!  (p. 170)

'To do good and communicate forget not' [ Hebrews 13:16 ] is a maxim which we should keep in continual remembrance. The more we conform our lives to it, the greater will be our resemblance to our blessed Savior as he lived among men [ Acts 10:38 ]. To do good, we must seek opportunities; and then opportunities will frequently find us.  

Since reading Cotton Mather's 'Essays To Do Good,'  I feel that I have been exceedingly deficient. In looking back to the time when I first made a public profession of religion [September 15, 1816] . . . I am constrained to say, O what a barren fig-tree I have been [ Luke 13:6-9 ]! My leanness! My leanness! But blessed be the Lord, I have a desire to do good now.  

*From John Holt Rice and Benjamin Holt Rice, Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor, Second Stereotype Edition [New York: American Tract Society, 1833], 45-46.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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How to Write a Summary (Examples Included)

Ashley Shaw

Have you ever recommended a book to someone and given them a quick overview? Then you’ve created a summary before!

Summarizing is a common part of everyday communication. It feels easy when you’re recounting what happened on your favorite show, but what do you do when the information gets a little more complex?

Written summaries come with their own set of challenges. You might ask yourself:

• What details are unnecessary?
• How do you put this in your own words without changing the meaning?
• How close can you get to the original without plagiarizing it?
• How long should it be?

The answers to these questions depend on the type of summary you are doing and why you are doing it.

A summary in an academic setting is different to a professional summary—and both of those are very different to summarizing a funny story you want to tell your friends.

One thing they all have in common is that you need to relay information in the clearest way possible to help your reader understand. We’ll look at some different forms of summary, and give you some tips on each.

Let’s get started!

What Is a Summary?

How do you write a summary, how do you write an academic summary, what are the four types of academic summaries, how do i write a professional summary, writing or telling a summary in personal situations, summarizing summaries.

A summary is a shorter version of a larger work. Summaries are used at some level in almost every writing task, from formal documents to personal messages.

When you write a summary, you have an audience that doesn’t know every single thing you know.

When you want them to understand your argument, topic, or stance, you may need to explain some things to catch them up.

Instead of having them read the article or hear every single detail of the story or event, you instead give them a brief overview of what they need to know.

Academic, professional, and personal summaries each require you to consider different things, but there are some key rules they all have in common.

Let’s go over a few general guides to writing a summary first.

1. A summary should always be shorter than the original work, usually considerably.

Even if your summary is the length of a full paper, you are likely summarizing a book or other significantly longer work.

2. A summary should tell the reader the highlights of what they need to know without giving them unnecessary details.

3. It should also include enough details to give a clear and honest picture.

For example, if you summarize an article that says “ The Office is the greatest television show of all time,” but don’t mention that they are specifically referring to sitcoms, then you changed the meaning of the article. That’s a problem! Similarly, if you write a summary of your job history and say you volunteered at a hospital for the last three years, but you don’t add that you only went twice in that time, it becomes a little dishonest.

4. Summaries shouldn’t contain personal opinion.

While in the longer work you are creating you might use opinion, within the summary itself, you should avoid all personal opinion. A summary is different than a review. In this moment, you aren’t saying what you think of the work you are summarizing, you are just giving your audience enough information to know what the work says or did.

Now that we have a good idea of what summaries are in general, let’s talk about some specific types of summary you will likely have to do at some point in your writing life.

An academic summary is one you will create for a class or in other academic writing. The exact elements you will need to include depend on the assignment itself.

However, when you’re asked for an academic summary, this usually this means one of five things, all of which are pretty similar:

• You need to do a presentation in which you talk about an article, book, or report.
• You write a summary paper in which the entire paper is a summary of a specific work.
• You summarize a class discussion, lesson, or reading in the form of personal notes or a discussion board post.
• You do something like an annotated bibliography where you write short summaries of multiple works in preparation of a longer assignment.
• You write quick summaries within the body of another assignment . For example, in an argumentative essay, you will likely need to have short summaries of the sources you use to explain their argument before getting into how the source helps you prove your point.

Regardless of what type of summary you are doing, though, there are a few steps you should always follow:

• Skim the work you are summarizing before you read it. Notice what stands out to you.
• Next, read it in depth . Do the same things stand out?
• Put the full text away and write in a few sentences what the main idea or point was.
• Go back and compare to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
• Expand on this to write and then edit your summary.

Each type of academic summary requires slightly different things. Let’s get down to details.

How Do I Write a Summary Paper?

Sometimes teachers assign something called a summary paper . In this, the entire thing is a summary of one article, book, story, or report.

To understand how to write this paper, let’s talk a little bit about the purpose of such an assignment.

A summary paper is usually given to help a teacher see how well a student understands a reading assignment, but also to help the student digest the reading. Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand things we read right away.

However, a good way to process the information is to put it in our own words. That is the point of a summary paper.

A summary paper is:

• A way to explain in our own words what happened in a paper, book, etc.
• A time to think about what was important in the paper, etc.
• A time to think about the meaning and purpose behind the paper, etc.

Here are some things that a summary paper is not:

• A review. Your thoughts and opinions on the thing you are summarizing don’t need to be here unless otherwise specified.
• A comparison. A comparison paper has a lot of summary in it, but it is different than a summary paper. In this, you are just saying what happened, but you aren’t saying places it could have been done differently.
• A paraphrase (though you might have a little paraphrasing in there). In the section on using summary in longer papers, I talk more about the difference between summaries, paraphrases, and quotes.

Because a summary paper is usually longer than other forms of summary, you will be able to chose more detail. However, it still needs to focus on the important events. Summary papers are usually shorter papers.

Let’s say you are writing a 3–4 page summary. You are likely summarizing a full book or an article or short story, which will be much longer than 3–4 pages.

Imagine that you are the author of the work, and your editor comes to you and says they love what you wrote, but they need it to be 3–4 pages instead.

How would you tell that story (argument, idea, etc.) in that length without losing the heart or intent behind it? That is what belongs in a summary paper.

How Do I Write Useful Academic Notes?

Sometimes, you need to write a summary for yourself in the form of notes or for your classmates in the form of a discussion post.

You might not think you need a specific approach for this. After all, only you are going to see it.

However, summarizing for yourself can sometimes be the most difficult type of summary. If you try to write down everything your teacher says, your hand will cramp and you’ll likely miss a lot.

Yet, transcribing doesn’t work because studies show that writing things down (not typing them) actually helps you remember them better.

So how do you find the balance between summarizing the lessons without leaving out important points?

There are some tips for this:

• If your professor writes it on the board, it is probably important.
• What points do your textbooks include when summarizing information? Use these as a guide.
• Write the highlight of every X amount of time, with X being the time you can go without missing anything or getting tired. This could be one point per minute, or three per five minutes, etc.

How Do I Create an Annotated Biography?

An annotated bibliography requires a very specific style of writing. Often, you will write these before a longer research paper . They will ask you to find a certain amount of articles and write a short annotation for each of them.

While an annotation is more than just a summary, it usually starts with a summary of the work. This will be about 2–3 sentences long. Because you don’t have a lot of room, you really have to think about what the most important thing the work says is.

This will basically ask you to explain the point of the article in these couple of sentences, so you should focus on the main point when expressing it.

Here is an example of a summary section within an annotation about this post:

“In this post, the author explains how to write a summary in different types of settings. She walks through academic, professional, and personal summaries. Ultimately, she claims that summaries should be short explanations that get the audience caught up on the topic without leaving out details that would change the meaning.”

Can I Write a Summary Within an Essay?

Perhaps the most common type of summary you will ever do is a short summary within a longer paper.

For example, if you have to write an argumentative essay, you will likely need to use sources to help support your argument.

However, there is a good chance that your readers won’t have read those same sources.

So, you need to give them enough detail to understand your topic without spending too much time explaining and not enough making your argument.

While this depends on exactly how you are using summary in your paper, often, a good amount of summary is the same amount you would put in an annotation.

Just a few sentences will allow the reader to get an idea of the work before moving on to specific parts of it that might help your argument.

What’s the Difference Between Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Using Quotes?

One important thing to recognize when using summaries in academic settings is that summaries are different than paraphrases or quotes.

A summary is broader and more general. A paraphrase, on the other hand, puts specific parts into your own words. A quote uses the exact words of the original. All of them, however, need to be cited.

Let’s look at an example:

Take these words by Thomas J. Watson:

”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t as all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.”

Let’s say I was told to write a summary, a paraphrase, and a quote about this statement. This is what it might look like:

Summary: Thomas J. Watson said that the key to success is actually to fail more often. (This is broad and doesn’t go into details about what he says, but it still gives him credit.)

Paraphrase: Thomas J. Watson, on asking if people would like his formula for success, said that the secret was to fail twice as much. He claimed that when you decide to learn from your mistakes instead of being disappointed by them, and when you start making a lot of them, you will actually find more success. (This includes most of the details, but it is in my own words, while still crediting the source.)

Quote: Thomas J. Watson said, ”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.” (This is the exact words of the original with quotation marks and credit given.)

Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the hardest parts about summarizing someone else’s writing is avoiding plagiarism .

That’s why I have a few rules/tips for you when summarizing anything:

1. Always cite.

If you are talking about someone else’s work in any means, cite your source. If you are summarizing the entire work, all you probably need to do (depending on style guidelines) is say the author’s name. However, if you are summarizing a specific chapter or section, you should state that specifically. Finally, you should make sure to include it in your Work Cited or Reference page.

2. Change the wording.

Sometimes when people are summarizing or paraphrasing a work, they get too close to the original, and actually use the exact words. Unless you use quotation marks, this is plagiarism. However, a good way to avoid this is to hide the article while you are summarizing it. If you don’t have it in front of you, you are less likely to accidentally use the exact words. (However, after you are done, double check that you didn’t miss anything important or give wrong details.)

3. Use a plagiarism checker.

Of course, when you are writing any summary, especially academic summaries, it can be easy to cross the line into plagiarism. If this is a place where you struggle, then ProWritingAid can help.

Just use our Plagiarism Report . It’ll highlight any unoriginal text in your document so you can make sure you are citing everything correctly and summarizing in your own words.

Find out more about ProWritingAid plagiarism bundles.

Along with academic summaries, you might sometimes need to write professional summaries. Often, this means writing a summary about yourself that shows why you are qualified for a position or organization.

In this section, let’s talk about two types of professional summaries: a LinkedIn summary and a summary section within a resume.

How Do I Write My LinkedIn Bio?

LinkedIn is all about professional networking. It offers you a chance to share a brief glimpse of your professional qualifications in a paragraph or two.

This can then be sent to professional connections, or even found by them without you having to reach out. This can help you get a job or build your network.

Your summary is one of the first things a future employer might see about you, and how you write yours can make you stand out from the competition.

Here are some tips on writing a LinkedIn summary :

• Before you write it, think about what you want it to do . If you are looking for a job, what kind of job? What have you done in your past that would stand out to someone hiring for that position? That is what you will want to focus on in your summary.
• Be professional . Unlike many social media platforms, LinkedIn has a reputation for being more formal. Your summary should reflect that to some extent.
• Use keywords . Your summary is searchable, so using keywords that a recruiter might be searching for can help them find you.
• Focus on the start . LinkedIn shows the first 300 characters automatically, and then offers the viewer a chance to read more. Make that start so good that everyone wants to keep reading.
• Focus on accomplishments . Think of your life like a series of albums, and this is your speciality “Greatest Hits” album. What “songs” are you putting on it?

How Do I Summarize My Experience on a Resume?

Writing a professional summary for a resume is different than any other type of summary that you may have to do.

Recruiters go through a lot of resumes every day. They don’t have time to spend ages reading yours, which means you have to wow them quickly.

To do that, you might include a section at the top of your resume that acts almost as an elevator pitch: That one thing you might say to a recruiter to get them to want to talk to you if you only had a 30-second elevator ride.

If you don’t have a lot of experience, though, you might want to skip this section entirely and focus on playing up the experience you do have.

Outside of academic and personal summaries, you use summary a lot in your day-to-day life.

Whether it is telling a good piece of trivia you just learned or a funny story that happened to you, or even setting the stage in creative writing, you summarize all the time.

How you use summary can be an important consideration in whether people want to read your work (or listen to you talk).

Here are some things to think about when telling a story:

• Pick interesting details . Too many and your point will be lost. Not enough, and you didn’t paint the scene or give them a complete idea about what happened.
• Play into the emotions . When telling a story, you want more information than the bare minimum. You want your reader to get the emotion of the story. That requires a little bit more work to accomplish.
• Focus. A summary of one story can lead to another can lead to another. Think about storytellers that you know that go off on a tangent. They never seem to finish one story without telling 100 others!

To wrap up (and to demonstrate everything I just talked about), let’s summarize this post into its most essential parts:

A summary is a great way to quickly give your audience the information they need to understand the topic you are discussing without having to know every detail.

How you write a summary is different depending on what type of summary you are doing:

• An academic summary usually gets to the heart of an article, book, or journal, and it should highlight the main points in your own words. How long it should be depends on the type of assignment it is.
• A professional summary highlights you and your professional, academic, and volunteer history. It shows people in your professional network who you are and why they should hire you, work with you, use your talents, etc.

Being able to tell a good story is another form of summary. You want to tell engaging anecdotes and facts without boring your listeners. This is a skill that is developed over time.

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

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Ashley Shaw is a former editor and marketer/current PhD student and teacher. When she isn't studying con artists for her dissertation, she's thinking of new ways to help college students better understand and love the writing process. You can follow her on Twitter, or, if you prefer animal accounts, follow her rabbits, Audrey Hopbun and Fredra StaHare, on Instagram.

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Summary: Using it Wisely

What this handout is about.

Knowing how to summarize something you have read, seen, or heard is a valuable skill, one you have probably used in many writing assignments. It is important, though, to recognize when you must go beyond describing, explaining, and restating texts and offer a more complex analysis. This handout will help you distinguish between summary and analysis and avoid inappropriate summary in your academic writing.

Is summary a bad thing?

Not necessarily. But it’s important that your keep your assignment and your audience in mind as you write. If your assignment requires an argument with a thesis statement and supporting evidence—as many academic writing assignments do—then you should limit the amount of summary in your paper. You might use summary to provide background, set the stage, or illustrate supporting evidence, but keep it very brief: a few sentences should do the trick. Most of your paper should focus on your argument. (Our handout on argument will help you construct a good one.)

Writing a summary of what you know about your topic before you start drafting your actual paper can sometimes be helpful. If you are unfamiliar with the material you’re analyzing, you may need to summarize what you’ve read in order to understand your reading and get your thoughts in order. Once you figure out what you know about a subject, it’s easier to decide what you want to argue.

You may also want to try some other pre-writing activities that can help you develop your own analysis. Outlining, freewriting, and mapping make it easier to get your thoughts on the page. (Check out our handout on brainstorming for some suggested techniques.)

Why is it so tempting to stick with summary and skip analysis?

Many writers rely too heavily on summary because it is what they can most easily write. If you’re stalled by a difficult writing prompt, summarizing the plot of The Great Gatsby may be more appealing than staring at the computer for three hours and wondering what to say about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism. After all, the plot is usually the easiest part of a work to understand. Something similar can happen even when what you are writing about has no plot: if you don’t really understand an author’s argument, it might seem easiest to just repeat what he or she said.

To write a more analytical paper, you may need to review the text or film you are writing about, with a focus on the elements that are relevant to your thesis. If possible, carefully consider your writing assignment before reading, viewing, or listening to the material about which you’ll be writing so that your encounter with the material will be more purposeful. (We offer a handout on reading towards writing .)

How do I know if I’m summarizing?

As you read through your essay, ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I stating something that would be obvious to a reader or viewer?
• Does my essay move through the plot, history, or author’s argument in chronological order, or in the exact same order the author used?
• Am I simply describing what happens, where it happens, or whom it happens to?

A “yes” to any of these questions may be a sign that you are summarizing. If you answer yes to the questions below, though, it is a sign that your paper may have more analysis (which is usually a good thing):

• Am I making an original argument about the text?
• Have I arranged my evidence around my own points, rather than just following the author’s or plot’s order?
• Am I explaining why or how an aspect of the text is significant?

Certain phrases are warning signs of summary. Keep an eye out for these:

• “[This essay] is about…”
• “[This book] is the story of…”
• “[This author] writes about…”
• “[This movie] is set in…”

Here’s an example of an introductory paragraph containing unnecessary summary. Sentences that summarize are in italics:

The Great Gatsby is the story of a mysterious millionaire, Jay Gatsby, who lives alone on an island in New York. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the book, but the narrator is Nick Carraway. Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor, and he chronicles the story of Gatsby and his circle of friends, beginning with his introduction to the strange man and ending with Gatsby’s tragic death. In the story, Nick describes his environment through various colors, including green, white, and grey. Whereas white and grey symbolize false purity and decay respectively, the color green offers a symbol of hope.

Here’s how you might change the paragraph to make it a more effective introduction:

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald provides readers with detailed descriptions of the area surrounding East Egg, New York. In fact, Nick Carraway’s narration describes the setting with as much detail as the characters in the book. Nick’s description of the colors in his environment presents the book’s themes, symbolizing significant aspects of the post-World War I era. Whereas white and grey symbolize the false purity and decay of the 1920s, the color green offers a symbol of hope.

This version of the paragraph mentions the book’s title, author, setting, and narrator so that the reader is reminded of the text. And that sounds a lot like summary—but the paragraph quickly moves on to the writer’s own main topic: the setting and its relationship to the main themes of the book. The paragraph then closes with the writer’s specific thesis about the symbolism of white, grey, and green.

How do I write more analytically?

Analysis requires breaking something—like a story, poem, play, theory, or argument—into parts so you can understand how those parts work together to make the whole. Ideally, you should begin to analyze a work as you read or view it instead of waiting until after you’re done—it may help you to jot down some notes as you read. Your notes can be about major themes or ideas you notice, as well as anything that intrigues, puzzles, excites, or irritates you. Remember, analytic writing goes beyond the obvious to discuss questions of how and why—so ask yourself those questions as you read.

The St. Martin’s Handbook (the bulleted material below is quoted from p. 38 of the fifth edition) encourages readers to take the following steps in order to analyze a text:

• Identify evidence that supports or illustrates the main point or theme as well as anything that seems to contradict it.
• Consider the relationship between the words and the visuals in the work. Are they well integrated, or are they sometimes at odds with one another? What functions do the visuals serve? To capture attention? To provide more detailed information or illustration? To appeal to readers’ emotions?
• Decide whether the sources used are trustworthy.
• Identify the work’s underlying assumptions about the subject, as well as any biases it reveals.

Once you have written a draft, some questions you might want to ask yourself about your writing are “What’s my point?” or “What am I arguing in this paper?” If you can’t answer these questions, then you haven’t gone beyond summarizing. You may also want to think about how much of your writing comes from your own ideas or arguments. If you’re only reporting someone else’s ideas, you probably aren’t offering an analysis.

What strategies can help me avoid excessive summary?

• Read the assignment (the prompt) as soon as you get it. Make sure to reread it before you start writing. Go back to your assignment often while you write. (Check out our handout on reading assignments ).
• Formulate an argument (including a good thesis) and be sure that your final draft is structured around it, including aspects of the plot, story, history, background, etc. only as evidence for your argument. (You can refer to our handout on constructing thesis statements ).
• Read critically—imagine having a dialogue with the work you are discussing. What parts do you agree with? What parts do you disagree with? What questions do you have about the work? Does it remind you of other works you’ve seen?
• Make sure you have clear topic sentences that make arguments in support of your thesis statement. (Read our handout on paragraph development if you want to work on writing strong paragraphs).
• Use two different highlighters to mark your paper. With one color, highlight areas of summary or description. With the other, highlight areas of analysis. For many college papers, it’s a good idea to have lots of analysis and minimal summary/description.
• Ask yourself: What part of the essay would be obvious to a reader/viewer of the work being discussed? What parts (words, sentences, paragraphs) of the essay could be deleted without loss? In most cases, your paper should focus on points that are essential and that will be interesting to people who have already read or seen the work you are writing about.

But I’m writing a review! Don’t I have to summarize?

That depends. If you’re writing a critique of a piece of literature, a film, or a dramatic performance, you don’t necessarily need to give away much of the plot. The point is to let readers decide whether they want to enjoy it for themselves. If you do summarize, keep your summary brief and to the point.

Instead of telling your readers that the play, book, or film was “boring,” “interesting,” or “really good,” tell them specifically what parts of the work you’re talking about. It’s also important that you go beyond adjectives and explain how the work achieved its effect (how was it interesting?) and why you think the author/director wanted the audience to react a certain way. (We have a special handout on writing reviews that offers more tips.)

If you’re writing a review of an academic book or article, it may be important for you to summarize the main ideas and give an overview of the organization so your readers can decide whether it is relevant to their specific research interests.

If you are unsure how much (if any) summary a particular assignment requires, ask your instructor for guidance.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Barnet, Sylvan. 2015. A Short Guide to Writing about Art , 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Corrigan, Timothy. 2014. A Short Guide to Writing About Film , 9th ed. New York: Pearson.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Zinsser, William. 2001. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction , 6th ed. New York: Quill.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed how we work and play  in recent months, giving almost anyone the ability to write code , create art , and even make investments . For professional and hobbyist users alike, generative AI tools, such as  ChatGPT , offer advanced capabilities to create decent-quality content from a simple user prompt. 

Keeping up with all the latest AI tools can get confusing, especially as Microsoft added  GPT-4 to Bing Chat  and renamed it to Copilot, OpenAI added new capabilities to ChatGPT and released GPT-4o , and Google plugged Bard   into its ecosystem  and rebranded the chatbot as Gemini .

Also: How to use ChatGPT (and how to access GPT-4o)

Knowing which of the three most popular AI chatbots is best to write code , generate text , or help build resumes is challenging. Let's break down the biggest differences so you can choose the one that best meets your needs. 

Testing ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot vs. Gemini

To help determine which AI chatbot gives more accurate answers, I'm going to use a simple prompt to compare them: 

"I have 5 oranges today, I ate 3 oranges last week. How many oranges do I have left?"

The answer should be five, as the number of oranges I ate last week doesn't affect the number of oranges I have today. First up, ChatGPT.

You should use ChatGPT if...

1. you want the most advanced ai chatbot for free.

OpenAI lets users access ChatGPT , powered by its GPT-3.5 and the GPT-4o models, for free with a registered account. If you're willing to pay for the Plus version, you can access GPT-4, use a higher prompt limit for GPT-4o, and get early access to new features for $20 per month.

ChatGPT with GPT-4o, available for free users, answered the question correctly. 

GPT-4o is a new multimodal model available to free and paying ChatGPT users. Rather than relying on three separate models to power its features -- GPT-4 for text, DALL-E 3 for images, and Whisper for voice -- ChatGPT now uses GPT-4o to process and generate text, images, and sounds. This makes it faster than GPT-4 for paying ChatGPT subscribers, and just as good for ChatGPT users who don't want to pay.

Aside from giving free ChatGPT users access to the latest GPT-4o model, the startup also announced that free users now get most of the features that until now were exclusive to ChatGPT Plus users. These include web browsing, access to custom GPTs, ChatGPT Memory, and advanced data analysis.

2. You want to try the most popular AI chatbot

OpenAI released a widespread preview of  ChatGPT  in November 2022. Since then, the AI chatbot quickly gained over 100 million users and has been at the center of  controversies , especially as people uncover its potential to  do schoolwork  and replace some work across industries.

Also: ChatGPT will put your data into interactive tables and charts with GPT-4o

Since its release, I've been testing ChatGPT almost daily. Although its user interface has remained simple, minor changes have greatly improved the tool, including GPT-4o for free users,  Custom Instructions , and easier access to accounts.

The free version of ChatGPT using the default GPT-3.5 model gave the wrong answer to our question.

Although ChatGPT has proven to be a valuable AI tool, it can be prone to  misinformation . Like other large language models (LLMs), GPT-3.5 is imperfect, as it is trained on human-created data up to January 2022. It also often fails to comprehend nuances, like it did with our math question example, which it answered incorrectly by saying we have two oranges left, when the answer should be five.

Also: I put GPT-4o through my coding tests and it aced them - except for one weird result

The GPT-4o model answered the math question correctly, having understood the full context of the problem from beginning to end.

Next, let's consider Microsoft Copilot , which is a great way to access GPT-4 for free.

You should use Microsoft Copilot if...

1. you want to use gpt-4 for free.

Although the free version of ChatGPT lets you use GPT-4o, access to free users is limited to about 15 messages every three hours or capped depending on peak hours, to keep it accessible to more people. After reaching your GPT-4o limit, your chat session reverts to GPT-3.5, limited to generating conversational text and information only until January 2022.

Also:  How to use Copilot (formerly called Bing Chat)

Meanwhile, Copilot can access the internet to deliver more current information than GPT-3.5, complete with links to sources.

Copilot's Creative conversation style was the only Copilot mode to answer the question accurately.

There are other benefits, too. Copilot is powered by GPT-4, OpenAI's LLM, and is completely free. Unfortunately, you are limited to five responses per conversation and can only enter up to 4,000 characters in each prompt. Copilot will eventually get GPT-4o built-in, but Microsoft hasn't made this update widely available, yet.

Also: Microsoft Copilot vs. Copilot Pro: Is the subscription fee worth it?

Copilot's user interface is a bit more cluttered than ChatGPT's, but it's still easy to navigate. While Copilot can access the internet to give you more up-to-date results compared to ChatGPT powered by GPT-3.5, I've found it is more prone to stalling before replying and will miss more prompts than its competitor.

2. You prefer more visual features

Microsoft has upgraded its platform several times to add visual features to Copilot, formerly Bing Chat. At this point, you can ask Copilot questions like, "What is a Tasmanian devil?" and get a response complete with photos, lifespan, diet, and more, for a more scannable result that is easier to digest than a wall of text. 

You can also ask Copilot to generate images for you. Give Copilot a description of what you want the image to look like, and the chatbot will generate four images for you to choose from. 

Also: How to use Image Creator from Microsoft Designer (formerly Bing Image Creator)

Microsoft Copilot features different conversational styles, including Creative, Balanced, and Precise, which alter how light or straightforward the interactions are.

The Balanced and Precise conversation styles in Microsoft Copilot answered my question inaccurately.

Finally, let's turn to Google's Gemini, formerly known as Bard. It uses Google's own LLM, also named Gemini, and has received considerable upgrades in the past few months.

You should use Gemini if...

1. you want a fast, almost unlimited experience.

In my time testing different AI chatbots, I saw  Google Bard catch a lot of flack for different shortcomings . While I'm not going to say they're unjustified, I will say that Google's AI chatbot, now named Gemini and powered by a completely different AI model than the one it debuted with, has improved greatly.

Also: How to use Gemini (formerly Google Bard): Everything you should know

Gemini gives speedy answers, which have become more accurate over time. It's not faster than ChatGPT Plus, but it can be faster at giving responses than Copilot and faster than the free GPT-3.5 version of ChatGPT, though your mileage may vary. 

Gemini answered accurately, like GPT-4o and Copilot's Creative conversation style.

Bard used to make the same mistake as other chatbots for my example math problem by incorrectly using the 5 - 3 = 2 formula, but Gemini, powered by Google's new Gemini Pro -- the company's largest LLM -- now answers the question accurately.

Also: Copilot Pro vs. ChatGPT Plus: Which is AI chatbot is worth your $20 a month?

Gemini is also not limited to a set number of responses. You can have long conversations with Google's Gemini, unlike with Copilot, which is limited to five replies in one conversation. Even ChatGPT Plus limits users to 40 messages every three hours. 

2. You want the full Google experience

Google also incorporates more visual elements into its Gemini platform than those currently available in Copilot. Users can generate images using Gemini, upload photos through an integration with Google Lens , and enjoy Kayak, OpenTable, Instacart, and Wolfram Alpha plugins.

Also: 6 AI tools to supercharge your work and everyday life

Gemini is slowly becoming a full Google experience thanks to extensions that add the wide range of Google applications. You can add extensions for Google Workspace, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Flights, and Google Hotels, giving you a more personalized and useful experience.

Artificial Intelligence

Chatgpt vs. copilot: which ai chatbot is better for you, copilot pro vs. chatgpt plus: which is ai chatbot is worth your $20 a month, what is copilot (formerly bing chat) here's everything you need to know.

Android Police

It's now a lot easier to change what your philips hue lights do after a power outage.

A small but welcome UI tweak

• The Philips Hue Android app has revamped power-on settings.
• You can now adjust multiple lights' power-on settings at once.
• The update also makes improvements to security camera management.

Philips Hue has made it significantly easier to change what happens with your smart lights after they lose and regain power. Starting with the most recent update to the Hue app for Android , you can now change power-on behavior for multiple lights at a time, saving a considerable amount of taps.

Using smart lights connected to regular light switches has always been finicky. With multiple inputs controlling each light, the interaction of software-based on-off settings and hardware-based power control can lead to unwanted behavior, like all your lights turning on at full brightness after a power outage is resolved. To mitigate this, Hue introduced power-on settings for its lights back in 2018 , allowing users to dictate what they want their lights to do when power cycles: revert to the same setting as before power was cut; turn on at chosen brightness; or stay off.

Originally, to adjust power-on behavior, you had to go to Settings → Lights → [Select Light] → Power On for each light individually. Now, you're able to change multiple lights at once when you're editing either a Room or a Zone inside the Hue app. Once you've selected lights, tap Edit at the bottom of the screen and you can select Power On to change the power-on behavior.

The change can save a pretty significant amount of time if you need to change settings on more than one light. Given newly purchased Hue lights default to turning on at 100 percent brightness after regaining power (a behavior I have to assume most people won't want), the new setup could save some serious time if you're installing multiple lights at once. Note that newly purchased lights will probably need a firmware update before you can change their power-on settings.

Hue's revamped power-on settings are now available

The new, easier to use settings for power-on behavior are available in version 5.16 of Hue's Android app, which is available now on the Play Store. The update also allows users of Hue's connected cameras to drag and drop cameras to rearrange their order.

April 30, 2024 Hue app 5.16 Rearrange your cameras in the Security Center! Just drag and drop them into the order you want. When editing a Room or Zone, you can now select multiple lights at once to change their Power on behavior.

Best Philips Hue smart lights & bulbs in 2024

In commencement speech, Chiefs kicker targets ‘diabolical lies’ told to women

Harrison Butker tells Benedictine College men to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men” while also criticizing Pride Month and President Biden.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, one of the top specialists in the NFL, branched out from football over the weekend, taking aim at “diabolical lies told to women” and “dangerous gender ideologies” as well as gay pride and President Biden ’s stance on abortion in a commencement address at Benedictine College in Kansas.

The former industrial engineering student at Georgia Tech said he is leaning into his “vocation as a husband and a father and as a man” and went on to tell graduates of the Catholic liberal arts school that “… part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation.”

The 28-year-old described himself as “an introvert” who is now “an amateur public speaker and an entrepreneur.” He urged male graduates of the Atchison, Kan., college to “be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.”

Butker, whose team attracted the attention of increasing numbers of women and girls during a 2023 season in which Taylor Swift frequently attended games to cheer on tight end Travis Kelce, also had a message for female graduates.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” he said. “… Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.

“I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me. But it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”

Butker spoke of what he said were the dangers presented by the “church of nice” when it comes to issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion . He also criticized “dangerous gender ideologies,” citing a recent Associated Press article on “an immense shift” in the Catholic Church in the United States, with many who had “embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s” giving way “to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change.”

Butker said the AP intended the story to create anger and, instead, Catholics took pride in it — “Not the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him.” He also brought up diversity, equity and inclusion , arguing “the world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority.”

He called out “bad leaders who don’t stay in their lanes” and criticized the nation’s response to the pandemic.

“While covid might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” Butker told the graduates. “The bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for the degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”

He criticized President Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, for being pro-choice, “delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally” and for supporting LGBTQ protections.

“He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears you can be both Catholic and pro-choice,” Butker said.

Butker has spent all seven of his NFL seasons with the Chiefs, winning three Super Bowls as the franchise became one of the most prominent in the league. He connected on better than 94 percent of his field goal attempts last season, one of the top rates among qualified kickers, and made all 11 field goals he attempted during the playoffs.

A previous version of this article incorrectly said Taylor Swift frequently attended Chiefs games in 2003. She attended games in 2023. The article has been corrected.

Screen Rant

The strangers: chapter 1 box office is good, but chapter 2 now has a major challenge to overcome.

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The Strangers: Chapter 1 Ending Explained

The strangers: chapter 1 credit scene sets up future that mirrors a horror trilogy from over 40 years ago, is the strangers: chapter 1 a prequel, remake or reboot it's complicated.

• Box office success for The Strangers: Chapter 1 surpassed expectations, but bad reviews may hinder future sequels at the box office.
• The Strangers franchise plans to release two more sequels, despite the first movie's mixed critical reception.
• Despite bad reviews for The Strangers: Chapter 1, there is hope for Chapter 2 and 3 with new stories to tell.

On a budget of $8 million, it was a pleasant surprise that The Strangers: Chapter 1 surpassed its budget to make $12 million at the box office, however this triumph is far from the end of the road for the revived franchise, which already has two sequels planned and a huge issue it must overcome. 2024's The Strangers: Chapter 1 is a remake of the classic 2008 horror movie, The Strangers, which tells the story of a couple whose house is eerily broken into. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is the third installment in the planned five movie The Strangers franchise .

Box office performance is almost always a shot in the dark, however, there are often indicators of how a movie may do. When it comes to The Strangers: Chapter 1, the odds did not look so good . Horror movies can often struggle during theatrical release, even if they are part of a well-known franchise. Slashers in particular are more prone to becoming cult classics than major box office hits. Ultimately, The Strangers: Chapter 1 was projected to earn $7-9 million, but surprisingly, it surpassed its budget by $4 million and has only been out for a few days so far.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 ends on a brutal note, setting up the protagonist of the new trilogy while highlighting the franchise's themes.

The Strangers: Chapter 2 & 3 Will Have A Harder Time At The Box Office After Chapter 1's Bad Reviews

Bad reviews will hurt future box office chances.

Despite The Stranger: Chapter 1's overperformance at the box office, this revival franchise is not out of the woods yet. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is only the first in a planned standalone trilogy. The Strangers: Chapter 2 is thought to be released later in 2024, while The Strangers: Chapter 3 will come out at a later date. And though the first movie succeeded financially, its reviews tell a different story. On Rotten Tomatoes, The Strangers: Chapter 1 earned a 13% critics score and a 44% audience score.

Ultimately, these will only hurt the next two installments.

The big difference between box office and reviews is that while box office performance only lasts as long as the movie is in theaters, reviews are forever. It was a stroke of luck that so many went to see The Strangers: Chapter 1, giving it the unexpected $12 million at the box office. However, the movie's reviews will linger, and taint the perspectives of future moviegoers . Those who might have been interested in The Strangers: Chapter 2 may be dissuaded by the first movie's bad reviews. In this way, box office is helpful now, but less so in the future.

Why There's Still Hope For The Strangers: Chapter 2 & 3

The strangers sequels have new stories to tell.

Luckily, hope is not entirely lost for The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3. Though the bad reviews for the first movie could put audiences off, the sequels have something else to offer: being new . While The Strangers: Chapter 1 simply rehashed the original movie, remaking what audiences have already seen, the sequels will show entirely new stories. This fact might be enough to get audiences into theaters, and hopefully, keep The Strangers: Chapter 1's and the franchise's box office success rolling.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez.

The Strangers: Chapter 1