Analysis and synthesis
There are four summaries of articles that have been read by other people. While we do not get to read the articles themselves, we get brief ideas of what the subject was. We also get the impression of people who read it and understand whether they agreed or disagreed with the initial articles. The structure of the essays look similar, however they cover completely different subjects, which however eventually show that they in common more than just a presentation.
The very first summary of an essay talks about how young children in kindergartens are taught foreign languages. The article seems to describe the struggles and the positive sides. While the author of the article and the person summarizing it come to a similar conclusion – that children need their toddler-pre-school years for childhood and to master some basic activities and not be taught a new language while they have not exactly mastered their native one. The summary shows how marketing is speculating upon mother’s tender feelings. The structure of the essay is clear and easy to read. It raises issues and presents solutions to them.
Homesick
The following article raises an issue especially familiar for foreign students – homesickness. The author of the summary seems to have experienced similar problems. The article probably was full of advices and the methods of how to get out of your comfort zone. The author of the summary agrees with the article and its author’s vision of the situation. The language of the article is overall positive and helpful, yet it has a note of sadness due to the fact that people often feel out of place.
Manage the budget
This summary talks about an article in which advices are given on how to coordinate personal expenses are given - an overview on how to manage even the smallest spending, to which we usually pay no attention. The author of the summary sees the benefits of the article’s advices but is not ready to go all the way, writing an everyday expenditure diary. He/she sees how keeping a diary of where does the money go, could be a very useful thing, but writing down every single piece – is yet too much for him/her. Although the tone of the second part of the essay shows that if such necessity ever occurs, the author sees it as a good way to go.
Self-reliance
A summary of what seems to be a wonderful article on our underlying powers and ambition. Although the title says “Self-reliance”, the example that is shown through the text makes it more about people using their inner resources to an extent that is unknown. The summary retells a story about an experiment conducted in a third world country, where children managed to learn how to use computer without having any concrete instructions. It pushes to conclusions that all of us have this great potential, where our brains possess powers we not always use and probably need to develop more. The author of the essay seems to be fascinated with this idea of development, remembering examples from her childhood, when everything seemed interesting and was questioned.
All four articles have a similarity that strikes right away – they are all constructed by the same formula: two paragraphs, one overview, and one personal opinion. Which means that they all consist of two paragraphs, where the first one is shorter and the second one is longer. The first gives a general idea on what the original article was about and the second one describes how the author of the essay feels about the article. It is a very constructive and readable way to make a summary. We do not know how long or short the original articles were, but the way summaries are written, it gives us all the necessary information to make a judgment of the subject even for ourselves – obtaining information through the third party.
Another method that is applied in all four articles is the “issue-solution”. The texts brings up an subject and then describes ways to deal with it or to manage it.
The tone of all the essays is also similar. It is quite formal, giving no more than necessary. Their objective is simply to inform. The personal opinion of the authors is there rather to show that there are different sides to the subject that to sway us in favor of their vision.
All four authors of summaries agree with what is written in articles. Although the themes brought up are different, ranging from Anita Casalina and Amy Pearson’s education to self-control in the articles of D’Arcy Lyness and Money Mangement International, it is not surprising, since all ideas of the articles seem to be based on common sense and general ideas.
What really runs through all the texts like a red line is motivation. Motivation makes people in the described articles, find solutions to problems in ways that are harmless and most acceptable. Motivation drives parents and teachers to search for ways to introduce second language to preschoolers when there is not enough motivation in children, motivation to stop feeling out of place, drives us to fight the feeling of being homesick, motivation drives us to start rethinking our expenditures and start saving money, and it is motivation that makes us learn new thing and understand them even when it seems impossible. When we set a goal for ourselves or want to understand some things better, people get excited enough to feel an urge to do something about it. Motivation and partially curiosity and sometimes a desire to enjoy themselves is what transforms our ideas into plans and then actions. In these four articles, motivation is linked with self-development to a certain extent and is also shown as a solution to problem of how to ameliorate ourselves. And it seems to be just the right answer.
