tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post4925797061236324092..comments2023-11-13T04:55:40.769-05:00Comments on Tuttle SVC: "Explain" vs. "Analyze"Tom Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-58145358555506502892012-07-05T15:05:51.093-04:002012-07-05T15:05:51.093-04:00The capcha should be dead now. I'd forgotten ...The capcha should be dead now. I'd forgotten it was there since I don't need to use in when commenting.<br /><br />They have gotten annoyingly obscure.Tom Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-80838747084364527682012-07-05T15:03:53.373-04:002012-07-05T15:03:53.373-04:00The most common usage is roughly this form:
"...The most common usage is roughly this form:<br /><br />"Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact."<br /><br />or <br /><br />"Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure contributes to its meaning."<br /><br />I fundamentally disagree with the entire structure. These shouldn't be described as tasks, but as understandings.Tom Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08577165613934129833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7719550.post-79599406127959389152012-07-05T14:48:20.475-04:002012-07-05T14:48:20.475-04:00It seems to me to be a misuse of the word 'exp...It seems to me to be a misuse of the word 'explain'. To my way of thinking, you would say, "explain why..." or "describe how..." but not "Explain how." <br /><br />The two are doing fundamentally different things. An explanation is a search for a cause, motivation, regularity or law of nature. Explaining why an author develops a point of view (or a particular point of view) is a detailed high-level discussion.<br /><br />Describing how this is done (which is probably what the question intends) is more low level, requiring direct evidence from the text, showing how a (typically) step-by-step process unfolds.<br /><br />The word "analyze" meanwhile would not I think be used with either "how" or "why" - you analyze a thing, not a question (unless you are treating the question as a thing, in which case the analysis is somewhat meta).<br /><br />You would for example "analyze the author's character development" or "analyze the author's motives" or "analyze character development in the novel". An analysis may involve looking at 'how' and 'why' but is mostly concerned with unpacking it, taking it apart, identifying key elements, rather than providing answers or descriptions.<br /><br />p.s.I hate the capchas - they are unreasonably difficult to decipher.Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.com