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Analyzing Four Genres

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As you read the selections in this chapter, you will see how one student, Maya Gomez, moves from summarizing a proposal to solve the shortage of kidneys for transplant, to creating an annotated bibliography of sources on the topic of the kidney shortage, to reporting on the topic, and finally to analyzing the basic values underlying the disagreement between the proponents of two opposing arguments.

In the summary of “A Moral Market,” Gomez recaps the main argument of Eric Posner’s proposal.
In the annotated bibliography “Compensating Kidney Donors,” Gomez compiles a list of the sources she consulted, annotating each entry with a summary and a commentary on how she plans to use the source in her report or analysis essay.
In the report “Possible Solutions to the Kidney Shortage,” Gomez introduces the broad topic of kidney transplantation, focusing on the kidney shortage and some of the controversial ideas for encouraging more people to donate their kidneys.
In the analysis “Satel vs. the National Kidney Foundation: Should Kidney Donors Be Compensated?” Gomez exposes to critical examination the basic values underlying the opposing positions taken by Sally Satel and the National Kidney Foundation.

Examining how Maya Gomez summarizes, analyzes, and synthesizes diverse sources — and presents an array of information and different points of view clearly and impartially — will help you see how you can employ the same techniques when composing your own summary, annotated bibliography, report, or comparative analysis on a controversial topic.

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience.

The purposes a writer may have will differ, of course, depending on the genre in which he or she is composing and who the intended audience is:

Genre	If the intended audience is . . .	then the purpose is likely to be . . .
Summary	a reader interested in the topic a writer who has read the source him- or herself an instructor who will evaluate the writer’s work	to get a sense of what the source says to identify and record the source’s main ideas to demonstrate understanding by presenting a clear, concise, and accurate description of the source’s main ideas
Annotated Bibliography	174 a writer who is doing research other researchers looking for sources for their own project an instructor who has assigned and will evaluate the bibliography	to make a record of sources and explore their usefulness to inform others about sources on the topic to indicate which sources have been consulted and present a clear, accurate summary of the sources’ main ideas along with an analysis of how they may be used in a later writing project
Report Explaining a Controversial Topic	readers who want to learn about the topic an instructor who has assigned and will evaluate the report	to inform readers about the topic, explaining its significance and different points of view to demonstrate understanding by explaining the topic and the different points of view clearly, accurately, and impartially
Analysis of Opposing Arguments	readers familiar with the topic but not likely to have read the sources an instructor who has assigned and will evaluate the analysis	to identify the crux of the disagreement and clarify the values driving the different points of view to demonstrate understanding by presenting a clear, perceptive, impartial analysis of the values underlying the opposing arguments

Assess the genre’s basic features.

As you read the summary, annotated bibliography, report, and analysis in this chapter, consider how the author, Maya Gomez, incorporates the basic features of each genre. You will find that the different genres share some basic features, but may not demonstrate the features in the same way.

AN INFORMATIVE EXPLANATION

To be effective, writing in all four of the genres needs to provide an informative explanation, although each goes about doing so in a slightly different way. A summary need only capture the main idea of a source concisely and accurately, answering the question: What does the source say about the topic?

An annotated bibliography expands on that summary to analyze how useful potential sources might be, given the writer’s purpose and audience. An annotated bibliography not only answers the question What does the source say about the topic? but also How might each source be useful to the writer? How might sources be related? and What bibliographical information will be needed to cite the source for an academic writing project?

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	Summary	Annotated Bibliography	Report	Comparative Analysis
An Informative Explanation	Analyzes the source’s main ideas	Analyzes sources’ main ideas and usefulness	Analyzes the topic, its significance, and disagreements	Analyzes the opposing arguments to identify the underlying values at the crux of their disagreement
		Synthesizes sources’ relationships	Synthesizes information and points of view	Synthesizes by comparing opposing arguments on the topic
A Clear, Logical Organization	Includes a thesis statement to identify the source’s main idea	Includes topic sentences identifying the source’s main idea and how it might be used	Includes a thesis statement and topic sentences
	Includes transitions to signal logical connections
	May use other types of cues, such as repetition of key terms and synonyms, headings, and a forecast of subtopics
Smooth Integration of Sources		Includes a formal citation for each source	Includes a formal citation for each source in works-cited list
	Uses a signal phrase to identify author’s credentials, title, and source information	Identifies author and provides credentials in summary of each source	Identifies author of each source, providing credentials in text in a signal phrase or identifying source in a parenthetical citation
Appropriate Explanatory Strategies	Describes source’s main ideas
	Narrates source’s “moves” (for example: whether the source argues, describes, or contrasts)
			May use a number of writing strategies, such as example, classification, and cause/effect, to help readers understand the topic
			May present facts or statistics visually

A report analyzes sources further to determine where they stand on the topic. It synthesizes sources to determine where they overlap and diverge, and to categorize information or ideas, so readers readily identify the main issues and conflicts. A report answers the questions What is the topic? Why is it controversial? and What are the main opinions on the topic?

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A comparative analysis focuses in on two (or more) sources to identify the positions the different writers hold and probe below the surface to determine what drives their positions apart. It answers the questions What is the crux of the disagreement? What values, priorities, interests, or fears drive the disagreement on the topic?

A CLEAR, LOGICAL ORGANIZATION

Similarly, all four genres must be clearly and logically organized. Summaries rely on transitional words and phrases (such as because or therefore) to make the relationships among sentences clear for readers. Since each summary is only a paragraph long, more cueing devices are unnecessary. The annotations in an annotated bibliography also rely mainly on transitional words and phrases to link sentences, but they may also repeat key terms (or their synonyms) to make clear how sources relate to one another.

To learn more about thesis statements, topic sentences, and headings, see Chapter 13.

Longer writing projects, like reports and analyses, use a full array of strategies. For example, in addition to transitional words and phrases and repetition of key terms and synonyms, Gomez’s report includes a thesis statement with a forecast of the subtopics, headings to introduce each subsection, and a topic sentence to state each section’s main idea:

Forecast of subtopics

Headings keyed to forecast

THESIS	This report will survey an array of ideas that have been proposed to encourage people to donate their kidneys, including changing to an opt-out system of organ donation after death, facilitating paired kidney exchanges, reducing financial disincentives, and offering incentives. (par. 3)
HEADING	*Change from Opt-In to* Opt-Out Organ Donation *after Death*
TOPIC SENTENCE	There has been some discussion about changing from an opt-in system that requires a signed pledge to donate organs after death to an opt-out system that presumes consent. (par. 4)

SMOOTH INTEGRATION OF SOURCES

Summaries, annotated bibliographies, reports, and comparative analyses all smoothly integrate sources. A summary is very brief, so it makes sense that it would identify the source in the opening sentence, incorporating the author’s name and the title of the selection (and perhaps the author’s credentials and publication information) in a signal phrase: “In his article ‘A Moral Market,’ published by Slate in 2014, law professor Eric Posner proposes . . .” (Gomez, p. 178).

Because each entry in an annotated bibliography begins with a formal citation, its summary section need not repeat the title and publication information, although it typically begins with the author’s name and credentials: “In this article, law professor Eric Posner proposes . . .” (Gomez, p. 181).

Reports and analyses, both longer writing projects for an academic audience, include a formal citation in a works-cited list and also identify the source of quotations, paraphrases, or summaries as well as visual maternal in in-text citations—a combination of signal phrases and parenthetical citations corresponding to the works-cited list. Consider these examples:

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Signal phrase

Parenthetical citation

Paraphrase cue

Parenthetical citation

QUOTATION	The key passage of NOTA prohibiting compensation states that “it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation” (Sec. 301a). (Report, par. 7; Analysis, par. 2)
PARAPHRASE	As Sigrid Fry-Revere explains in a 2014 CNN op-ed, potential donors like her have been turned down by transplant centers because they cannot afford the estimated $10,000 needed to pay their own expenses. . . . (“Why”). (Report, par. 10)
SUMMARY	. . . a number of states have already passed legislation to reduce the burden on living donors (“Financing”). (Report, par. 10)

APPROPRIATE EXPLANATORY STRATEGIES

Both summaries and annotated bibliographies briefly describe the source’s main idea. They also narrate the source’s moves: Does the source argue a position? State a claim? Concede or refute opposing views?

A report or analysis goes further, using a variety of writing strategies. For example, Maya Gomez employs

definition to provide an explanation for a concept:

“Valuable consideration” is a term used in law to refer to in-kind exchange or monetary value. (Report, par. 7)
classification to group ideas or information into categories:

Forecast of topics

. . . an array of ideas . . . have been proposed to encourage people to donate their kidneys, including changing to an opt-out system. . . , facilitating paired kidney exchanges,reducing financial disincentives, and offering incentives. (Report, par. 3)
comparison and contrast to point out similarities and differences:

Contrast cue

Position 1

Position 2

Satel’s disagreement with the NKF is essentially about morality. Or rather, it is about what she sees as the NKF’s moral absolutism in what she assumes is “a morally pluralistic society” (par. 21). (Analysis, par. 7)
cause-effect to explain what motivates a writer (in this instance, the NKF) to hold one position rather than another:

Cause-effect cue

If the act of giving is tainted, for example by self-interest rather than selflessness, then the gift itself becomes unacceptable. (Analysis, par. 5)