writing an analytical essay can seem daunting

8/18/2019 Writing an Analytical Essay Can Seem Daunting

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Writing an analytical essay can seem daunting, especially if you've never done it before. Don't

worry! Take a deep breath, buy yourself a caffeinated beverage, and follow these steps to create a

well-crafted analytical essay.

1Prewriting for Your Essay

1.

1Understand the objective of an analytical essay. An analytical essay means you willneed to present some type ofargument, or claim, about what you are analyzing. Most often

you will have to analyze another piece of writing or a film, but you could also be asked to

analyze an issue, or an idea. To do this, you must break the topic down into parts and

provide evidence, either from the text/film or from your own research, that supports your

claim.[1]

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For example, "Stanley Kubrick'sThe Shining uses a repeating motif of Native

American culture and art to comment on America's history of colonizing Native Americans'

lands" is an analytical thesis. It is analyzing a particular text and setting forth an argument

-- in the form of a thesis statement -- about it.

2.

2Decide what to write about. If you are writing this for a class, your teacher will generally

assign you a topic (or topics) to write about. Read the prompt carefully. What is the prompt

asking you to do? However, sometimes you will have to come up with your own topic.

If you're writing an analytical essay about a work of fiction, you could focus

your argument on what motivates a specific character or group of characters. Or, you could

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argue why a certain line or paragraph is central to the work as a whole. For example:

Explore the concept of vengeance in the epic poemBeowulf.

If you're writing about a historical event, try focusing on the forces that

contributed to what happened.

If you're writing about scientific research or findings, follow thescientific

method to analyze your results.

3

Brainstorm. You may not immediately know what your thesis statement should be, even

once you've chosen your topic. That's okay! Doing some brainstorming can help you

discover what you think about your topic. Consider it from as many angles as you can.[2]

Look for repeated imagery, metaphors, phrases, or ideas. Things that repeatare often important. See if you can decipher why these things are so crucial. Do they

repeat in the same way each time, or differently?

How does the text work? If you're writing a rhetorical analysis, for example,

you might analyze how the author uses logical appeals to support her argument and decide

whether you think the argument is effective. If you're analyzing a creative work, consider

things like imagery, visuals in a film, etc. If you're analyzing research, you may want to

consider the methods and results and analyze whether the experiment is a good design.

A mind map can be helpful to some people. Start with your central topic, andarrange smaller ideas around it in bubbles. Connect the bubbles to identify patterns and

how things are related.[3]

Good brainstorming can be all over the place. In fact, that can be a good way

to start off! Don't discount any ideas just yet. Write down any element or fact that you think

of as you examine your topic.

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4.

4Come up with athesis statement. The thesis statement is a sentence or two that

summarizes the claim you will make in your paper. It tells the reader what your essay will

be about.

Example of a thesis statement: "The many revenges inBeowulf show thatretribution was an essential part of the Anglo-Saxon age. Furthermore, the poet's portrayal

of these suggests that the dragon was more honorable in his act of revenge than Grendel's

mother."

This is an analytical thesis because it examines a text and makes a particular

claim.

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The claim is "arguable," meaning it's not a statement of pure fact that nobody

could contest. An analytical essay takes a side and makes an argument.

For example, "Revenge occurs many times inBeowulf" is not an analytical

thesis statement because nobody can contest it. It isn't an argument; it's a statement of

facts.

Make sure your thesis is narrow enough to fit the scope of your assignment.

"Revenge inBeowulf could be a PhD dissertation, it's so broad. It's probably much too big

for a student essay. However, arguing that one character's revenge is more honorable than

another's is manageable within a shorter student essay.[4]

Unless instructed to write one, avoid the "three-prong" thesis that presents

three points to be discussed later. These thesis statements usually limit your analysis too

much and give your argument a formulaic feel. It's okay to state generally what your

argument will be.

5.

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5Find supporting evidence. Depending on your assignment, you may need to work only

with your primary sources (the text or texts you're analyzing) or with primary and secondary

sources, such as other books or journal articles. The assignment should tell you what typesof sources are required. Good evidence supports your claim and makes your argument

more convincing. List out the supporting evidence, noting where you found it, and how it

supports your claim.[5][6]

Example of supporting evidence: To support a claim that the dragon’s

vengeance was more righteous than Grendel's mother's, look at the passages in the poem

that discuss the events leading up to each monster’s attack, the attacks themselves, as

well as the reactions to those attacks.

6.

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6Make an outline. An outline will help structure your essay and make writing it easier. Be

sure that you understand how long your essay needs to be. While some teachers are finewith the standard "5 paragraph essay" (introduction, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion), many

teachers prefer essays to be longer and explore topics more in-depth. Structure your

outline accordingly.

If you're not quite sure how all your evidence fits together, don't worry! Making

an outline can help you figure out how your argument should progress.

You can also make a more informal outline that groups your ideas together in

large groups. From there, you can decide what to talk about where.

Your essay will be as long as it needs to be to adequately discuss your topic.A common mistake students make is to choose a large topic and then allow only 3 body

paragraphs to discuss it. This makes essays feel shallow or rushed. Don't be afraid to

spend enough time discussing each detail!

Part2

Writing Your Essay

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1.

1Write yourintroduction. Your introduction should give your reader background

information about your topic. Try to make your introduction engaging but not too

overzealous. Avoid summarizing the prompt--it’s best to simply state your argument. Also

avoid dramatic introductions (beginning an essay with a question or exclamation isgenerally best to avoid). In general, do not use the first (I) or second (you) person in your

essay. State your thesis, generally as the last sentence in the first paragraph.

Example introduction: Revenge was a legally recognized right in ancient

Anglo-Saxon culture. The many revenges in the epic poemBeowulf show that retribution

was an essential part of the Anglo-Saxon age. However, not all revenges are created alike.

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The poet's portrayal of these revenges suggests that the dragon was more honorable in his

act of revenge than Grendel's mother.

This introduction gives your readers information they should know to

understand your argument, and then presents an argument about the complexity of a

general topic (revenge) in the poem. This type of argument can be interesting because it

suggests that the reader needs to think about the text very carefully and not take it at face

value.

Avoid filler and fluff. Don't start a paragraph with huge generalizations such

as, "In modern society" or "Throughout time." Get right to the meat of your argument.

2.

2



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Write your body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should have 1) atopic sentence, 2)

an analysis of some part of the text and 3) evidence from the text that supports your

analysis and your thesis statement. A topic sentence tells the reader what the body

paragraph will be about. The analysis of the text is where you make your argument. The

evidence you provide supports your argument. Remember that each claim you make

should support your thesis.[7]

Example topic sentence: The key to differentiating between the two attacks is

the notion of excessive retribution.

Example analysis: Grendel's mother does not simply want vengeance, as per

the Medieval concept of ‘an eye for an eye.’ Instead, she wants to take a life for a life while

also throwing Hrothgar’s kingdom into chaos.

Example evidence: Instead of simply killing Aeschere, and thus enacting just

revenge, she “quickly [snatches] up” that nobleman and, with him “tight in her clutches,”

she leaves for the fen (1294). She does this to lure Beowulf away from Heorot so she can

kill him as well.

The formula "CEE" may help you remember: Claim-Evidence-Explanation.

Whenever you present a claim, make sure you present evidence to support that

claimand explain how the evidence relates to your claim.

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3.

3Know when to quote or paraphrase. Quoting means that you take the exact text and,

placing it in quotation marks, insert it into your essay. Quoting is good when you use the

precise wording of something to support your claim. Make sure that youuse the correct

form of quotation, depending on if you are using MLA, APA or Chicago style.Paraphrasing,on the other hand, is when you summarize the text. Paraphrasing can be used to give

background or compress a lot of details into a short space. It can be good if you have a lot

of information or would need to quote a huge portion of text to convey something.[8]

Example of a quote: Instead of simply killing Aeschere, and thus enacting just

revenge, she “quickly [snatches] up” that nobleman and, with him “tight in her clutches,”

she leaves for the fen (1294).

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Example of a paraphrased sentence: The female Grendel enters Heorot,

snatches up one of the men sleeping inside it, and runs away to the fen (1294).

4.

4Write your conclusion. Your conclusion is where you remind your reader of how you

supported your argument. Some teachers also want you to make a broader connection inyour conclusion. This means that they want you to make a ‘bigger world connection’. This

could mean stating how your argument affects other claims about the text, or how your

claim could change the view of someone reading the text you analyzed.

Example conclusion: The concept of an ‘eye for an eye’ was very present in

the early Medieval world. However, by comparing the attacks of both Grendel's mother and

the dragon, the medieval world’s perception of righteous vengeance versus unjust revenge



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is made clear. While the dragon acts out in the only way he knows how, Grendel's mother

attacks with evil intent.

Example conclusion with a ‘bigger world connection’: The concept of an ‘eye

for an eye’ was very present in the early Medieval world. However, by comparing the

attacks of both Grendel's mother and the dragon, the medieval world’s perception of

righteous vengeance versus unjust revenge is made clear. While the dragon acts out in the

only way he knows how, Grendel's mother attacks with evil intent. This portrayal may

suggest that the early Medieval world viewed women as inherently more evil than men.

Part3

Finalizing Your Essay

1.

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1Proofread your essay for spelling or grammar mistakes. A paper that contains many

mistakes generally gets a lower grade than one that has been proofread and polished. Run

a spell check, look for run-on sentences, and check for punctuation errors. Make sure to also format your essay correctly. For example, using a 12-pt

standard font (like Arial or Times New Roman) and 1" margins is standard.

2.

2Read your paper out loud. Reading out loud helps you to find places in the essay that

might sound awkward. This is also a great way to find run-on sentences that you might not

have noticed before.



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3.

3Make sure that all characters, titles, places, etc. are spelled correctly. Teachers will

often mark you down if the name of a main character is spelled incorrectly throughout your

paper. Go back to the text or article and confirm that your spelling is correct.

If you are analyzing a film, look up the list of characters online. Check two orthree sources to make sure that you have the correct spelling.



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4.

4Read your paper as if you were your teacher. Do you get your point across clearly? Is

the structure of your essay easy to understand? Does your paper explain why the topic

matters?



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5.

5Ask someone else to read your paper. Is there anything they think you should add or

remove? Do they understand the point you are trying to make?

writing an analytical essay can seem daunting

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