ANALYTICAL ESSAYWILMER CONDAERIKA PAOLA ROSAS

What is it?

In this type of essay you analyze, examine and interpret such things as an event, book, poem, play or other work of art. 

Prewriting for Your Essay

Understand the objective of an analytical essay.  Generally, an analytical essay explores an issue, or presents an

opinion based on fact. 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.

Prewriting for Your Essay Decide what to write about. 

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 argue why a certain line or paragraph is central to the work as a

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 the scientific method to analyze your results.

Prewriting for Your Essay

Come up with a thesis 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

Prewriting for Your Essay

Find supporting evidence. Look through the material

you are working with, be it a book, film, or other scholarly articles that support the claim you make in your thesis statement. List out the supporting evidence, noting where you found it, and how it supports your claim.

Prewriting for Your Essay

Make an outline  An outline will help structure your

essay and make writing it easier. Generally analytical essays contain an

introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

In your outline, decide which three key points of evidence you would like to discuss in each body paragraph.

List the actual evidence from the text, film, or article under each body paragraph header.

Writing Your Essay

Write your introduction Your introduction should give your reader background information

about your topic. You should also state your thesis somewhere within the paragraph. 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 is generally best to avoid). Do not use the first (I) or second (you) person in your essay.

Writing Your Essay

Write your body paragraphs  Each body paragraph should have:

a topic sentence,  an analysis of some part of the text And 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.

Writing Your Essay Example topic sentence: The key to

differentiating between the two attacks is the notion of excessive retribution.

Example analysis: The female Grendel 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.

Writing Your Essay Know 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 are making a point and supporting your argument. Make sure that you use the correct form of quotation depending on if you are using APA

Paraphrasing, on the other hand, is when you summarize the text. Generally, paraphrasing is used when you are giving background about the text so that your argument has some context.

Writing Your Essay 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).

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).

Writing Your Essay Write your conclusion

 Your conclusion is where you remind your reader of how you proved your argument

You can also restate your thesis but reword it so that it is not just a repetition of the thesis statement in your introduction

If your teacher want you to make a broader connection in your conclusion This means that he 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.

Writing Your Essay

Example conclusion

Writing Your EssayExample 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 the female Grendel 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, the female Grendel attacks with evil intent. This analysis should make any reader more sympathetic to the dragon’s plight, while portraying the female Grendel as the immoral, evil creature she is.

Finalizing Your EssayProofread your essay for

spelling or grammar mistakesA paper that contains many

mistakes generally gets a lower mark than one that has been proofread and polished. Run a spell check, look for run-on sentences, and check for punctuation errors.

Finalizing Your EssayRead your paper out

loudReading 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.

Finalizing Your Essay Make sure that all characters,

titles, places, etc. are spelled correctlyGo 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 or three sources to make sure that you have the correct spelling.

Some tips ….. Ask yourself "What am I trying to prove?" The answer should be in your thesis. If not, go back and

fix it. If you are writing a formal analysis or critique, then avoid using colloquial writing. Though

informal language may bring some color to a paper, you do not want to risk weakening your argument by influencing it with verbal slang.

Don't try to add useless sentences to make an analytical essay longer; it is better to leave it short and to the point. Make each sentence count.

Avoid being too vague. Vagueness leaves room for misinterpretation and in a coherent, analytical essay, leaving room for misinterpretation decreases the effectiveness of your argument.

Avoid making your essay tacky by using quotations improperly. Remember that you want to incorporate others' ideas, as support for your own point, but not so much that you have written none of the essay yourself.

Beginnings and endings of paragraphs and sentences are good places to use quotes, metaphors, and repetition, for effect, because introductions and conclusions should not have any details or in-depth analysis; that is what your body paragraphs are there for.