examining the parts of a subject... from reading to writing manners and proper social behavior are...
TRANSCRIPT
Examining the parts of a subject . . .From Reading to Writing Manners and
proper social behavior are concerns to people in
any age—from the Victorians to present-day
experts such as Miss Manners. Although social
customs change over time, kindness and
courtesy never go out of fashion.
Subject Analysis
Examining the parts of a subject . . .In a subject analysis the writer breaks down a
subject into its individual parts and studies how
the parts fit together. Analysis can be applied to
various subjects from science to history to
literature.
Subject Analysis
B a s i c s i n a B o x
Subject Analysis at a Glance
RUBRIC Standards for Writing
Examines Parts of Subject
Introduces Subject
Draws Conclusion
A successful subject analysis should
• introduce the subject in an interesting, informative manner
• identify the parts that compose the subject
• examine and explain each part
• present information in a logical order
• show how the parts relate to the whole subject and support the main idea or thesis
• include an effective introduction, body, and conclusion
There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.
H. L. Mencken
There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.
H. L. Mencken
1 PrewritingWriting Your Analysis
Writing Your Analysis1 Prewriting
You might begin your search for a topic
by listing problems or issues that you
want to understand better. For example,
you might analyze issues that interest
you, such as curfew laws, new rules
involving teenage drivers, or censorship
on the Internet.
Planning Your Analysis
1. Explore the topic. What do you know about
the topic? What do you need to know? Make
a list of questions about your subject. What
are good sources of information—books?
magazines? reference materials? interviews?
Planning Your Analysis
2. Think about your purpose and audience.
Do you want to inform readers? prove a
point? persuade them to a course of action?
What will your audience already know about
the subject? What background should you
provide? What terms must you define? What
tone and voice will be appropriate?
Planning Your Analysis
3. Write a thesis statement. What is the main
idea you want to communicate? Write one or
two sentences that state your main idea.
4. Break the subject into parts. When you
analyze, you break down the subject into its
parts. Will your analysis include steps in a
process, characteristics, stages of
development, or other elements?
Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting
To begin your draft, try to set down in
words everything you want to say,
keeping your overall purpose in mind.
You can always add details later or take
out what you don’t need. You may find
that what you write causes you to change
your thesis or main idea statement.
Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting
Now you are ready to organize your ideas.
Although your topic will determine how you
proceed, follow the steps below to guide
the organizational form of your analysis:
Provide a provocative introduction
that quickly attracts reader interest.
Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting
Identify the subject you plan to analyze in a sentence or short paragraph.
Describe the parts that make up your subject.
Examine each part in relationship to other parts or to the subject as a whole.
Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting
Description Describe each part in detail.
Comparison Show how your subject or one of its parts resembles or differs from another relevant subject.
Definition Define key parts, characteristics, or terms for difficult or technical subjects.
Think about how you can elaborate on your ideas so they are clear to your readers. Try one or more of the following strategies.
Writing Your Analysis3 Revising
TARGET SKILL
KEEPING SIMILAR IDEAS PARALLEL
As you break down your subject into its components, be sure that sentence parts which are parallel in meaning are also parallel in structure. Remember to join nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and phrases with phrases.