How to Write an Analytical Essay

An analytical essay writing is easier than you thought

People studying at colleges and universities, and those having relevance to this area of activity face the task to deliver various types of academic papers including analytical essays. It may sound too complicated, however, when you understand the primary requirements of the work and the key points you have to include in your text, it becomes as easy as pie. The main thing is to state the idea, strengthen it with the proper vital arguments and add some “dressing” such as citations and famous sayings so that your text will be fresh and exclusive.

Try not to mention irrelevant details or discuss the same issue with too many items. Be the exact, laconic and charismatic writer, stick to your writing style. An analytical essay is a kind of investigation, which presupposes approaching the particular problem from various angles. The content of analytical article depends on the object of analysis. For example, when the work of literature is analyzed, you can investigate artistic methods applied by the author. If it is scientific work, an essay may be dedicated to the analysis of its relevance and potential. That is why the writer has to settle on the object of research before deciding on main points of the essay.

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Another essay’s feature that should be taken into consideration is that in the process of preparation for the analytical writer of this type of text presupposes some work with the examples of literature. The volume of the ordinary essay of this kind should not be enormous, so you need to include only composed and maximally appropriate pieces. To make the writing attractive to the target readers you should find and include various scientific and historical facts and statistics connected to the topic.

Try to look for short and informative abstracts to enhance your text with the original pieces. Remember the fact that the essay reflects the way of writer’s thinking, outlook, and level of education. Try to express yourself concisely. The style of paper should be formal, however not too much scientific. All the points mentioned above are the characteristics of a well-written analytical essay. The procedure is simple. All you need to do just understand the topic, turn on your imagination and start the creation of a masterpiece.

Analytical essay definition

Writing of an analytical essay is not an easy task especially for those who faced this for the first time. To create a well-structured and sense-loaded article you need to understand the very essence of it. This type of academic paper is a composition where the writer expresses his thoughts and understanding of a particular issue, which are based on one specific fact. What is more, he gives a personal estimation of the problem stated in the essay and by doing this develops his analytical thinking.

The main aim of the article is to evaluate the ability to approach a question from a different angle and express one’s critical attitude to a particular problem. The compulsory requirements that should be met are the following. You need to lay out your thought accurately and correctly, present them in a well-structured manner and provide a couple of persuasive arguments that will support your thesis.

Literary analysis outline

A preliminary stage of creation of analytical essay is getting the understanding of the main idea of your writing. It may sound complicated. However, the sense is simple. In most of the cases, in this type of academic paper, you have to analyze a literary work or a film, and you have to map out the central idea that the writer intended to render. After you have to get, this main issue try to think over the facts that can be related to it and try to make a small investigation.

It will help you to broaden and enhance your writing with different views and approaches to the same problem. What is more, unique and exciting information will add a distinctive coloring to your work and make it original. All these preparations will help you to state a thesis – the central point of the text that will be supported during the whole writing process. Do not forget to use your imagination and creation. It will make the composition fresh and dynamic. To make the entire procedure easier try to use mind mapping. Just write all the ideas and associations provoked by the thesis and by doing this you will simplify the process of choosing the main arguments. After you have done all the steps mentioned above – you are half way there!

Now you have decided on a thesis. However, you cannot start the text with it. You need an introduction. It should be a small piece of information enabling the reader to get the primary information about the problem. Try to make the lead-in enthralling. You can include famous sayings or quotations to get the attention of the reader and evoke a pop-eyed interest. Try not to run it into the ground. In the introduction, you should mention a thesis. It should be relatively short and include the main idea to which you will refer to the whole text.

Then you move the main body paragraphs. Every analytical section you have to start with the new argument. Next step is to include the analysis of a specific part of literary work, and it is vital to add examples from the literary text that support your arguments and thesis as well. Bear in mind that every supportive sentence has to be related to the main idea of your essay. Try to train a feeling of the text, meaning the places where you need some dynamics. These roles of elements of dynamics can serve citations, idioms, and paraphrased thoughts. It is significant to stick to proper quoting, remember that. Hence, you have done the considerable part of your task!

The final stage is the last one. You have to make analytical summary concluding all the work done and deliver the results of your analysis in the proper form. In this final part, you have to remind the reader of the ideas and statements from the main body. You have to show their relevance to the thesis and produce a summary of the plans you have denied or supported throughout the text. You have to explain your attitude enabling the reader to get a clear understanding of that. Apart from a conclusion, the final stage also includes the pre-checking. It means that before handing in your essay, you have to examine to explore and fix the possible lexical and grammatical mistakes.

Make sure that the format of the paper is appropriately kept. Do not forget to check it for plagiarism to avoid possible unpleasant situations. A good advice is to read your essay aloud. You may see the places, which need paraphrasing. Make sure that names mentioned in the article are appropriately written. Check the names of titles and places, so such details will not spoil the general impression from the essay. A non-losing strategy is to ask a third person to read your article. It will enable you to see whether the text produces the effect you intended to make on your reader. All those steps mentioned above are the basics of creating an essay of a good quality deserving a high mark.

Analytical essay examples and writing tips

The theory is a good thing. However, the practice matters more. There are some practical rules that you can stick to make the process of writing less complicated and stressful. These main steps will make the task easier and enable you to enjoy the process. First, you have to decide on the time when you will be ready to start writing. It should be the time of a day when you are the most productive. Of course, you should have an inspiration to create something exciting and pleasant to read. When you finally decide on that, start the process. First, do a small research related to your topic. Try to write out useful phrases, inspiring quotations, and great adjectives. Then you can a make a list of ideas you want to include. Based on all these, you can write a small scheme and arrange all elements that you have correctly so that the text will be well-structured.

Usually, writers start the process of writing under the heading. It is not a necessary point, as there are tasks, which have the ready topic. However, when you have a blurred assignment, where you have an object, but there is no topic formulated – difficulties may arise. To avoid them – here are some tips. Take care of its pleasant sounding and originality. These features catch an eye of the readers. The heading also depends on the target audience. Try to step into shoes of your potential readers and decide on the name that would attract your attention. Then think about whether you have to be strict or humorous, laconic or limitless. Another useful advice will be to create the title on the final stage of your work, as it will make it more relevant and perfectly fitting.

Probably, the most complicated task is to state a thesis. Some techniques can help you. Imagine the central idea of a text as an answer to a particular question related to your topic. Analytical essay presupposes the division of a subject of research into smaller parts to get the better understanding of its essence. To make your central statement more powerful, express the precise position. You have to approach the same idea from different angles to turn all the included arguments into relevant ones to the main topic.

Try to invent or explore those statements which you have never come across before. However, be very careful and make sure that it is possible to prove them later. The formulation of a thesis also matters. It serves as a guide for reader throughout the whole text. The central statement enables the reader to follow the key points, which are mentioned in the essay. Try to make they sound pleasant and catchy.

Main body analytical paragraphs do not pose a complicated task. While working on the creation of the main arguments try to include only relevant information. Try to divide the ideas equally, so that each part of the main bode will contain the needed portion of data. Enhance those pieces of text with creative metaphors and saying to keep the recipient involved in the process of reading. And remember about the three central points of the structure - argument, proofs and small summing up. There are plenty of examples of analytical report examples on the websites of universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There you can see all the theory in practice.

Do not underestimate the role of conclusion. Perceive it as a final stage of wrapping your gift. In this part, you have to make an analytical summary of all the information that was mentioned in your essay. You have to list the key sentences and ideas one more and prove their relevance to the topic. You can recall the issues mentioned in the introductory paragraph. It is important to say the fact that analysis that you have conducted is an excellent contribution to the very topic on a broader scale. Be brief.

There is no need to produce a voluminous conclusion; it will distract the reader and disorient him in the discussed topic. Make sure, that you have included a thesis in the ending. It can be either the same or paraphrased. The paraphrased variant will be more colorful. Use modern words and avoid informal speech. It will make the quality of your text better. End up with an operative phrase! It will sound elegant, thought-provoking and fresh!

Overall, writing of an analytical essay needs profound and thorough preparation. It includes investigatory work, analysis of books, various scientific and historical facts and literary works. What is more, it demands a well-planned structuring and proper heading. Creation of this kind of essay resembles a research on a real mini-project. Try to be creative and imaginative. Use original ideas.

Make a little brainstorming to produce exclusive things. Be relevant and take the task seriously. Be involved in the process and do your work with enthusiasm. Perceive an opportunity to work on such assignments as an ability to contribute to the sphere you belong to, and you will produce an excellent essay and receive the satisfaction from the process!

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