ANALYTICAL ESSAY

HOW TO WRITE AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY

“Analysis is the art of creation through destruction.” ― P.S. Baber, Cassie Draws the Universe

Great, you finished watching a movie or reading a book for college or university. There is only one thing left to you — writing an analytical essay. Get ready to face the challenge! The pro gives out the instructions and tells you to analyze the book/movie and provide an informative argument for any related topic of your choice. Ready to find out how to write an analytical essay?PICK YOUR WRITER

---

---

What Is an Analytical Essay?

The primary questions to answer are “What is an analytical essay?” and “What should an analytical essay do?”. Let's start answering the first one: an analytical essay is a piece of writing that provides an informative observation about the specific topic or idea. It has to link back to the book/movie, but contain your judgments as well.

If we take a look at the official analytical essay definition, the term “analysis” means a critical and well thought-out observation of a specific idea. An essay is a piece of academic writing to test your knowledge. By combining these two interpretations, we can define an analytical paper in the best possible way.

Analytical Essay Topics and Ideas

A student should not necessarily pick the issue that has already been examined from all aspects — the main reason why tutors do not always assign the specific topics to cover is the ability of students to develop their creativity.

So, if you wonder how to choose the proper analytical essay topics, the infographic below will give you a clue.

How to choose a topic for an analytical essay

That is how you select the topic if it is not specified. Here are some of the great analytical essay topics so that you have a general idea of how the final title of your paper should look like:

1. Reasons why some teens are more susceptible to peer pressure than other kids
2. In a what way does public debt affect private investment companies
3. Pros and cons of using performance-enhancing drugs
4. The primary signs of the job burnout
5. The relevance of Karl Marx and his teachings to contemporary society
6. The impact of the national high school curriculum on the teaching standards
7. The practical ways to develop positive relations with company shareholders
8. Qualities of the young adults that may push them to suicide
9. Factors that increase the threat of cyberbullying for teenagers
10. Should sex education be eliminated from the school program?

Different Types of Analysis

There are six basic types of analytical essays based on the different types of analysis. Every separate kind varies by its definition and purposes. You need to know how to write an analysis essay of every type as different life situations will require various approaches to analyzing things.

1. Poetry Analysis Essay

Poetry analysis requires the writer to research the poem’s content, structure, and historical significance. A writer should do it in an explanatory style. The main purpose is to make the reader understand the poem’s overall significance and messages.

Examples of this can be:

• Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken
• Edgar Allan Poe's a Dream Within a Dream
• Emily Dickinson's There Is Another Sky

2. Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical analysis is an essay where you prove or reprove a fact that already holds weight. Imagine you are proving a fact to somebody who either can’t comprehend it or is skeptical of its authenticity. This type of analysis is based on facts & logic. Rhetorical papers tend to be written in the fields of science and mathematics.

Examples of the rhetorical analysis ideas could be:

• Geometric Proofs
• Fundamentals of Physics (Newton’s Law, Theory of Relativity, etc.)
• General Principle of Economics (Money makes Money)

3. Literary Analysis Essay

Be ready to face it at your literature class. After reading a specific short story or any piece of literature, provide an informative analysis of a certain situation, or critically analyze a quote and its impact on the plot.

A literary analysis usually goes deeper into things such as emotion and decision making of certain characters.

You might also be interested in learning literary analysis

Examples of a literary analysis could be:

• Effects of “Utopia-rescue” societies on people. Book: 1984 By George Orwell
• Loves an effect on human decision making. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
• Conforming to societies norms: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

4. Process Analysis Essay

If we think about the definition, a process is a change from one state to another through several stages/levels. A common way to explain this change is through a process analysis essay format. This would require you to explain its purpose, as well as explaining the transformation through a series of paragraphs.

Get more info about process analysis essay format

Examples of this could be:

• Describing the Water Cycle
• Offering a general assessment of the piece, pointing out the strengths and differences
• Defining each of the special terms used by the author to make the piece sound more professional
• Analyzing the list of materials used and quoted by the author: their relevance, credibility, etc.

5. Character Analysis Essay

Character analysis requires you to explain and analyze the transformation of a character from the initial point until the end. Things that should be analyzed are personality, character traits, mental reformation, role in society, etc. Explain the character’s development.

Examples of this paper can be:

• Transformation of Huck and Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Will Hunting’s mental evolution in Good Will Hunting
• Viktor Navorksi in The Terminal

6. Causal Analysis Essay

The causal essay requires you to answer a “why” question. It is also known as the speculating about causes essay, and itrequires you to describe the process that occurs, following up with why you believe it occurred the way it did.

Examples could be:

• Why do we respond physically to fear?
• Why do teenagers rebel against their parents and authority?
• Why are random shootings & similar crimes becoming more common in the US and some other neighboring American countries?

These are just some of the most common types of analytical essays. The variation is practically endless, but they all must follow the same type of outline.

Steps to Take Before Writing

Preparation is key in writing that well-rounded and high-quality paper. An analytical paper may require up to 2 hours of the pre-writing process. So before you start typing up your masterpiece, 6 steps should be taken:

1. Reading how to write an analysis paper (this guide is a good example);
2. Brainstorming and deciding on a topic (look for the details above);
3. Crafting a captivating title (it should not repeat the topic);
4. Creating a strong thesis statement;
5. Finding supporting evidence from credible sources;
6. Creating an outline.

Create a Strong Analytical Essay Thesis

The goal of the analytical essay is to prove a certain point that the writer is trying to make. From the information that has been gathered, the writer needs to link things together and create a certain decision.

The central argument is called a thesis statement. It’s a claim created to prove an assumption created by the writer, using facts, statistics, examples, and research findings. For certain topics, it's important to introduce the outside forces that contributed to the creation of a thesis statement.

If you are talking about historical events, it's essential to introduce the external factors (books or manuscripts) that led to your analytical essay thesis. If we are talking about scientific research, considering the scientific method is a necessity.

The thesis should be controversial, debatable, and it requires tons of thorough research to come up with a respectable statement. This part of your work should be a high impact statement that strongly affects the topic of choice.

Finally, decide on the preferred shape of a thesis statement. Here are some of the categories to choose from:

• Simply stating an opinion
• Defining categories, causes, or reasons
• Offering a couple of aspects of a subject and emphasizing one of them

To prove the central argument, you has to arm to the teeth with credible evidence. Keep on reading to discover how to collect info.

Find Supporting Evidence

Why do you need evidence? You won't be able to sway anybody with your thesis statement unless it's backed by something. This is why all good thesis statements need in-depth research, analysis, & some forecasts. It's important to gather the information that supports your argument from the primary sources.

Types of sources

Depending on the type of essay, it won’t necessarily be straightforward information.

If we are talking about a historical topic or some sort of scientific fact, your supporting evidence will evidently be facts taken from previous findings; if you are writing a literary analysis essay, most likely your evidence will be quotes from the story.

Create an Analytical Essay Outline

To learn how to write an analytical essay, one should organize the structure of this paper as it makes the entire writing process easier; the experts recommend having up to 5 paragraphs on your paper outline.

Regardless, the Intro-Body(s)-Conclusion formula is a staple in any analytical essay outline.

Analytical essay outline structure

Writing an Analytical Essay Introduction

;

An analytical essay introduction starts out with some sort of background information. Using a hook statement can be effective.

A hook sentence is made of 1-2 sentences aimed to grab the reader’s attention from the opening lines of the analytical essay. The choice of a hook depends on the mood of the work:

• it could be a funny joke/anecdote;
• proven fact;
• shaking statistics;
• rhetorical question to provoke debate;
• a literary term like a metaphor or similar;
• quote of a famous person.

There is no specific style for the introduction, but background information is the most common method of approach; provide information that is relevant to your thesis. This information should start out broad and narrow down in relevance towards the thesis.

We prepared a summary of the introduction below:

• Hook Statement/ Brief Introductory Point
• Background Info (Narrowed)
• Transition sentence
• Thesis Statement

Write Your Body Paragraphs

The main goal of the body paragraphs is to prove the thesis statement. Each individual paragraph should focus on a certain aspect of the thesis.

For example:

• if the thesis of an analytical essay is centered around the evolution of Will Hunting;
• the body paragraphs should each hold their own point;
• one body paragraph focuses on his diminishing self-guilt;
• the second could talk about the ever-increasing support system and its impact on his mentality.

The body paragraphs should maintain proper structure:

• Topic Sentence: Introduce the main point of the body paragraph in one straightforward and effective sentence.
• Analysis: Analyze your supporting evidence. Explain how the evidence supports your thesis statement. This part should take 1-2 sentences and is arguably the most important part of the entire analytical essay writing.
• Evidence: The analysis is created from the supporting evidence that you find (facts, statistics, etc.), so they should always go hand in hand. Make sure that these 2 parts link together in a straightforward manner.
• Concluding Sentence: Restate to the reader your analysis and its significance to the point in hand.

After reading a single body paragraph, the viewer should have clearly understood the argument or point you were trying to prove. Depending on the topic, each essay length will vary based on the depth of the thesis.

How to Write a Conclusion for an Analytical Essay?

The conclusion of an analytical essay plays a vital role in the sense that it ties up the entire essay. Keep in mind the integral components of any concluding paragraph.

Start out by restating your thesis statement. The significance of this is to exemplify to your viewer that you have proven the thesis statement and summarize the steps you took.

To end the entire essay, it’s necessary to create an overall concluding statement. This can be either what you have learned from writing the essay or what the audience should take away from your work.

The structure should be:

• Rephrase the thesis statement
• Summarize key points
• Overall concluding statement

That is how to write a conclusion for an analytical essay. Grab some writing tips below to succeed with this type of writing at any academic level.

General Tips & Advice

Proofread & Edit

After writing the entire analytical essay, take a short break and then reread it from front to back. Regardless of the chances that you will find parts of the paper which are filled with mistakes or parts that need clarity, make sure the essay has clarity before handing in completed work.

Get a Second Pair of Eyes

Because the analysis essay made sense to you, doesn’t mean that everyone else will receive it with the same level of understanding.

---

Ask our editors for help to give your essay a wider range of clarity.EDIT MY ESSAY

---

Make Sure the Thesis Fits Your Argument Points

Your paper will be highly judged based on how well you proved your thesis. That’s why it’s important to edit your thesis based on the type of arguments you provided. If your explanations don’t perfectly suit the thesis statement you crafted, then adjust it accordingly.

Analytical Essay Examples

Referring to an analytical essay examples can save you time. A sample can provide a useful insight into how an analytical essay should be. Especially for newbies to this form of assignment.

Click on the button to open the analytical essay.