How To Write An Analysis Essay?, written by George Satin
Definition Of Critical Analysis Essay
As we know that the word analysis is driven from the word analytical. Specifically referring to the definition, we find out that analysis is the detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, so what this definition tells us? This implies that an analytical essay is examining some topic under discussion on a microscopic level and figuring out the elements that stand out. These might be an interesting set of correlations or cause and effect elements etc., while we implement the same concept on the critical analysis essay writing, this implies that an essay will carry the information from two sides. The essay's analytical part consists of noticing the trends or something interesting enough to challenge or uncover within the topic itself.
So in simple words, an analytical essay consists of the information gathered from external sources and combined with our personalized opinion of looking at the same things from our own perspective where we may challenge some aspects and argue in favor or against it. Since we now understand what the term analysis means and what its implementation is, now let's break down the critical analysis essay and list down its major components or elements. Prior to starting an analysis essay, it is essential to take care of a few aspects as stated below:
Choose a topic
Unless you are not assigned a certain topic already, it is better to choose only a topic that you are well versed in or that certain topic inspires your personal interest and you have sufficient basic knowledge on that certain topic.
Brainstorming
Now comes the stage to do brainstorming. The purpose of this mental practice is to further narrow down the scope of the entire topic and specifically pick a certain area that you will be focusing on more. So actually, you are picking a certain section of a topic and presenting an interesting idea that you have formulated with regard to that certain section. Idea should be so crisp and smart that it raises the interest of your reader.
Thorough research
No matter how familiar you are with your chosen topic, there is always room for additional research and information to be included in your essay. You can consult external resources like encyclopedias or even web journals and articles. Moreover, you can also consult some unconventional means of information like some related weeklies or magazines or any documents that provide you with authentic information. Collect as much authentic information as you can because, in a critical essay, you are about to add your personalized opinion, which can only be made after a grip on the topic.
Mix and match
Once you have gathered all the related material and organized it, now start to mix and match. Since you have collected sufficient evidence in favor of your idea or argument, now you have a path. Any essay without credible external information is not really worth it. So start picking the supporting arguments and evidence and include it to back your claim.
Thesis statement formulation
Once you have written down your interesting and unique idea that is properly backed by sufficient evidence or proof, now it is time to settle down on the point around which your entire essay will be revolving. Your thesis statement should consist of a concrete and solid idea that can be proven with evidence and backed with several references. Since a thesis statement is the literal soul and backbone of the entire essay, keep improving it unless you do not reach a perfect one.
Making outline
Here you start presenting the basic structure of your entire essay. This may include a very generic sketch of your ideas in analysis essay outline format, compelling introduction, body and finally, the conclusion. Your hook and thesis statement will always be placed in the introduction of the essay or topic. All the related arguments, citations, references and any supporting material, be it literature or data, will be placed in the body paragraphs. Putting every component in the right place is very crucial to any essay. Once you have aligned and properly shaped the basic structure of your essay, now it's time to begin the body.
To present an essay in an impressive manner, the hook statement is always very crucial. In analysis essay writing, beginning with the rhetorical questions is always a great idea to begin with. Whatsoever you choose as your hook statement, just make sure that it is catchy and appealing enough to grab the attention of the reader and to stand out from the rest of the sentences. After writing the hook statement, you can present any necessary background information to give your audience a context that what exactly you will be talking about in the coming text. Now present your arguments without explaining how they will prove your thesis statement in your analysis essay outline format.
Finally, it is important to present an intriguing and practical thesis statement that will keep revealing throughout the body of your essay. This is another way of increasing the interest of the reader in your essay. It will keep him/her tied with the flow of your analytical essay and generate an urge to know more about the argument and its authenticity. Very crucial aspects for beginners who don't know how to write a literary analysis essay step by step.
Body Paragraphs Of The Analysis Essay
The body or middle paragraphs are where all the information, proof, evidence and analysis on that certain topic is presented step by step. This is the section of the essay where you elaborate your core ideas that you have formed by studying data or any other related information and now you present it here in the body of the essay in the form of a logical argument that is accepting or negating a certain thought. There are some additional elements that must be taken care of while presenting the body paragraphs of your essay. These are as below.
Begin with the topic sentence
It is important to begin every new paragraph with the topic sentence. This helps in transition the idea from the previous paragraph to the current one. Meanwhile, it is also presenting the main idea of the upcoming text, telling what will be discussed in the coming text. This is important in another way that it keeps the entire text connected and somehow correlates all the material with one another. It helps in creating the symmetry of ideas and prevents the presentation of scattered thought process. Furthermore, just suppose to take a theory that you have made up and also include the supporting evidence that authenticates the validity of this certain theory. Each body paragraph must consist of at least one or two pieces of analysis.
When it comes to writing a critical analysis essay and presenting the proof or evidence in favor of the claim or theory you have built and assumed, it is very crucial to present properly acclaimed and authenticated information. Here one may think of Wikipedia that can present any information of the world, but unfortunately, this is not regarded as a credible source of information. This is rather an open source where anybody can access and make changes to a certain piece of information and can write on a new one. So it is always important to only consult proven and authentic sources that can be quoted as a proof or reference.
Finally, each body paragraph should finish on a concluding sentence. In simple words, you can assume that in each new paragraph, you build a new case where you begin the paragraph with a topic sentence, then you present the information collected from credible external resources, you build a proper case and back it with the evidence that is borrowed from reliable sources like journals, magazines or any other research documents and in the end of the paragraph, you draw a conclusion that implies that every piece of information you presented in the opening sentence is backed with authentic evidence and hence proven to be right. This practice, in a way, authenticates the overall argument that you are trying to build throughout the essay.
Conclusion
The conclusion of the critical analysis essay is also similar to any other regular type of essay like argumentative or informative essay. The only thing you have to be careful about is that present the conclusion in a manner as if it has already been proven. It sounds as if there is no doubt or ambiguity left in the theory that we have built across the essay and it is properly backed by the evidence that was collected from the most trusted and regarded sources of related information.
It is better to summarize each sentence provided in the body paragraph. Make sure to keep everyone right within a sentence because presenting it in detail again would look like a boring repetition, which is never a great idea; moreover, it would enhance the size of the conclusion, which will look out of proportion with the rest of the structure of your entire essay which is again not acceptable. While finishing the entire essay, present an overall concluding statement that covers more or less the crux of the essay announcing the victory of the argument and logic that you have followed. Also, shed light on the practical importance of your findings that how exactly these findings can impact the world in a practical sense and where exactly these can be implemented in analysis essay format. In simple words, how this can add value to the field of knowledge.
In the end, make sure to proofread the entire essay, no matter how long it takes, have a critical view of the overall presentation of the essay, especially the structure. Make sure that symmetry is observed, the entire piece seems like one unit that is correlated and there is coherence in the arguments and presentation of the entire essay while writing an analytical essay.
Major Goals Of Writing A Critical Analysis Essay
There are several purposes behind writing this certain kind of essay and these purposes can be referred to as 5 I's, which are as below.
Independent perception of the original work where you read a certain text or theory and figure out the key elements expressed in that topic. The reader derives what case the writer has tried to build through this piece of literature.
Identify the main idea implies that after a thorough and in-depth study of the said topic, you conclude on what exactly was the main idea behind this entire concept presented by a certain writer here.
Include major facts and stats that are presented with the help of any external resources that are credible enough to be trusted and they have the worth to be quoted as a reliable source.
Introduce a summary of the work where the reader sums up the entire concept behind this specific work that can be counted on fingers. This brief and crisp crux of the topic can be referred to for the understanding of the topic
An impartial study of the opinion means when you start looking at the work done by some other guy by employing your own perception and intuition to look at this work from another angle to be included in your analysis essay writing. In this way, you can figure out various aspects that you believe are not real, as presented here. But meanwhile, your contrasting opinion must be backed with sufficient evidence that is even more authentic than the one used in the original work of the other writer.
Things To Remember
Avoid first-person
While writing the body or even the introduction of the essay, always make sure to avoid the first person as this is never approved by any essayists.
Use latest stats
While quoting the figures or stats, make sure to always quote the most recent and updated stats. Quoting an older version will impact negatively for sure.
Respect the original work
Despite the fact that you disagree with the original work, disagreeing never means disrespecting. Always make sure to argue wisely and in a very respectable manner.
