About
Analytical writing involves serious critical engagement and original synthesis of your material to form a unique, knowledgeable interpretation. In a sense, analysis is a kind of intellectual detective work: You’ll have to ask the right questions to identify your topic of analysis and then another set of critical questions to build a thesis statement, perspective, and, ultimately, a strong, analytical paper.
Writing Tips: Analytical Essay
What is Analytical Writing?
Questions to Consider
Asking questions such as what, where, when, how, who and why can always help you develop your essay:
- What is the most important idea here?
- What else do I know about it?
- What is another perspective I might address in my paper?
- Where does the author make particularly significant points?
- Where could the author’s ideas be expanded or made more clear?
- When was this work written? What is its period significance?
- When was I lost or confused by this work?
- How does this work contribute to knowledge of the topic?
- How could this work be expanded upon?
- On whom did it have the most effect?
- To whom can this character be compared for a richer analysis?
- Why is this work valuable?
Identifying questions like these, and their answers, will help you move your analysis and evaluation forward.
Follow the Writing Process
- Begin by carefully reading and annotating the texts you plan to analyze and incorporate.
- Brainstorm and or freewrite to generate ideas about your topic.
- Outline and organize your notes.
- Draft your essay, writing and organizing your ideas in full sentences. Include your evidence and citations in your draft so you don’t have to look them up later.
- Revise your draft for organization, content, focus, and style. Remember that analytical papers always require more than one draft.
Work With Arguments and Evidence
- Include a number of clearly relevant arguments to support that thesis. Arguments are claims made with regard to an issue. Your thesis presents the primary claim for your paper, but you must prove your thesis with a number of supporting claims, gleaned from either research or careful attention to a literary text.
- Keep summary to a minimum.
- Develop each argument with evidence in the form of quotations and paraphrased ideas from your sources.
- Use enough quotations to support your thesis through evidence and give your paper a sense of authority. Do not make the body of your paper more than 30 percent quotation: for every quotation, you should have at least two sentences of original writing and analysis.
- Integrate evidence into your own text to help you further explain and develop the ideas presented.
- Always analyze your quotations, explaining their significance to the reader; never allow the quotations simply to stand on their own.
- Cite all quoted and paraphrased material.
Organize the Analytical Paper
- Integrate your presentation of the issue in your arguments. Avoid summarizing each aspect of the issue then providing your analysis.
- Select a coherent organizational strategy for your arguments.
- State your purpose upfront: in your paper and in each paragraph, tell the reader what your main points and arguments are in the beginning. Reiterate them again to conclude, but do not only make your points after providing all of your evidence.
- Order your main points in a way that leads your reader easily through your paper.
- Organize your evidence within each subargument following a similar logical strategy.
- Organize your paper by point of argument, rather than by example. In other words, don’t write a paper on a novel in which each paragraph discusses a single character. Instead, organize your paper so that at least some paragraphs discuss multiple characters or aspects of the plot, analyzing the ways in which they support an argument stated in the topic sentence.
Create an Academic Tone
- Follow rules of grammar: make sure that you have constructed sentences properly.
- Use the active voice. Use first person, active voice in most cases. The active voice is less wordy and more direct than the passive voice.
For example, instead of writing These symbolic aspects of the character are shown in this example, say This example illustrates the symbolic aspects of the character.
Passive language turns verbs into other parts of speech.
For example, She was unable to hear the ringing of the bell is passive. She couldn’t hear the bell ring is active. Avoid using such ‘buried’ verbs.
- Avoid contractions (don’t, can’t, they’re).
- Avoid using slang (casual language), offensive, or overly emotional language.
- Use the first person sparingly. Omit phrases like I think and in my opinion.
Make sure you are using the right words. Use the Word Help tools to look up the meanings of words you are not sure of, enrich your vocabulary, and refrain from repeating particular words too often.
Elements of an Analytical Essay
Introduction
Your introduction orients your reader to your topic and thesis. It should be no longer than 20 percent of your total paper length.
- Identify the work(s) you will analyze and the respective author(s).
- Provide background and context for your topic.
- Depending on how you approach your analysis, your introduction may include:
- A brief summary of the work, focusing on the aspects of the work you analyze
- Historical and social context of the work (e.g., DuBois’s significance to the Harlem Renaissance, Pollack’s influence on mid-century poetry, literature responding to times of social crisis)
- Scholarly background on the particular aspect of the work or issue you are studying (e.g., characterizations of Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry plays, the poetics of the New Movement, Marxist and class-based analyses)
- Definition of analytical frameworks or perspectives you engage
Do not include:
- Dictionary definitions
- Description of universal morals (e.g., what is romance?, the beauty of innocence)
- Vague generalizations like throughout history
- Sensational material and emotional appeals
Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement captures the entirety of your essay in a succinct statement of topic, perspective, and purpose. It should make a critically engaged, enlightened, non-obvious point.
- State the work(s) or subjects of your analysis.
- Indicate your approach to the topic — the specific aspects you will examine, or the framework you will engage to interpret the work.
- State the main subtopics that you will use to examine and support your thesis.
- Follow the order that you will address subtopics in your paper.
Body
The body of an analytical paper supports the thesis statement through a series of supporting arguments, evidence, and analysis.
- Use paragraphs to organize the body of your paper.
- Provide a topic sentence that captures the content of the paragraph and relates to the thesis.
- Introduce each detail or piece of evidence by describing its context, relevance to the work, or source, if it is a secondary resource.
- Provide evidence and supporting detail to support your topic sentence and, ultimately, your thesis. Evidence includes quotations and paraphrased material, all of which should be properly cited following your required style conventions.
- Analyze each piece of evidence with clear, direct explanations of its significance.
- Present evidence in a logical, organized order.
- Make sure each piece of evidence or supporting detail relates to your subject and thesis.
Conclusion
The Conclusion of the paper should make a strong case for the thesis and the arguments you present. Like your introduction, it should be no longer than 20 percent of your total paper length.
- Reiterate your thesis statement in different words.
- Summarize and wrap up your major points in your paper.
- Restate how each major point supports and contributes to your thesis statement.
- Indicate directions for further investigation, if appropriate to your topic and the purpose of your paper.
- Make a final statement that wraps up your perspective on your analysis.
Do not:
- Introduce new information.
- Make new arguments or connections among information.
- Make generalizations about the world or humanity.
- Overstate the significance of the work or your analysis for effect.
See a Model: Analytical Essays
Analytical Essay (Humanities)
Henry James’s Daisy Miller: Winterbourne and the Fading “Aristocracy”
Henry James’s novella Daisy Miller depicts Americans in Europe during a period of cultural transition in the latter part of the nineteenth century. (Item 1) The characters in the book consist mainly of Americans in a quest to define themselves against shifting notions of class and identity as America’s importance and more open class system begins to take shape against a more staid European system. (Item 2) Daisy, a teenage girl and the product of a family made newly rich in a booming American economy, is received coolly — and ultimately rejected — by the other Americans, who represent “old money” and cling steadfastly to a prescribed system of behavior that severely limits the daily freedoms and behaviors of young women. The character Winterbourne is a part of that system; yet, as a young man in his twenties, he also represents the possibility for change and growth on the part of his class. (Item 3) In spite of his seemingly open-minded youth, Winterbourne’s inability to transcend the limiting attitudes of the aristocratic class symbolizes the class’s hypocrises and, revealing an inability to move forward, forecasts their failure. (Item 4)
In contrast to his aunt, Mrs. Costello, who despises and tries to exclude the Millers, Winterbourne seems to harbor an open-minded interest in Daisy and her family; (Item 5) however, this attitude is based mainly in his attraction to Daisy, and a closer look suggests that in spite of his own inclinations he is ultimately ruled by the dictates of his class. (Item 6) On one hand, Winterbourne is intrigued and fascinated by Daisy but is easily swayed by his family’s criticisms of her. His fascination is characterized by indecision and a weakness for his family’s aristocratic perspectives, amplified by an internal obsession with understanding Daisy. (Item 7) For example, Winterbourne is partially swayed by his aunt’s negative assessment of her character–“evidently she was rather wild”–and quick to assist Mrs. Walker in her attempt to convince Daisy to abandon her outing with Mr. Giovanelli and climb in the carriage (Item 8). (20, 48) (Item 9) In fact, Winterbourne constantly ruminates about Daisy’s character, trying to assess whether her “flirtatious” behavior might still be the behavior of a girl who, basically, followed the rules for women: “Was she simply a pretty girl from New York State (Item 10)— were they all like that, the pretty girls who had a good deal of gentleman’s society? Or was she also a designing, an audacious, in short an expert young person?” (13) (Item 11) Here, James reveals Winterbourne’s constant wavering between an image of Daisy as “simple” and another of her as “designing” and ominous, with Winterbourne unable to assess her. Winterbourne’s inability to comprehend and fully accept his interest in Daisy — resulting from the limiting perspectives of his aristocratic class and family (Item 12) — suggests a loss of touch with the realities of American life, a fact that does not bode well for the future of his class.
That Winterbourne is fixed in the ways of his class, unable to change, is made evident on two occasions; meanwhile, this personal weakness represents a greater flaw in the class system which ultimately governs his thoughts and actions. (Item 13) The first occurs in Rome, at Mrs. Walker’s party, (Item 14) where James employs a strategy rarely used elsewhere in this novella to emphasize his authorial critique. Stepping outside the frame of the book, James states directly to the reader that “the truth, for our young man, as the few indications I have been able to give have made him known to the reader, was that his charming friend should listen to the voice of civilized society” (48). In mentioning himself, James seems to be underscoring a crucial point in the novella, which is that Winterbourne holds his class’s attitudes-the “voice of civilized society”– towards women at his core, and is not able to make the transition that would allow him to accept and honor Daisy. (Item 15) The second indication of Winterbourne’s unfortunate steadfastness occurs at the end of the novella. (Item 16) Certainly the ending position of any literary work is telling, and here we find Winterbourne having experienced Daisy’s tragic death, and finding out that she was indeed “innocent” and honestly in love with him, and yet James tells us that he displays an appalling inertia in his inability to alter his behavior or his life:
Nevertheless he soon went back to live at Geneva, whence there continue to come the most contradictory accounts of his motives of sojourn: a report that he’s “studying” hard-an intimation that he’s much interested in a very clever foreign lady. (72) (Item 17)
With a “wink and a nod” we find his own less than innocent behavior, characterized ironically as “studying.” (Item 18) In its repetition, and its position at the end of the book, it signals a vital theme, which is that the upper-class Americans, here symbolized by Winterbourne in his inability to change, will not move forward with an America that will one day be dominated by Daisy’s and Randolph’s–a middle class. (Item 19) Here Winterbourne’s inertia and unproductive life reveal the ennui and futility of his class, and his inability to move forward into an adult existence (the possibility of an outwardly sanctioned relationship, marriage, or work) signals problems for the future success of the upper class.
Winterbourne’s experience of Daisy in fact does represent a point of transition, but it is one that neither he nor his compatriots can make. At the age of 27, he does not represent youth in the sense that the much younger Daisy, and especially, Randolph do, but he is not so far along in life as the other, middle-aged, expatriot Americans in the book. Thus, he is between those who represent the old order and those who represent the new. (Item 20) As a character holding within him the possibility of movement and change, but failing to enact it, Winterbourne represents that inability on the part of his class, and so suggests that their status and importance will fade and die, as they, living abroad and clinging to European ways, become less important in the new world of America as that country gains status. At the end of the novella, Winterbourne echoes a notion expressed several times in the novella, declaring that “I’ve lived too long in foreign parts,” and suggesting that there is a new and vital world of change that he and his fellow expatriots fail to understand, and that this has limited and damaged them (72).
Meanwhile, (Item 21) Randolph, as a kind but recalcitrant child, and the offspring of a clearly enterprising father, represents a future for Americans that, while potentially crass and problematic, is also productive, growthful, and optimistic for those involved. And though Daisy dies at the end, her illness provides a moment for her mother finally to shine with nurture, as well as a moment of her own redemption to mature honesty, as she comes out of her delirium to insist that her mother convey a message to Winterbourne that, along with Giovanelli’s confirmation, suggests both her “innocence” and her emotions for Winterbourne, which do indeed follow along the lines of the mores of the time. Thus, although she dies, Daisy still represents the possibility of freshness and forward moving existence, as does her brother. Winterbourne does not.
Through Winterbourne’s struggles and inability to overcome the edicts and perspectives of his family and upbringing, the upper class is represented as stodgy and mired in the futility of the past. Because of intolerance and ennui, characterized by Winterbourne’s personal failure to accept and embrace Daisy in spite of his initial open-mindedness and interest, they make no progress. Winterbourne, although he is young, more open minded, and holding promise for change, is unable to move beyond this existence, and in the light of a changing American class landscape, suggests the future demise of his own class. (Item 22)
Features of an Analytical Essay (Humanities)
Item 1. The Introduction sets a context for the essay. Here, it introduces the author and book which are the subject of this paper formally.
Item 2. Background information about the novella that is pertinent to the analysis is provided.
Item 3. More specific details about the novella narrow the focus and move the reader toward the thesis. They contextualize and allude to the arguments this analysis will make.
Item 4. The thesis statement is a strongly worded sentence (sometimes two) that serves as the controlling idea or main point of the essay. It addresses the scope of the entire essay. It is arguable and offers analysis rather than description of the text.
Item 5. Individual body paragraphs support the points made in the thesis. Each begins with a strong topic sentence and develops the idea in that topic sentence. This paragraph will support the first statement in the thesis, that Winterbourne seems to be open-minded, and introduce support for his inability to rise above the nature of his class.
Item 6. That Winterbourne appears to have interest in and sympathy for Daisy could be considered counterevidence to the thesis, as it could be argued that he is thus more progressive than his class. This counterevidence is addressed and refuted immediately by showing that his interest in the Miller family and Daisy is superficial and actually proof that he is bound to his class perspectives.
Item 7. Summative interpretation of Winterbourne’s character continues the thoughts in the topic sentence and introduces evidence from the novella.
Item 8. Examples from the novella support this paragraph’s topic: that Winterbourne is easily swayed by his class, in spite of his fascination and interest in Daisy.
Item 9. Following MLA guidelines, the pages from the novella where these instances are found are quoted. The edition of the book referred to is stated in the Bibliography so readers can find the instances this author refers to.
Item 10. The strongest evidence supporting this paragraph’s topic sentence is provided last, culminating the argument. The transition “in fact” emphasizes the power of this piece of evidence.
Item 11. These questions, quoted from Winterbourne’s internal narratives in the novella, reinforce his conflict of character that is set up in the thesis.
Item 12. Key words from the thesis statement and topic sentence in the concluding sentence reinforce continuity and wrap up support for points made in each.
Item 13. The concluding sentence of the first body paragraph introduces the topic of the next, “bridging” and connecting the two. This transitional strategy builds coherence and helps the reader follow along by showing how the ideas in paragraphs are related.
Item 14. These two pieces of evidence, or “occasions,” were introduced in the topic sentence. They are here provided in chronological order, which is appropriate for this argument. The order is emphasized by labeling this one “the first.” Note that the entire paper is not organized chronologically; that would be a summary more than an analysis.
Item 15. The significance of quotations is always explained, analyzing the language of the quotation and explaining how it contributes to the argument. A reading of the author’s (James’s) writing strategy in this quotation is evidence of the author’s intention — and a close reading by the author of this paper.
Item 16. These two pieces of evidence, or “occasions,” were introduced in the topic sentence. They are here provided in chronological order, which is appropriate for this argument. The order is emphasized by labeling this one “the second indication.” Note that the entire paper is not organized chronologically; that would be a summary more than an analysis.
Item 17. Longer quotations (four lines or more) are set off from the text and must be appropriately discussed and analyzed.
Item 18. Note that this conclusion to the novella also represents a repetition of something said earlier, as James uses roughly the same language to make this same statement about Winterbourne at the beginning of the book.
Item 19. Long sentences with many prepositional and subordinate phrases may be hard for your reader to follow. Break such sentences up into shorter, simpler sentences.
Item 20. This paper uses character contrasts, or foils, to further develop its argument.
Item 21. The use of “meanwhile” signals and reinforces the contrast that the author is emphasizing.
Item 22. The conclusion reiterates the main point from a more educated perspective, using different words than those used in the introduction. It does not simply restate the main point using the same words, nor does it offer a new idea that should be developed in the body of the essay.
Revision Checklist: Analytical Essays
Focus/Purpose
Do you take a consistent position in your argument, offering relevant evidence and counterevidence?
- Present a coherent perspective on your issue. Make sure your position is consistent and logical.
- Include supporting evidence and counterevidence in your argument.
Counterevidence, facts, quotations, and other forms of evidence that can be used against your thesis should be included in addition to your supporting evidence. Including counterevidence allows you to refute bad arguments before they can be made or concede weaknesses in your own argument. It allows you to ‘get ahead’ of the competition or show that you are aware of weak areas in your argument.
- Refute counterevidence by showing or arguing why you think it is invalid, false, or irrelevant to your claims.
- Concede counterevidence by acknowledging the piece of counterevidence then admitting how it undermines your claims. Then, suggest why your argument is still sound.
- Omit arguments and details that do not relate to your thesis and objectives (but not necessarily evidence that is contrary to your thesis.
Development/Elaboration
Does your Introduction orient your reader to the topic and thesis?
- Provide context and background for your essay.
- Catch the reader’s attention with an interesting introduction, but do not be overly sensationalistic or general.
- Avoid cliches, dictionary definitions, and overly broad phrases like throughout history.
- Do not make your introduction longer than roughly 20% of your total paper length.
Do you have an analytical, strongly worded Thesis at the end of your Introduction?
- Explicitly state what you are going to argue and how you will support it in your thesis statement.
- Order parts of your thesis in the same order you will address them in your essay.
- Make your thesis narrow and specific enough that you can cover each of its assertions in depth in your required number of pages.
- If you edit your argument in other areas of your paper, make sure your thesis is consistent with these changes.
Does your essay present a series of supporting arguments, as outlined in your Thesis?
- Develop the supporting arguments that you indicate in your thesis through evidence, analysis, and discussion.
- Group evidence according to how it relates to and supports your overriding argument. Present similar evidence together and move your argument logically through your support.
- Avoid several paragraphs that make the same argument around different pieces of evidence.
- Do not arrange your paper by your evidence so that you have several paragraphs in a row that make similar arguments about different pieces of evidence. For example, a paragraph that starts with ‘Thomas Paine is a significant revolutionary figure because his work is still considered a key development in the annals of post-Enlightenment, revolutionary thought’ should not be followed by one that starts, ‘Thomas Jefferson was also a significant revolutionary writer for similar reasons.’ Both paragraphs can be reorganized around analytical points: ‘Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson’s historic contributions are still considered key works in the develoment of modern political thinking, casting them both as significant revolutionary figures.’
Do you analyze evidence and quotations and integrate them into your argument?
- Use evidence, such as facts, quotations, and theory-based interpretation of textual evidence, to give your argument a sense of authority. Demonstrate that other studies and works support the points that you make in your argument.
- Surround each piece of evidence with explanation and connections to your argument. Why do you include this piece of evidence? How does it build your argument?
- Cite each piece of evidence properly, depending on the that you are expected to use by your professor or publisher.
- Your paper should be no more than 30% evidence. Avoid listing facts and quotations without adding your own thoughts and analysis.
Do you synthesize (combine to form a more complex product) your argument in a fresh way in your Conclusion?
Organization
Are each of your paragraphs structured coherently and logically, fitting smoothly into your argument?
- State the main point of each paragraph in its first sentence. Each topic sentence should logically follow from your thesis and from the paragraph before.
- Each paragraph should focus on one aspect of an argument and develop it fully.
- Order evidence according to a consistent scheme, such as by order of importance or validity.
- Use transition words and repetition of key words to create flow and continuity between paragraphs.
Are your argument and support presented in the order necessary for your reader to understand your argument?
- Define all the terms that are important to understanding your argument early in your essay. Use these terms consistently.
- Read each topic sentence and paragraph next to your thesis statement. Are the connections between your thesis and each paragraph clear?
- Make sure your thesis statement is stated early in your essay and captures your whole argument. Do not try to surprise the reader with marvelous revelations in your conclusion.
Language/Style
Do you use proper grammar and an appropriately formal tone?
- Check your document for grammar errors. Think about what you mean to say, and carefully consider the feedback offered by the grammar checker.
- Avoid slang, contractions, and abbreviations. If you must use abbreviations, spell out the whole word the first time and reference the abbreviation you will use.
Example: The United Nations (UN)
- Re-read your document to make sure grammar changes have not affected what you meant to say or created other structural problems.
Is your writing concise, direct, and objective?
- Use a variety of sentence lengths and types.
- Use several short, simple sentences to convey complex ideas.
- Avoid combining too many ideas in one long sentence.
- Use the active voice.
- Use first person, active voice in most cases. The active voice is less wordy and more direct than the passive voice. For example, instead of writing These symbolic aspects of the character is shown in this example, say This example illustrates the symbolic aspects of the character.
Passive language turns verbs into other parts of speech. For example, She was unable to hear the ringing of the bell is passive. She couldn’t hear the bell ring is active. Avoid using such ‘buried’ verbs.
Employ an authoritative, objective tone. Avoid phrases like I think and in my opinion.
- Avoid offensive or emotional language. Analytic essays should not make emotional appeals to support a point.