How to Write an Analytical Essay

Most students agree that analytical essays are challenging. The thing is that you have to do a lot of work. First of all, you have to read the whole book, noting specific details that can be used in your essay. Then you have to analyze it, paying your attention to author’s intention, and making sure that you don’t miss any hidden meanings. Not only this work requires effort, but also a lot of time. Sometimes this process may be quite boring, especially if an assigned topic is not interesting to you. However, even if your task looks pretty hard and boring, we know how to cope with it with the least pain. Let us tell you how!

First of all, we suggest defining your goal. The main goal seems to be an accurate analysis of a literary piece. Your analysis must be detailed, and to make it well, you have to consider each component of the book separately, regardless of the idea of the entire book. You have to be able to explain why each particular part of it is important, and what contribution it makes to the author’s idea.

Along with that, you have to provide readers with conclusions, and these conclusions shouldn’t be obvious. You have to develop your own point and express it in the form of a thesis statement. This is a backbone of your essay, and it must be supported by arguments. Provide readers with new thoughts and point out some details that they may not have noticed.

Choose a Topic

You can find many popular topics for your essay on the internet, or just use your creativity and make your own topic. If you have an opportunity of choosing a topic, it’s a great chance for you to write about something that you’re really interested in. If you don’t like your topic, you won’t have enough motivation to create a good analytical essay. You will need to struggle through every paragraph, trying to figure out which arguments would be really helpful to prove your thesis. There are many controversial and socially sensitive topics on the internet, and we suggest not being afraid to choose some of them. Remember that you have to provide readers with enough evidence and explain your point clearly.

Structure

The structure of the analytical essay is of key importance, since it determines how easy your paper will be to perceive. If you want your readers to like your essay, write it according to the classical structure which consists of the introduction, body, and conclusion. In theory, it all seems to be easy requirements, but we know how difficult it may be for students to create a proper structure, so we decided to provide you with more detailed information on the essay structure.

Introduction

• Your introduction must begin with a hook. It’s the very first sentence of the introduction, and this is what must grab the attention of your readers, and make them want to read further. Just imagine a dozen other students who have chosen such a topic, and think of how you can make your essay different from any other. Consider your audience and specifics of your topic. Depending on these two factors, your hook may be either provocative, or philosophical, or even funny.
• Given that you’re considering a particular literary piece, don’t forget to mention its title and the author. We also suggest making sure that your readers get the general context, so write a brief description of the main characters, the idea of the book, and its plot. However, you don’t have to be too detailed in the introduction, because all the details must be described in the body part. Just make sure that your readers understand what you’re writing about.
• Create your thesis statement. Be specific and clear. Make sure that your thesis isn’t too general, since it will require you to consider too many details, and the short essay is definitely not the best form for broad issues. Usually, thesis statement is written in the last paragraph of the introduction, though it isn’t a strict rule. Some writers even write their thesis statements at the end of the body part, keeping readers under tension during the whole essay. However, such an approach requires great writing skills.

Body Paragraphs

This is the most important part of the essay. Here you develop your thesis statement and support it with arguments. You also have to provide evidence from reputable sources. Your claims will look much stronger if you support them with quotes, facts, and figures. Don’t mix different ideas in one paragraph. Separate your claims and dedicate each paragraph to a particular idea, making sure that your readers won’t be confused by a bunch of fragmented information. We also suggest not jumping from one paragraph to another. Your readers must be able to perceive your text easily, so make short transitional sentences that will help them to analyze your previous idea and focus on the next one.

Chronological Method

This method of writing implies you presenting your claims straightforward, creating a logical chain structure. This approach helps your readers to easily follow your line of thoughts. However, it may be also quite difficult, since you may need to retell big parts of the plot. It’s not your goal when you’re writing an analytical essay, so be careful. Such a method can be successfully used in case you’re writing about some exhibition, so you can move from one item to another, following their numbers.

Spatial Method

This approach requires you to focus on the most remarkable ideas, statements, or objects. In case you’re writing about an exhibition, you will start from the most notable and visible items, and then move to others.

Conclusion

Here you have to summarize your arguments and remind your thesis statement once again. Tell your readers why this topic is so important, and make sure you don’t give any new information in this section of your analytical essay.