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Writing an Analytical Essay

Writing an Analytical Essay

When we first started the Essay411 blog, in our welcome post, we promised to provide writing tips and helpful information.  This is why, in today’s post,  I want to focus on writing an analytical essay – one of the most common types of essays you’ll write in college.

The purpose of writing an analytical essay is to generate a better understanding of your topic.  You can write an analytical essay on just about any subject including a work of art, a literary work or an event.  Whatever your subject, you will need to break it down into parts to be analyzed.  For example, if it’s a literary work you are analyzing, discuss the theme, plot, character development, and writing style of the work.  If it’s an event, examine its historical context, what its consequences were and its implications for today.

Like all essays, writing an analytical essay requires that you write an introduction, body, and conclusion.  When you write the introduction to your analytical essay, you must state your thesis or your claim about the subject.  Your thesis is not a fact.  Rather, it is your opinion and you must explain how you will support your thesis in the body of your essay.  Each paragraph in the body of your essay should include a topic sentence, facts and evidence that support your thesis, and a sentence that concludes the paragraph.  The conclusion of an analytical essay should tie everything together; your thesis and supporting evidence.  Essentially, you should summarize the facts and evidence you presented in your paper and then restate your thesis as though you have just successfully proved it in your essay.

In short, like all writing assignments, writing an analytical essay doesn’t have to be difficult – it just needs to be well-planned and well-thought out and it needs to have strong evidence that supports your thesis.   Above all, remember to proofread what you’ve written.  Proofreading is a must for any type of essay, whether it's a term paper, research paper, book report or analytical essay!