Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage
Composition 2 English 1102		Contact Form

Writing an Analysis

Current work:   Days remaining this term: Notes: Add Note |  Log in? | Privacy | Change Name & Email Mail this page to a friend

Analytical essays require the writer to examine his/her response to, and thoughts about, the reading s/he has done. To compose an analysis, the writer collects the information that is central to the argument he or she is examining — the claims, the evidence, and the assumptions — and interprets the strengths and weaknesses of all sides in the debate. The writer often asks a series of questions to determine the relative merits of each side of the debate, questions that assess the quality and quantity of several different types of evidence any author could use.

An analytical essay focuses primarily on the writer's use of evidence and assumptions to support his/her claim or argument. However, analytical essays will on occasion include a discussion of the hidden arguments and the inherent contradictions in an argument, if the reader finds that those elements are important to the argument as a whole. Often an analytical essay has the following "sections," not always in this exact order, though this is a common order of elements:

1. a summary of the original pieces – an abstract usually – is a common way to start (In fact, it is traditional to write as if your reader is unfamiliar with the original work, even if s/he is not, because by writing the summary in such a fashion, your reader gets a sense of how you interpret the arguments you are reading.)
2. your claim (Your reaction/response to the reading you have done. You will support your claim, your interpretation of the different sides in the debate, by the details of your analysis of the assumptions and evidence used in the argument.)
3. an analysis of assumptions (You describe and evaluate the warranted and the unwarranted, the explicit and the implicit assumptions.)
4. an analysis of hidden arguments (You describe how the assumptions create another implied argument, the hidden argument.)
5. an analysis of inherent contradictions (If the original authors make statements that contradict your experience of the world or your ideas, explain those differences.)
6. an analysis of intended audience (See the paragraph below on this page.)
7. an analysis of evidence
   • rational appeal
   • emotional appeal
   • ethical appeal

We can learn much about how writers shape their arguments, their essays, by considering the audience for whom the text is intended. When writers are attempting to communicate to a particular audience, the writers modify everything in their work to meet the needs and expectations of that audience. The audience in a very real sense then controls the writer's vocabulary, sentence structure, the number of details and the kinds of details.

^Take Note! | Table of Contents | Syllabus | Course Calendar | eForum | Search

The HyperTextBooks | The English Main Page | College of DuPage