Students get to deal with numerous kinds of academic tasks in school and it is quite common that you don’t get an excessive guide on how to start, conduct and finish one. Usually you have to ask around and, naturally, Google for some help. We know the struggle, so we’ve decided to write a big juicy guide that will answer all of the common and uncommon questions you may have about analytical essays.
So, What Is an Analytical Essay Exactly?
Naturally, let’s start with the definition. Analytical essay is a specific type of academic assignment aimed to get a thorough analysis of a certain situation, event, piece of art, etc. The most common tasks include the analysis of books, movies and articles, however it may be just anything. So, how do you write such an essay? There several basic steps to take.
- Choose your topic. This step is optional, as you often get assigned with the topic in class. If there is no assigned topic, you get a lottery ticket of writing about what interests you.
- Do your research. Once you have the topic, it’s time to hit the library, your own books, or the web. Try to find and read as much information on the topic as you can, so your future essay will cover all the angles.
- Come up with a thesis statement. Thesis statement in an analytical essay is the main idea that you will support throughout the text. Reading this one or two sentences, your readers should have a clear picture of what your work is going to be about. The rest of the work will be devoted to proving this statement.
- Research some more and write a draft. After you have a thesis statement, you will probably need to find strong arguments, facts and evidence to support it. Usually at this point, you already know what to write in your essay and all that is left is the actual writing. The structure of analytical essays is similar to all the other academic essays. You have an introduction, several paragraphs of a main body, and then a conclusion.
- Edit the final copy. The last part is polishing your essay, eliminating all the possible grammar and spelling mistakes and checking all the facts. Proofread it carefully, as many small mistakes can actually lower your grade. Also, don’t forget about an annotated bibliography.
When Writing an Analytical Essay, You Should Avoid What?
It is not enough knowing what to do when writing an analytical essay, you also need to know what not to do. So, try to avoid the following things as they may lower your grade.
- Being vague and too philosophical. It is not the task when you can open your heart and discourse on the topic using no facts and logical connections. Here you need to be Sherlock Homes who always explains why the situation happened and how.
- Writing with formal language and slang. This is not the best place for that for sure.
- Using too many metaphors, idioms and other literature techniques. Leave those to descriptive essays.
- Writing from the first person.
- Unless it’s required, don’t make it too long. Analytical essays do not have to have long poetic descriptions, thus they should not be lengthy, unless your teacher says so.
- Don’t use generalizations. It’s the type of essay where you need to skip the phrases such as “all people say…” or “since the beginning of the history…”. Use certain facts and ideas.
What Analytical Essay Writing Help Can I Get?
Well, just about any you can think of. Of course the best help with writing any kind of essay is a library. It usually has enough material for you to finish any school task. And if you use references from actual books, not websites, your teacher will be more pleased and therefore generous, trust us.
The Internet is also a valid place to get help with getting you analytical essay done, however, you need to be able to distinguish credible and trustworthy sources from the sea of unsolicited content. Also you can go to your teacher with questions. And finally, if you think that you won’t be able to handle it, paper writing can be the answer for you. Using one, you can buy an analytical essay and skip the whole writing thing.
Can I Look at the Examples of Analytical Essay Writing?
You not only can, but you should! It is one of the best ways to quickly understand what a good analytical essay should look like and to make you own one. You can find many examples online, our website included. Try not to copy the exampled from head to toe, though. Use them to see the structural and contextual patterns, then write your own masterpiece.
FAQ SECTION
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What is the Purpose of an Analytical Essay?
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What is the Most Important Step During Prewriting for an Analytical Essay?
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How Does Writing an Analytical Essay on a Short Story Differ from Other Kinds of Analytical Essays?
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What Should You Do When Writing an Analytical Essay?