Top 5 Examples of Analytical Essays in 2021

Introduction

An analytical essay is entirely instrumental in helping you climb the ropes of your academic occupation. It boosts the writing skills of a student and enhances understanding of a particular topic.

Analytical skills help develop one’s critical thinking ability in analyzing the environment to understand every bit of an issue. They are also instrumental in tackling real-life situations, especially those that require one to prove a point.

Let us look into analytical essays and the different types you can apply in your writing.

What is an Analytical Essay?

An analytical essay is an academic paper that analyzes, evaluates, and interprets an argument using a set of claims. These claims need to be backed by relevant practical pieces of evidence.

In other words, an analytical essay is a type of writing that gives a significant analysis of a topic.

You can document this type of paper for any kind of work, including an article, a particular event, a movie, and literature.

To develop a concrete analytical essay, it’s essential to have a proper understanding of its purpose and nature.

A college student should keenly go through the stated problem and evaluate its positive and negative outcomes.

Analytical Essay Topic Ideas

Good analytical essay topics are pretty significant when writing an analytical essay. The writing procedure is immensely influenced by the topic selected.

Note that, for all analytical essay types, including critical and literary analysis, selecting a key topic is a must.

A simple analytical essay topic that is effective and appealing is preferred.

Coming up with a good topic motivates your audience to develop an interest in reading the whole essay. However, it can be very challenging to create the right topic for your paper.

Below are the steps that will help you generate a good topic for your analytical essay:

1. Brainstorming is pivotal in creating ideas where you develop a list of possible issues related to the study and make efforts to conclude the problem.
2. Researching for information on the selected topic from various sources will ease your writing.
3. Analyzing the quality of your sources will improve the standards of your essay. Therefore, critically pick the topics that will give a quality amount of information.
4. Evaluating the subject selected and seek assistance from your educator on whether it will solve the problem you intend to analyze.
5. Titling – Choose an appealing and original title for your work.

Steps to Take Before Writing

The following are manageable steps involved in coming up with suitable analytical essay writing:

1.     Determine the Core of Your Analytical Essay

Typically, an analytical essay involves analyzing an article, a movie, or even a book. Occasionally, the paper will emphasize certain matters about the character or the plot of the story.

To ensure a better understanding for your readers, it is crucial to make a firm claim on what exactly you will focus on.

2.     Make a Decision on What to Write About

Start with something easy and straightforward if you want to come up with your topic. On the other hand, if your paper is a book analysis, you can analyze the actions and relationships of characters.

Also, you will analyze the assumptions of intentions held by the author.

Selecting the most convenient direction will give you a fantastic commencement towards having a solid paper.

3.     Start with the Thesis Statement

The thesis statement enables the reader of your essay to know the position you have taken as far as the writing is concerned. The thesis statement needs to be brief and straight to the point. This helps to avoid ambiguity which might confuse your readers.

4.     Find Supporting Evidence

Additional evidence in your thesis helps strengthen your paper which in turn persuades the reader to accept and understand your viewpoint.

Ensure the focus subject of your essay is thorough for you to have relevant evidence.

It is advisable to peruse carefully and mark the critical point in a book and then use that to your advantage.

5.     Develop an Essay Outline

An outline is a structure that the author uses as a guideline to producing a good assignment. Proceeding with the paper is made more accessible by creating a plan.

An essay typically has a 5-paragraph outline:  the introduction, the body, which is made up of three paragraphs, and the conclusion.     

Develop a Strong Analytical Essay Thesis

The thesis statement forms the core argument of an essay. It’s an argument created to assist in proving the writer’s hypothesis through the help of research findings, facts, and statistics, among others.

The thesis has tremendous significance in demonstrating the most relevant information at the opening of the essay. By focusing attention on the main point, it keeps the reader on track with the essay topic.

The thesis statement guides the reader on projections of what the article is about. Additionally, the rest of the essay supports the thesis by compiling information that confirms your opinion.

Thorough research is reasonably necessary to help develop a powerful statement, which significantly impacts the topic of choice.

Analytical Essay Outline

An outline forms the basis for your work. Designing an excellent analytical essay outline is also crucial in writing a high-standard essay.

In writing your paper outline, it’s recommended to have five paragraphs. They consist of one paragraph for the introduction, three paragraphs for the body, and one paragraph for the conclusion.    

The Analytical Essay Introduction

An introduction paragraph in an analytical essay furnishes the topic for the writer’s audience. It introduces the author and his work by identifying the purpose of the paper and its focus.

To catch the readers’ attention, a hook sentence is used at the beginning of the introductory paragraph. If well-composed, it makes the readers want to read more of your essay.

Note that the purpose of the essay is brought out to the readers by formulating a thesis. It’s written at the end of the introduction paragraph.

By developing a solid thesis statement, the writer manages to conclusively support the evidence for the article.

The Analytical Essay Body

The body of the essay follows after the introduction paragraph is written. At this stage, all the information that supports the writer’s focus argument is submitted.

Primarily, begin with the topic sentence, which tends to support your thesis. Each paragraph in this section has its topic sentence that introduces points to the readers.

These sentences are therefore respectively concluded by supporting evidence and arguments.

Consequently, in the analytical essay body, transitional words are used to connect the paragraphs. They assist the author in achieving clarity in the content flow.

The Analytical Essay Conclusion

In writing the analytical essay conclusion, you need to direct your arguments towards the closure of the essay progressively. This is so because conclusions tie up the whole write-up.

It is necessary to have a smooth transition from the introductory paragraph to the body paragraphs, all the way to the conclusion paragraph.

The flow of the paper should be continuous, hence shouldn’t be interfered with when transitioning. There is a need to remind the reader about the thesis statement. It’s achieved by paraphrasing it to make it more understandable.

Consequently, the main points of the body paragraphs need to be summarized by drawing the fundamental facts.

An introductory statement, commonly known as a hook statement, is the best way to end your analytical essay writing.

Using the hook cleverly in your conclusion will remind the readers of the focus sentences used in the essay introduction.      

Examples of Analytical Essay

To better understand analytical essay writing, it is crucial for learners to at least know a few examples and how they are written.

There are different types of analytical essay examples. These examples include:

1. Critical analysis essay
2. Literary analysis essay
3. Rhetorical analysis essay
4. Character analysis essay
5. Analysis paper essay

These analytical essay examples are broadly discussed below:

Critical Analysis Essay

A critical analysis essay writer is expected to create an argument based on selected pieces of art, a movie, or writing. A critical essay aims to comprehend opinions on the chosen topic and, after that, form a claim about it.

The author is expected to analyze the elements such as purpose to work critically. Additionally, it studies the techniques used in the paper by the author to capture the audience’s attention.

Critical essays interpret literary terms, whereas analytical essays entirely depend on analysis. Therefore, understanding that a critical analysis essay is a type of analytical essay but not the same is vital.

The elements of a critical analysis essay outline include:

• The introduction– It’s in this section that the topic of the essay is introduced.
• The body paragraphs– This is the actual body of an essay where justification of claims occurs.
• The conclusion– This section concludes the whole write-up.

Steps on how to write a critical essay are as follow:

1. Critically examine the details of your subject.
2. Conduct a research
3. Come up with a thesis statement
4. Determine your supporting information
5. Incorporate in your writing a contradicting argument
6. Develop an introduction for the critical essay
7. Develop the body paragraphs for the critical essay
8. Conclude the critical essay
9. Proofread your work and make changes where appropriate

Keenly go through all the steps to better understand how to draft an excellent critical essay.

See the sample below:

 Literary Analysis Essay

It is a type of analytical essay that keenly studies and evaluates literature. It expounds on the essential elements of the picked subject and illustrates how they vary from one another.

A literary piece of writing can be a poem, a short story, or any other fictional or non-fictional piece.

The essay has the same sections as the different essay types, although; it may not necessarily have a thesis statement, more so if it’s an informative type of essay. 

It is essential to narrow down the work into several components to enable better understanding. It is so because the methods used in analyzing literary works depend on the work being analyzed.

The primary factors that bring distinction between literary analysis essay and other essays are:

• It lacks an arguable thesis
• It’s interpretive
• It’s a report
• It includes a narrative

A literary analysis essay focuses on presenting a detailed analysis of particular literature work. This way, it helps learners find and describe essential elements of fiction.

Literature Elements

Devices or ideas that help make up a story are elements of literature.

A literary analysis essay is never complete without explaining the essential elements.

Below are the elements of the literary analysis essay:

• Setting– They are essential to analyze, just like the character. They highlight the region and specific period in which the characters are performing.
• Irony– Is the expression of meaning by using terms that signifies the opposite to the expectation. This element is quite impactful since it leaves an impression in the minds of readers.
• Character– Forms an integral part of any piece of literature, and no story is ever complete without them. There exist three types of characters in most literary works.
• Antagonists – the villain in a story
• Protagonist – the hero in a story
• Catalyst – the character who is neither antagonist nor protagonist.
• Symbolism– Is an aspect of literature not explained in words, although it is hidden in texts and uses different explanations.
• Foreshadow- The author uses this element to give a hint about the future. The writer employs this technique in mentioning to the readers what they can expect from the plot of the story or the characters in the future.
• Plot- Gives insight into how a story unfolds and discusses the turn of events that ultimately make a story.
• Point of view– This element communicates who is narrating the story to the audience. Seeks to explain the perspective chosen by the author.

Rhetorical Analytical Essay

Rhetorical analysis essay explores how the writer has authored a piece article. To look into the topic keenly and in detail, the writer employs compelling and persuasive methods.

For this kind of essay, a portion of writing is selected and analyzed. Reviewing these examples is essential to come up with a professional piece of essay.

A rhetorical analytical essay is transcribed to influence the readers by issuing strong reasoning for the claim by the author.

The essay aims to put in place various techniques to control the different features of the audience.

See the following rhetorical analytical example:

A rhetorical analysis essay depends on the following particulars:

• The author of the paper.
• The objective of the analyzed text is as per the author’s intent.
• The author highlighted the situation in writing.

The elements below are essential to begin a rhetorical analysis essay:

1. Audience
2. Speaker
3. Occasion
4. Tone
5. Subject
6. Purpose

The writing guidelines below are necessary when drafting an appealing rhetorical analysis essay:

1. Match the thesis with your topic when writing a thesis statement for your paper.
2. Develop a fascinating topic for your essay to motivate your audience to read.
3. Use appropriate language when writing your essay.
4. Draft an outline for your essay and organize it into a readable form.
5. Consult a professional to help come up with a perfect essay.
6. While concluding your essay, only give a summary of the critical points of the article.
7. Proofread and make corrections where reasonably necessary. It helps check on errors and mistakes made in the essay. It also gives room for making changes where applicable.

You may also want to check SAT essay examples

Character Analysis Essay

It is written for English or literature courses. Typically, in this essay, you get to describe the character in a story context. The main objective of this is to communicate to the reader who the character is.

It involves the character’s relationship with speaking, how the character looks, the character’s behaviour, and so much more.

The different types of characters include:

• Major – The main characters in a story.
• The protagonist – These are the heroes or the characters that the story revolves around them.
• Antagonist – The character in opposition to the protagonist
• Minor – These are the characters that help the main characters in their roles.
• Dynamic – Often, the main character is seen as dynamic.
• Static – This depicts the characters that remain the same in the story.
• Foils – These characters draw attention to the main character

Character analysis will involve the following aspects:

• Where the events involving the character take place.
• The relationship among the characters.
• The primary change involves the character throughout the story.
• The background of the character.
• The occupation of the character.
• The emotions the character will go through.
• The values the character possesses.
• The character’s friends.
• The lessons learned by the character at the end of the story.
• The goals are achieved as set by the character.

Some of the great reads include:

1. To Kill a Mocking Bird – Character analysis on Jem Finch
2. The Great Gatsby – The character of Daisy Buchanan
3. Characters in Beowulf
4. Bullet in the Brain – The character Anders

In coming up with the conclusion, relate the character’s conflicts to real-life experiences. You can make an addition about the way a character should have solved certain situations.

See the example below:

Analysis Paper Essay

It is a write-up where the writer’s analysis and perspective of the work are done. The paper is written for a video, a movie, a concept, an idea, or an issue. The goal of this paper is to explore the subject in detail.

In coming up with the paper, you need to put in some solid effort. The following are the steps you will need to follow in compiling the paper:

1. Select the topic
2. Start the analysis
3. State the thesis statement
4. Back up your argument
5. Find credible research sources
6. State your conclusion

An analysis paper example is shown below:

Writing an analysis paper involves some much-needed prewriting process. The process comes in handy in guiding you on the structure and content.

To write a perfect paper, use the following tips:

• Plan your work in advance
• Use present tense in your paper
• Embrace an objective tone while bringing out your ideas
• Avoid the use of informal or casual tone
• Avoid the use of abbreviations in your paper
• Choose a compelling and unique topic

Conclusion

When developing an analytical essay, it’s crucial to keenly go through your work to identify spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Your work will go in vain if you fail to proofread it to correct the errors.

Make sure you confirm your work so as not to receive dissatisfying grades. You can also employ the technique of reading your essay out loud to hear if it makes sense. You are more likely to identify your mistakes.

Examine the facts. Confirm that the list of characters in the book of analysis, names of people you refer to, and correct spelling of places are appropriately jotted.

Being thorough with these things brings out the professionalism and expertise in you.

Analytical Essay FAQs

1. What is an analytical essay?

An analytical essay is a paper dedicated to analyzing a particular subject. It involves evaluating and interpreting details of the topic.

• How to draft an analytical essay?

Analytical essay writing begins with developing an outline. Identify the focus statement when reviewing the subject. Come up with criteria to interpret the details of the subject and ensure that you refer to the main issue.

• How does one remain analytical in writing?

A learner must be more analytical. Learn to be keen on details and try to interpret facts that aim at concluding your writing. Maintain objectivity as well.

• What constitutes a good analysis?

A good analytical essay should be well outlined, cohesive and consistent. The statements should be objective and supported by relevant arguments.

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