How Do You Write an Analytical Essay?

Writing an analytical essay seems like a really tough chore, but in essence, it is all about organizing your thoughts. You need to draw your conclusions and meantime support them with reasons, evidence, and logic. The following is how to do that.

  • Start with choosing your topic. Narrow your options down and select a theme you can manage. If the analytical essay is for school, chances are the topic has already been chosen for you. If the theme is up to you, try to come up with one that you find interesting. It’s easier if the theme won’t bore you into tears.
  • Develop your argument. Analytical essays are about analyzing information to come up with arguments supporting the conclusion. If you are working on an analytical essay about a historical event, focus on the forces contributing to what happened. If the essay is about scientific research of findings, you should follow the related scientific methods for analyzing the results. If you are writing about fiction works, focus your argument on the motivation of the characters.
  • Analyze your source material point by point. Go over all the material you have prepared for the essay. Make notes about what can support your arguments and what detracts from them. The sources and evidences you end up using need to be verifiable while being relevant to the topic. In case you do not have enough supporting sources, try doing some more research, conducting an experiment, or executing a comparison to get answers.
  • Now it comes to the actual writing. Begin the summary paragraph with a broad statement that’s related to your theme. Get more specific in each of the next sentences till you state your thesis. Write a main-idea sentence for each paragraph. Explain the main idea with examples, facts, details and other evidences. Throw in a quote if needed. Restate your main point of the essay in the conclusion paragraph. Make your conclusion concise yet to the point. Do not include new information in it.
  • Final work. Cite your sources using the required citation style. The commonly used formats are APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual of Style. Be sure to proofread your essay. If possible, read the essay aloud and make notes of the places where you stumble over the punctuation or wording. Modify accordingly before your work can be finally finished.

So, are you feeling like an expert of writing analytical essays yet? If still not, practice with the above tips and you will soon become one.