A Simple Way to Complete an Outstanding Analytical Essay

It doesn’t matter what academic assignment you have: a simple descriptive essay or a research paper on physics. Knowing the basic principles will always help you to complete any sort of a task with minimum affords. Analytical essay is not an exception.

It is a paper, where you need to analyze and interpret an event, piece of art or situation. You need to show your critical thinking and apply all of the knowledge you have gained.

Steps to complete

Get ready

• Decide what will be the center of your work. Any analytical essay concentrates on a topic, certain quote or issue. That is why you need to analyze the subject and decide what aspects you will focus on. Include facts on a matter to support your point of view, even if your essay is written about a book or a movie;
• Choose your topic. Usually professors give a topic to write about but sometimes you can choose it yourself. Here is where the most problems arise and most of the students simply don’t know how to manage the task properly. If it is a movie or a book analysis, you can back your opinion with actions of various characters. You can also analyze motives of actors or participants. If it is a historical event, don’t forget to describe the things that influenced it. As well as use scientific tools for an academic topic;
• Start with a thesis statement. It is one of the most important parts of any assignment, as it gives the reader a chance to understand whether he wants to go on reading. A thesis statement of an analytical essay should back your ideas and give the reader a chance to see what issues you are going to discuss;
• Back your thoughts with evidence. You should pay great attention to all the materials you are dealing with, as they will be later used to back your ideas. Use films, books or any other materials to support your statement and add additional evidence to your thesis. It is a great idea to explain various events or situations, which happened before the described events and their influence on the matter;
• Write a plan of your paper. Completing an outline may greatly simplify your life, as you will be able to always stick to the plan and remember what thinks you wanted to write about. A regular analytical essay consists of a short introduction, body and conclusions. The body paragraphs contain main information on the matter, so here you need to indicate all of the most important features on the subject.

Example of an analytical essay plan:

1. Introduction
2. Section 1: Causes of the event
3. Section 2: Description of the event
4. Part 3: Reaction of the characters
5. Conclusions

Compose your analytical essay

–  Write the introduction. Any introduction requires careful attention to details, as it gives the reader an overall impression and encourages him to go on reading. That is why you need to be innovative and make your topic as attractive as possible. However, don’t include too many facts and details, as they may easily bore the audience. You should also try to avoid dramatic elements, like exclamation marks, as an analytical essay always remains subjective;

– Write body paragraphs. There is a great way to complete your body paragraphs in a simple way. You should only divide them into three parts:

1. Write down the main sentence;
2. Analyze the text;
3. Include a certain fact, which will confirm your thesis and text analysis.

Every paragraph should correspond with your thesis statement and provide a deep understanding of the topic. Don’t be in a hurry and complete a thorough analysis of all statements;

–Wisely choose a place for quotes and paraphrases. Any time you want to use someone else’s thoughts or phrases, you need to quote them inside the text. With such citations, you support your ideas or provide useful information, so it is important to add quotes to relevant paragraphs. Make sure you cite everything properly depending on the required formatting style;

– Write down the conclusions. When working on this section, you need to remind the audience your main statements on the topic. It is also possible to paraphrase the thesis but make it sound different from the introduction section. Provide different ideas and conclusions to make the reader think on the topic. Your opinion shouldn’t influence someone else’s assessment but still it is useful to write a couple sentences on your own ideas.

Final stage

• Go through your paper over and over again to avoid any mistakes, including lexical and grammatical ones. Even the best paper can receive lower marks if it contains lots of mistakes and complex sentences. That is why you need to make sure that you spend enough time on correcting possible errors. If you find it difficult, ask someone to help;
• Read your analytical essay aloud. Students often neglect this common practice. However, it can greatly help you to concentrate on the sections, which you didn’t pay attention to. You may also see what sections or even phrases sound too complicated and which are readable. Making one step at a time, you will be able to complete an outstanding essay, which will be smooth and interesting;
• Eliminate all possible spelling mistakes. There is nothing worse than writing names, locations and places with mistakes. Take your time and consult several various sources to make sure you spell such information correctly.

The best tips you will ever get

• It will be much easier to write down your thesis statement if you understand what you are willing to prove. Your opinion may change throughout the work, so you should simply alter the thesis statement a bit;
• Stick to the point. Some students think that writing a long essay, filled with watery sentences, is a great solution. However, any professor will agree that your analytical essay should be brief and clear. Every sentence you write should analyze a certain matter and be backed by a research;
• Don’t use too many quotes. Of course, it is great to use quotes and citations of scholarly sources and other authors. However, loading your text with too many details will simply do you harm, as your professor may think that you don’t have any personal thoughts on the subject;
• Be innovative. It is difficult to stand out from hundreds of other works, so finding a way to differ is crucial if you want to be noticed. If the topic allows, write your essay in a form of an autobiography or a letter. In addition, you can add infographics, illustrations and provocative titles to engage the reader;
• No everyday language. If your essay is analytical and requires a critical approach, it is necessary to avoid everyday phrases. If you decide to use slang you can sound unprofessional, which may greatly influence your final grades and overall impression from the text.