An analytical text is a literary result of the investigation of certain facts (of objective reality or some speculative statements, judgments, philosophical categories, etc.), the main method of which is analysis. The analytical essay aims to convey to the reader not just some information, but encourages him, following the chain of author’s reasoning about the interaction of the elements of the object or phenomenon, to draw a conclusion, which, as a rule, the author formulates in the final part of the work.
The fundamental difference between analytical texts and information lies in a deep diving into the subject about which we are talking about: on the basis of the analysis of facts, new essential qualities of the subject of research appear that were not previously obvious.
Characteristics of the analytical article
Before proceeding to an analysis of the basic principles of writing analytical articles, let’s consider the features of this publicist genre and its characteristics. So, a qualitative analytical article should be distinguished by the following qualities:
- the relevance of the topic;
- accurate selection of factual material necessary for detailed analysis and disclosure of the topic;
- competent, deep and logically perfect analysis of the material;
- the clear structure of the essay, lack of unreasonable repetition;
- theoretical generalizations based on the analysis;
- logical conclusions, based on this analytical material;
- practical recommendations based on conclusions from the analyzed material;
- lack of logical and grammatical errors;
- the novelty of the submitted material, the presence of fresh thought in the thesis or conclusions of the article
Writing tips
The analytical essay is an intellectual work destined to treat a theme, a problem, a proposal or a phenomenon with originality, freedom, coherence and literary elegance, so they are differ from a personal statement format. In the scientific field, it fulfills other functions, such as the explanation of problems, disclosure of findings, confrontation of theories, discussions, reflections, contributions or criticisms.
The object of analysis can be a known or poorly known scientific phenomenon, scientific or artistic work, a historical event, a social problem, or something else.
Choice of topic and object of study
The content of the analytical essay will largely depend on what is chosen as an object for analysis. Thus, when examining scientific work, an essay can be devoted to the study of the reliability of the study, its potential, or the analysis of its findings. When considering a work of art, you can analyze the artistic techniques of the author or the problems raised in the book. For this reason, it is very important to accurately determine the topic and object of study.
If the instructor has given you an extensive topic or provided an opportunity to choose the topic of the essay, we recommend you focus on one small issue that will be considered on several pages.
Working with literature
The analytical essay is too short to include a lot of citations and references to different authors. However, there must be links to sources. If this is an analysis of scientific work, you can refer to authoritative scientists and their works. In the case of an analytical essay based on a book or film, authoritative publications, writers, film critics, etc. can act as sources. At this stage, you need to properly study not only the object of analysis itself but also what the society says about it. If you have citations, your essay will be more thorough and detailed, which always acts more strongly on the reader.
When drafting an analytical essay, do not forget that even in voluminous works large quotations are not welcome. Therefore, find short and capacious statements and carefully rewrite them before you start writing an essay.
Plan preparation
The plan is not an obligatory element of the essay and will not be included in it, but its presence will make it much easier for you to write the essay.
The general structure of the analytical essay:
- introductory part;
- main part:
- thesis, analysis, argument;
- thesis, analysis, argument;
- thesis, analysis, argument;
- final part.
Fill this frame with specific data, writing in the introduction the main statement of your work (thesis), which you will prove. Also, write out the theses and arguments for the main part. Now you only need to detail each pair of thesis-argument, analyze it and add interesting details (statistics, history, description of the observation, etc.).
Working with the text of the essay
In the introduction of the essay, you need to identify the object of analysis and your main thesis on the topic of the work.
In the main part, you first need to present the strongest thesis, confirming the main thesis, then analyze and argue your statement.
As a result, moving from one thesis to another, you will gradually reveal the theme of your essay. But do not forget that the theses should not repeat each other in meaning and should disclose your main statement.
In conclusion, return to the key thesis and describe it more fully, basing on what you have proved in the main part. Do not forget that you are not writing a rigorous scientific paper, so you need to finish the essay effectively.
When the text is ready, don’t be too lazy to check it for errors and inaccuracies.
