Posted: December 3rd, 2022

How to write an analytical essay simple guide

Do you want to grow as an author and broaden your scope of imagination? Do you need to boost your authorial skills? Look no further; an analytical essay is what you need to hone your skills.

If you feel the urge to persuade the masses towards or against something or want to inform them of something, here is a simple guide on how to write an analytical essay. Read and follow these guidelines to avoid getting stuck in your writing.

What is an essay?

An essay is a detailed piece of writing whose aim is to persuade the reader or inform them about a specific topic. As a student, you will write many essays in your academic journey. The length and content of your essay will be determined by

Your level of education

Course requirements

Your subject of study

Types of essays

The most common types of essays are

1. Argumentative essays

To write a good argumentative essay, you must have a clearly defined stand on your topic. This essay aims to present a claim backed up by valid evidence. It is common at the college level and tests students’ ability to carry out research and present their topic.

2. Expository essays

If your argumentative skills are minimal, this is the essay for you. An expository essay requires you to explain a topic clearly and to the point. If your view of the topic is balanced and organized, you don’t need the prototype argument

These essays are common for high schoolers and are examined at the college level in other cases. They test a student’s familiarity with the chosen topic and ability to organize and pass across the information.

3. Narrative essays

Do you need to narrate a story, fiction nonfiction? You are on the right track; your story will be a narrative essay. These essays require a lot of creativity and are more personal.

You got the ball rolling if you can write this essay in an engrossing and well-structured format. It does not strictly adhere to the format, i.e., introduction, body, and summary, but you should begin with a narrative setup and end with a moral lesson.

4. Descriptive essays

This type of narrative requires your attention to detail to be able to describe something thoroughly. Descriptive essays allow for more creativity but focus on the topic at hand. You should use language creatively to create memorable mental images in descriptive writing.

What is an analytical essay?

An analytical essay is a piece of writing that requires you to analyze a specific topic cautiously. Many students mistake this type of essay for a summary. This kind of essay is majorly found in academic journals, newspapers, trade journals, and magazines. Your analysis can be in

• Art
• Music
• Current trending events
• Scientific research
• Philosophy
• Historical events
• Politics
• Literary works
• Architecture
• Culture
• Economics

Difference between an analytical essay and a descriptive essay

Students have a hard time distinguishing between analytical writing and descriptive writing. Both styles of writing are applied in non-academic writing.

Descriptive essays focus on the precise description of things or facts, while analytical essays give an additional analysis of something.

Descriptive writing answers the question ‘what’ while analytical writing answers the question ‘so what.’ This means that while descriptive writing describes a context as it is, analytical writing analyses the consequences or impact of that given context.

Analytical writing	Descriptive writing
Identifies the importance	States what exactly happens
Looks into strengths and weaknesses	States something as it is
Involves making a reasoned judgment	Outlines the order of the happening things
Argues a case and uses evidence for credibility	Gives instructions on how to do something
Prioritizes one piece of information	Narrates the tale so far
Shows the relevance and suitability of something	Lists the main elements in a theory
Indicates why something will work best	Indicates how something works
Identifies whether something is suitable or appropriate	Notes down the method used
Shows when the timing is vital	States when something occurred
Provides reasons for selecting each option	States option
Weighs the importance of component parts	Lists the different components
Evaluates the importance of details	States the details
Information is listed in order of importance	Information is not listed in any order
Shows the importance of links between bits of information	Shows the link between items
Evaluates data and draw conclusions	Provides data or reports the findings

 

Guide on how to write an analytical essay

If you want to write an impeccable analytical essay, be clear, precise, and well–organized. Ensure that you address the contrasting arguments and back up your essay with proven statistical findings. If you are stuck, here are the steps on how to write an analytical essay

• Choose your point of view

Before choosing your point of view, remember you will have to anchor your analytical essay entirely on that single thesis statement. You can’t deviate from your view; hence you must tread carefully during the writing process.

• Jot down your introductory paragraph and end it with your thesis statement

Your opening paragraph is a hooker or sinker, so it must be good enough to catch the reader’s interest. If you want the audience hooked, you can use a bold statement or a rhetorical question. To make the introduction perfect, you must include your thesis statement.

• Cautiously organize your essay’s body

You need to divide your essay into body paragraphs and ensure that each paragraph delves into specific topics. All your paragraphs should support your thesis statement by providing reliable evidence and opposite viewpoints.

Your subject of discussion in the analytical essay is crucial, and so is its structure. Ensure that you take extra time when planning each of your body paragraphs. The number of body paragraphs will depend on the scope of your essay, so don’t shy away from making your opinions heard

.

• Construct a good and clear topic sentence

You know that lengthy paragraphs can be daunting to read while looking for the main point, right? To garner more readers, introduce each paragraph with a topic sentence. You make it less laborious for the reader to identify the main point by doing so.

• Fill your essay with facts

If your aim is to persuade or inform your audience, the only way to gain credibility is by use of proven statistics to back up your claim. Your analytical essay example should be the epitome of all analytical essays. To achieve this, use anecdotes and footnotes abundantly.

• Give space for the opposing opinions

If you want to strengthen your argument, acknowledge the opposing point of view, and use it to articulate your point of view. If you are to refute that opposing idea with evidence, you will prove your point. Sounds weird, right?

• Write a concluding paragraph

Your purpose for writing this analytical essay shouldn’t be a priority when writing a concluding paragraph to summarize your argument. Whether you are writing the essay for your school term paper or for your audience to satisfy their thirst for reading, a concluding paragraph to recap your claim is mandatory.

Why is an analytical essay written?

An analytical essay is written purposely for your reader and you, the author. Instructors assign these essays to students to help them become good writers and widen their scope of thinking. By writing this essay, students improve their writing skills and understanding of that specific topic.

Readers can only make sense of news day after day by reading analytical essays in magazines and newspapers. Remember, the author’s aim in writing this essay is to educate the readers on important matters.

What is an analytical essay introduction?

This is an essay’s opening paragraph that is meant to hook the reader. An analytical essay introduction engages the reader and informs them what the analytical essay is all about. For your introduction to be good, provide background information on your topic, state the goals of your essay, and give hints on the claims you intend to make.

How exactly do you get the reader hooked to reading the rest of your analytical essay? Well, this is a no-brainer; ensure to introduce your essay with a

• Joke
• Engaging rhetorical question
• Thought-provoking fact
• Anecdote

How to conclude an analytical essay?

The first rule in how to conclude an analytical essay is never to add new information or fresh points for analysis. You are supposed to restate your major points in a precise way. This means that you clearly

• Reword your thesis
• Specify the key pieces of evidence
• Summarize your main topic sentences
• State your thoughts on the possibility of further analysis

Your concluding paragraph is said to be flawless if the reader can understand the purpose of your essay by reading the conclusion. This means that you have ended your analytical essay with your thoughts, and you have also taken the time to explain why this essay is important to you.

Tips for crafting good analytical essay topics

Do you want a good analytical essay topic? Relevant to the present society and fascinating to this generation? Here are some tips on how to come up with an excellent topic for your analytical essay

• Interact with people

You can get a good topic for your essay by reaching out to people of different age groups and talking about their daily tribulations. You will be surprised at how many issues or situations need thorough research and explanation.

• Looking at your immediate environment

What surrounds you? Heavy traffic, complaints from people about the weather, rising economy, disrespectful people, or overworked men? You can come up with a topic from your immediate environment because the world is no longer rainbows and fairytales. Your current context should be able to cater to your analytical essay definition.

• Browsing online

Many online websites got ready-made topics in various fields just for you if you need inspiration. You will also get a chance to read already written essays online by experts for motivation. Better yet, you get trending topics from browsing the net.

• Go down the memory lane

What was good then, and what is better currently? Are our society and world better than before? Comparing the past to the present is always a good way to develop a fascinating analytical essay topic.

• Your interests or hobbies

Your girlfriend wants to join ballet classes, but only slender girls can do it? Your friend desires to pursue medicine, but the parents can’t afford it? Hobbies can inspire you to come up with an awesome topic.

Examples of good analytical essay topics

Are you still unable to choose a suitable topic for your analytical essay? You can always seek professional help, but before that, here are some great examples of analytical essay topics

Analytical essay topics for students in colleges

• Analysis of psychological and social reasons for bullying
• Parents’ expectations versus reality
• Reality versus college expectations
• Why do college students lack motivation?
• Social media influences teens
• Do people take criticism well?
• Reasons for developing rebellious traits among children
• Social media influence young teens
• Why is infidelity a major issue in relationships?
• Influence of horror movies on our psychology

Analytical essay topics for high schoolers

• Why graffiti or street art is so popular
• Reasons for having different phobias
• Analyzing the different genres of music
• Why do sportspeople use drugs despite the consequences?
• Why do people gamble?
• Why are young teens more susceptible to succumbing to peer pressure?
• How can schools deal with bullying?
• Should sex education be taught in schools?
• How does single parenthood influence a child’s psychology?
• Why do teens run away from home?
• Impact of gaming on teens
• During adolescence, girls connect more with their fathers and boys with their mothers; why?
• Are school uniforms a necessity?
• To join a college or not.

Analytical essay topics on criticism

• Christianity and homosexuality
• Consequences of obesity on individual analysis
• Communication differences between the male and the female gender
• Young people rarely donate blood; why?
• Analyzing the accuracy of a standardized test
• Future of technology analysis
• Video games impact our health
• Reasons for religious intolerance

Very common analytical essay topics

• Why does religion cause so many conflicts?
• Global warming and its cause
• Internships by college students
• Identity and fashion
• Modeling and body size

Impacts of parents’ behavior on children

• Fighting addiction
• Effect of music on health
• Kids should not watch news channels, or should they?
• Health insurance pros and cons

Analytical essay topics on the system of education

• Is art in education that important?
• Role of a teacher in shaping a child’s personality
• Assessment tests, are they important to a student?
• Is homework necessary?
• E-books or physical books?
• College education should be free to all

Analytical essay topics that persuade

• Music is said to be an effective way of treating mental illness.
• Solar energy, is it worth the cost?
• Offensive language in music should come with a warning label
• Is capital punishment a crime in itself?
• The solution to immigration problems
• How can hobbies improve our skills?
• Must everyone recycle?
• Effects of the internet on our lives
• Should there be huge billboards on superhighways?

Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Analytical essay topics

• Is the love between Romeo and Juliet true?
• How do Romeo and Juliet influence modern culture?
• Role of women in Romeo and Juliet
• The portrayal of love in Romeo and Juliet
• Who is responsible for Juliet’s demise?

Funny Analytical essay topics

• Are dogs’ better pets than cats?
• How do psychopaths differ from sociopaths?
• How to open and interact with people
• Why is the internet full of scammers?
• What do pets think about their owners?
• Why do we yawn and sneeze?
• Is love a chemical reaction?
• Why do teens have acne?
• Why don’t we have tails?
• Why do people prefer pets to their children?

Analytical essay topics on art and history

• Are all artists geniuses?
• What are the lessons learned from world war?
• Analysis of postmodern art
• Does World War 2 still affect us? How?

Analytical essay topics about pop culture

• The rise and fall of Kanye west
• Is DOTA the perfect game?

Analytical essay topics about psychology

• Young people do feel lonely, do they?
• Effects of lockdown on mental health?
• What qualifies as a mental disorder?
• Happiness, is it an illusion?
• Methods of coping with depression

Analytical essay topics on literature

• What distinguishes a good novel from a great novel?
• What makes a tale compelling?
• Does the current literature romanticize mental illnesses?
• What do you understand by the phrase ‘quality literature?’

Characteristics of good analytical essay topics

Your topic should be vital and relevant when tackling the question of how to write an analytical essay. How do you ensure that your analytical essay topic is good enough to awe your readers? Your topic should be

• Something that fascinates you
• Able to capture the attention of the reader
• Narrow and not too broad
• Researchable
• Asking an important question

What is the standard analytical essay format?

Before writing an analytical essay, you must be well versed in an analytical essay format. The length of an analytical essay is commonly between 500-1000 words meaning the format follows the classic five-paragraph format found in essays. If you need your essay to be longer, you can write more body paragraphs.

The easiest way to write this essay is to develop an analytical essay outline. This will give you an overview of the essay’s structure. Analytical essay outlines are meant to help you in your research and writing of the analytical essay, hence saving time.

The typical analytical outline of an essay includes

• An introduction

This is the part where you hook the readers, give some background information on your chosen topic, and mention the thesis statement.

• The body paragraphs

In an analytical essay, the body paragraphs are introduced by a topic sentence and a well-explained paragraph with proven evidence to strengthen it. There is finally the transition from one body paragraph to another.

• The conclusion

This is where you summarize all your major points, restate your thesis, and mention the key pieces of evidence you have used.

Tips for writing a good analytical essay

Your attempt to analyze a situation shouldn’t be for writing an essay’s sake. Your aim in writing an analytical essay is to persuade and inform the masses; hence you need the following tips to help you write a good analytical essay.

• What exactly are you trying to prove?

If the answer to this question can’t be included in your thesis, you must change your thesis statement automatically.

• Don’t be too wordy

The longer the argument, the more errors you write and the lower your essay’s impact on your readers. Long papers can be complicated and tedious to read; hence, strive to be brief and precise. Ensure your arguments are clear and backed up with data from reliable sources.

• Don’t overload your essay with quotes

You can borrow ideas from other experts to make your essay more credible, but don’t copy everything stated by the experts. Use metaphors and repetitions to avoid rash quoting.

• Spice up your text

Do you want your instructors to recall your analytical essay amongst the thousands they have read? You can achieve this by using thought-provoking headlines, conspicuous epigraphs, infographics, or illustrations. Give your reader food for thought, and your essay will outshine the rest.

• Don’t use the ordinary language

Using verbal slang is a terrible idea when writing an essay because you risk losing your argumentative power. Informal language is a must use for it diversifies your work.

• Vital characteristics of an analytical essay

Do you need to garner a larger audience or get a good grade? Writing analytical essays might seem like an easy task, but the reality is it isn’t that easy. Kindly consider the following Vital characteristics of an analytical essay

• An analytical essay doesn’t mean a synopsis or summary

Many students end up summarizing their ideas in an analytical essay, which isn’t the case. When writing this essay, don’t simply state what happens; you should critique the situation and give your honest opinion hence shedding some light on your readers.

• A thesis statement is mandatory

If your essay lacks a thesis statement, how will you inform your reader of the goal you aim at achieving or the purpose for writing the essay? Your thesis statement is written after your hook because it aims to enlighten the learner on the essay’s contents and your stand on the topic at hand.

• The use of proven statistics gains credibility

If you want to impact your reader, your essay must include proven statistics to back up your claim. Don’t just state things like ‘piglets fly’; instead, unearth any evidence proving that the piglets have wing-like structures.

• The essay must by appealing structurally

When writing an analytical essay, the key thing to remember is the analytical essay outline. Your essay must comprise an introduction, a body, and a short summary.

If your essay is well organized and has a good thesis statement, detailed body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a self-explanatory conclusion, congratulations, you have mastered the art of writing analytical essays.

How to formulate an analytical essay thesis statement

To analyze something, you must first understand what you are about to analyze. This means you

• Break the artifacts or information into parts
• Uncover the relationship between these parts
• Determine causes, motives, and the underlying assumptions
• Make inferences and find evidence supporting the general opinions

After analysis, you need to develop a good critical thesis statement. The only way to craft a good analytical thesis statement is by considering the following

• What the claim is
• How the claim is supported
• What does it mean, and why is it so significant?
• Takeaways from analytical theses
• Don’t shy away from letting your claim transition organically

As you write your analytical essay, you might realize that your thesis statement isn’t a holistic with your essay; if that’s the case, you can always start afresh or modify the thesis statement. The key is to be flexible and allow for change when things don’t go as planned.

• Use analysis so that you can get to your main claim

As you embark on your journey to writing this essay, don’t be confident and assume that you must figure out all the deep interpretations.

Start the writing process by breaking down an artifact or idea without a clue or main idea. Carefully the pieces will come together, and the puzzle will be complete; hence you will have gotten to the main idea.

• Before deciding on a claim, ensure its reasoned

If no one can come up with an interpretation that is similar or close to yours, you are off base. It is rare for everyone to come up with an idea similar to yours, but at least a reasonable person can comprehend if not agree with your analysis.

Summary

This article,’ how to write an analytical essay simple guide,’ is meant to lighten the load for anyone wishing to write a flawless analytical essay. If you have followed the guide to the latter and are still stuck, you can always reach out to the experts. The goal is to persuade and inform the masses, nothing less.