How to Write an Analysis Essay – Being a Three-Year Old Again

Understanding how to write an analysis essay is not as difficult as you may think. Think back to those toddler years when you got a new toy for birthday or Christmas. You wanted to know how it worked. So, you took it apart, studied all of its parts, and then probably could not get it back together again. Mom or dad had to intervene, re-construct it, and you were happy. Now you are going to be that toddler and that parent rolled into one, because that is really the idea behind an analysis essay.

Analysis Essays are a Favorite of Many Instructors

You may be writing an analysis essay in any course you take. When you are asked to analyze a poem or other piece of literature; when you are asked to write an essay on the causes of something; when you are asked to compare and contrast two things; when you are asked to describe something complex - all of these things involve analysis. Analysis is simply breaking down something into it parts, taking a look at those parts, and seeing how they ‘”fit” into the whole.

If, for example you were going to write an analysis essay on a character in a novel, You would look at all facets of that character, one at a time, describe them, and then, by the end of the essay come to some conclusion about that character. Let’s take Juliet from the Shakespearian tragedy. One could say that she was naïve, passionate, impulsive, and committed. To “prove” these points, you would take her words and behaviors that point to each of the facets of her personality. In your conclusion, then, when you put her all back together again, you would speak to the fact that she really typifies a teen in love, but that the combination of these traits ultimately led to her death.

If you were going to analyze the causes of the Great Depression, your essay would have a paragraph dedicated to each one of these causes, and, in the end, show how they all worked together to cause the stock market crash, bank failures, and the collapse of the U.S. economy.

How to Write an Analysis Essay - It is No Different

You’ve written essays before. You know how this goes. You choose a topic or one is given to you. Then you do the following:

1. Conduct research if you have to. In the case of the causes of the Depression, you may have to do some research. In the case of Juliet, you may want to read what other literary critics have to say about her.

2.  You develop a thesis – The Great Depression was caused by a series of circumstances and behaviors that all worked together to bring about the economic collapse. Juliet was a typical teen with personality traits that, when all working together, put her in a situation which ended her life. Your “evidence” is taken right from the play.

3. The analysis essay is easy to organize. Each part that you pulled from the whole gets a paragraph.

4. Your introduction identifies the topic and presents our thesis statement.

5. You conclusion puts the thing, event, or person back together again and points to the truth of your thesis statement.

Don’t let the term “analysis” make you nervous. It is really just taking apart that toy and re-assembling it.