Rules for Writing Analytical Papers
Dynamic first sentence:
NO—I agree with Sartre.
YES—Quit whining! Embrace life! Take responsibility! These admonitions echo
throughout Sartre’s exegesis, “Existentialism”.
Embed text support:
NO—Sartre has a clear and decisive definition of existentialism. According to him, it is
“a doctrine which makes human life possible and, in addition, declares that every truth
and every action implies a human setting and a human subjectivity.”
YES—Existentialism is no less than a “doctrine which makes human life possible.”
Subscribing to this philosophy, living in accords with its prescriptions means that “a man
is responsible for himself…and for all men.”
Style:
NO—When Sartre is saying that human should be responsible, this is contradicting the
trend we have wherein we are making excuses all the time.
YES—Sartre believes in human responsibility; we should not make excuses but take
action.
Content:
SPECIFICS
SIGNIFIGANCE
TEXT SUPPORT
Focus:
CLEAR AND PRECISE
Organization:
TRANSITIONS
EXPLANATIONS
You have been trained to write five paragraph essays. Now, you can begin to break
away from that format. While you are not necessarily constructing five paragraph
essays, you should still use have the structures you’ve been taught: an introduction
containing a clear thesis sentence; various topics proving your main idea (with textual
support); transitions; and a conclusion.
Good Words:
Ambiguity; juxtaposition; duality; dichotomy; construct (as a verb); alienation; irony
Avoid:
Excessive use of first and second person; redundancy; incorrect documentation