Writing Analytically
Titles, Introductions, and Conclusions
Expectations for Analytical Writing as
an Academic Genre
• Analytical writing is a task that you will probably be
called on to perform many times in your academic
career.
• Remember, for this essay, I am asking you to assume a
more formal, academic tone than the first essay, but
not so formal that you cannot mention yourself.
• Your focus should be on your observations and analysis
of your subject, not on yourself as an author.
• This means you should limit your use of “I” and “me”
when referring to yourself to places where your own
experiences add something unique/noteworthy to your
evaluation of your product/place.
What does it mean to “write
analytically”?
• According to our Everyone’s an Author textbook,
“When you analyze something, you break it down
into its component parts and think about those
parts methodically in order to understand it in
some way” (137).
– What are “component parts”?
– What does it mean to think about them
“methodically”?
• See list of features of analytical writing on p. 141
Writing analytically for Essay #2
• Let’s apply each of the characteristics of analytical writing to the
essay that you are writing right now.
• Characteristic 1: A Question that asks you to take a closer look.
– Analysis is usually prompted by curiosity. How does something work?
What are the connections between two events or trends? Etc.
– As you narrow your topic, you need to identify the specific question(s)
YOU are taking a closer look at.
– Examples from your text book: The writer of the section on p. 142 asks
“Who is Barrack Obama?” with the deeper implication of “What kind
of a leader is he?” and the writer quoted on p. 143 asks “What is the
impact of Twilight on those who became addicted to it?”
– For your review, you might be asking a question like, “How does this
band’s newest album compare to their older music?” or “What makes
this restaurant special/worth visiting?” or “Why is this film such a
disappointment?”
Writing analytically for Essay #2
• Let’s apply each of the characteristics of analytical writing to the essay that
you are about to begin writing right now.
• Characteristic 2: Some description of the subject you are analyzing.
– Assume that your readers know, in general, what the media is, but they may
not know about the specific issue relating to the media you are going to
discuss.
– Your introduction and your first paragraph are a good place for a brief
introduction to the subject of your review; however, you may find yourself
providing additional context/description in the middle of your essay so your
readers will understand your points.
– Find balance here. You don’t need to give a long, exhaustive (extremely
complete) history of your subject here. You do, though, need to give your
audience enough background that they can follow your argument if they’ve
never given your subject much thought before.
Writing analytically for Essay #2
• Let’s apply each of the characteristics of analytical writing to the essay
that you are writing right now.
• Characteristic 3: Evidence drawn from close examination of the subject.
(See p. 144-152 for different ways to examine closely)
– In your case, close examination of the subject means that you have taken a
careful, analytical look at your question about the subject of your review and
studied the subject of your review closely (if possible, I recommend
visiting/watching/using your subject if you haven’t lately). Finally, you should
have considered how what your observations mean.
– It also means that you may have read, understood, and formed responses to
others who have asked questions similar to yours. Do other reviewers share
your views?
– Your job in your essay is to present this evidence, both from your own
observations and from your sources, to your readers, along with your own
explanations of the significance of what you and your sources noticed.
Writing analytically for Essay #2
• Let’s apply each of the characteristics of analytical
writing to the essay that you are writing right now.
• Characteristic 4: Insight gained from your analysis.
– This is your answer to the question you asked at the
beginning. It is your main point, and it should be the
central part of your thesis.
– What realizations did you make because of all of this
close attention you paid to the subject of your review?
What conclusions have you come to?
Writing analytically for Essay #2
• Characteristic 5: Clear, precise language.
– Define terms and explain ideas that may be unfamiliar to your
audience.
– Be as precise as possible. For example, the word “good” means
almost nothing unless you define what you mean by good. For
example, to say “The food at this place is good” is vague.
• What do you MEAN when you say “good”? Is it fresh? Is it unique? Is it
dripping with grease but so delicious you don’t care about how
unhealthy it is? Describe one of the “good” dishes in great detail.
• “Good” means many different things to many different people.
• By defining what you mean by “good,” you will avoid confusing and
you will provide a more interesting description of your subject.
A Basic Assumption This Essay Makes
• The basic premise of “Advertisements R Us” and
other works of cultural criticism that are about
advertising, is that the way in which products are
advertised and the reasons that people respond
the way the do is significant, and can tell us
interesting things about ourselves as a society.
• The same assumption applies to other areas of
the media. The way the media treats an issue is
significant because it reveals patterns in how we
as a society think about the issue.
“Advertisements R Us” p. 176 of
Everyone’s an Author
• In this article, Melissa Rubin is analyzing one single
image – a Coca Cola ad from 1950.
• This author went through the process of analysis that
we went through with the ads in a previous class.
– She studied the ad carefully. (Her description proves how
carefully she looked at it.)
– She noticed things about the ad as she studied it.
– She asked herself what her observations meant, and she
shared those insights with her readers.
Effectiveness of Image
• The author spends a great deal of time describing
the ad in detail, but she also includes the ad so
her readers can see it. It was a good move to do
both.
• If your essay would benefit from images, you may
include them throughout your essay as long as
they are clearly labeled. No matter how many
images you use, your essay must meet the
minimum word count on your assignment sheet.
“Advertisements R Us” p. 176 of
Everyone’s an Author
• What are some of her major points about the ad?
– What are the underlying messages of the ad, according to
the essay’s author?
– What is this ad saying about class (think about the
different types of men portrayed prominently in the ad)?
– What is this ad saying about Coca Cola’s role in American
society?
• What point is this author making about the connection
between Coke and American identity? (see the last
paragraph on p. 180)
• Do YOU notice anything about the ad that the author
missed?
Focus on First and Last Impressions
• Now, we are going to focus on three things
that heavily influence your reader’s
impression of your essay:
• The title
• The introduction
• The conclusion
Titles
• A title for a college level essay needs to give at
least some idea of the narrowed TOPIC of the
essay.
• A title might also let your reader know your
STANCE.
– Stance: Where you, the author, stand on the topic.
• Think of your title as a headline. A good title
should make your audience want to read your
work.
This means that the following aren’t
acceptable titles:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Essay 1
Literacy Narrative
Review
My Essay
English V02 Essay
For college level essays, your instructors will
be expecting titles that are more specific than
these.
Unique Titles: A Short Guide
• Strategy 1: Use your title to ask a question.
– Example: Is the iPhone 6 Upgrade Worth the Cost?
– Example: How Does Peter Jackson’s New Film Compare to His Older
Work?
• Strategy 2: Make your title a brief statement of your evaluation.
– Example: Why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is Still the Best Vampire TV
Show in History
– Example: Jackson’s Most Recent Film Maintains His Previous Quality
• Strategy 3: Briefly list the topics you will discuss.
– Example: Teenage Girls and Magazine Advertisements (not great for
your review, but good for future essays)
• These are not the only strategies. Read professional reviews online
and in print. How do these authors title their reviews?
• Whatever you do, your title needs to be UNIQUE TO YOUR PAPER.
If you want to get clever…
• Use alliteration (same sounds at the beginnings
of words)
– Example: Are Video Games Cranking out Killer Kids?
• Use other forms of humor, like a pun or a play on
words.
• Use the form of: “Topic: Big Idea/Question About
the Topic”
– Violent Video Games: Harmless Fun or Recipe for
Disaster?
– Social Media Trends: The One Way Ticket for
Insecurities for Young Women
Formatting Your Title
• Your title should be in size 12 font, beneath the
heading, and centered.
• Every important word in your title should be
capitalized. (You don’t need to capitalize words
like a, and, the, etc. unless they are the first.)
• Don’t put quote marks around your own title at
the top of your essay.
• Don’t make your title a different font or size than
the rest of your paper. Do not make it bold.
Title Brainstorming Time!
• Brainstorm at least three possible unique
titles for your essay. You don’t have to stick
with any of them, but when class is over you
will at least have three options.
Techniques for a Good Introduction for
Your Review
• Start with a description. This works especially well if you are reviewing
a place. Remember to add in the sensory details necessary to let your
reader imagine that he/she is there.
• Start with a summary of the work you are reviewing, or of the
author/artist’s previous work, or provide some other sort of necessary
background information.
• Lead up to a question that will make the reader think deeply and
desire the answer you will provide.
• Offer a quotation from the work you are reviewing that gives your
reader the flavor of the work. (In general, the first sentence of your
paper should not be a quote.)
• Remember, no matter which of these techniques you use, your
introduction should contain:
– a brief summary of your evaluation of the subject of your review.
– the name of the thing you are reviewing and, if necessary, the author/artist
Examining Example Introductions:
• Look at the following intros. What does each
author do to pull in the reader prepare them
for the rest of the essay?
• Paragraphs 1 and 2 of “Mind Matters” on p.
246
• Paragraph 1 and 2 of “Out of the West” on p.
256
• Paragraph 1 of “Undocumented Lives” on p.
260
Introduction Improvement Time:
• Improve your introduction by using one of the
techniques we discussed.
– Start with description
– Start with summary/context
– Lead up to a question (this one works well in
combination with other techniques), but
remember, you need to answer this question
immediately with your thesis.
– Use a quotation (also needs to be used with other
techniques)
Conclusions
• Conclusions are often the most difficult thing
to write for some students, especially if you've
been taught the five paragraph essay style
that simply encourages you to repeat your
main points. A good conclusion does much
more than this.
Techniques for a Good Conclusion for
Your Review
• Offer a final evaluation that adds to what you
have said so far rather than repeating previous
points.
• Tell your readers what kinds of people your
subject might interest. Is it a great restaurant for
families? A great film for spy movie fans? Who,
specifically, should run out and buy/see (or
completely avoid, in the case of a negative
review) your subject?
• End with a final, new piece of description of your
subject that reinforces your evaluation.
Examining Conclusions
• Look back at the conclusions of the example
review on p. 262. What did this author do to
wrap up her essay?
• Examine conclusions of various professional
reviews. How do these writers end their work?
• If you have not yet written your conclusion, do so
now. If you have, then go back and make sure
that your conclusion is going to leave your reader
with something to remember.
Focus On Sentence Types
• Recently, we have been learning about different sentence
types that can give writing variety. Try to use these
sentence types in your review.
• Examine your essay draft. Write or identify…
–
–
–
–
–
One simple sentence
One compound sentence
One complex sentence
One compound-complex sentence
See p. 552-558
• Write or identify…
– One periodic sentence
– One cumulative sentence
– See p. 558-560