Cornerstone – Analysis Essay - Soderstrom
Most things in life are more complex than they first appear. Works of art, stories, natural phenomenon,
human behaviors and experiences, are all better understood when we understand their inner complexity and
don’t take them on face value. To deepen our understanding, therefore, most academic, scientific and
professional writing engages in some form of analysis.
Analysis works by breaking apart something into its component pieces, and then showing how these
pieces relate. It reveals the inner logic of phenomena. How to break apart some complex phenomena and how
to put them back together is a matter of interpretation, and thus requires attention, skill and creativity. As a form
of writing, an analytical essay’s task is to reveal to the reader the underlying complexity of the subject matter,
and then propose a way to think through that complexity. Analysis, thus, leads to understanding. The guiding
thesis of an analytical essay entails a summative claim about how to think about something by categorizing its
inner complexity.
Over the last couple of weeks, Juhani Pallasmaa has been doing a lot of analysis of different kinds of
images. His hope is that when we analyze images, and use our imaginations deliberately, we can better
understand the world and ourselves. His fear is that if people do not realize how to think about images, and use
their imaginations, we become easily manipulated and deceived by our image-saturated culture. We will not
exercise our full humanity.
Your task in this essay is to analyze an image or an architectural space so that your reader may better
understand how they can engage that image. You will analyze the image or space using ideas and terminology
found in Pallasmaa’s text. The image or space you analyze, however, is up to you. The only requirement is that
you be able to have first hand experience of the image or space over the next week. You cannot just think of from
memory. (Note: A first hand experience of an image can be in a book, but a space should be visited.)
Assignment: You are to write a 900-1100 word analytic essay that answers the following question: “How
does the image or architectural space engage a person’s imagination?”
PREPARATION
1) Deliberately choose the image among many possible options. Consider a host of different images that
might work, and narrow it down to three. Take a break for a while, do something else, and then return to
these three images and pick the one that you think is most complex in terms of how it engages the
viewer.
2) Write down several problems/questions/challenges that the image or space gives to the viewer. What
does the image/space ask of its audience?
3) Free write for up to 20 minutes on the image. Go with the flow of your thoughts, stay focused on the
image itself, don’t worry about grammar.
WRITING THE ELEMENTS OF THE PAPER
4) ELEMENT 1: DESCRIBE THE IMAGE: The first step in formal writing about a work of art is to describe
accurately the image before you. This is an exercise of ATTENTION and is typically called EKPHRASIS.
The goal of EKPHRASIS as a literary form is to make the reader envision the thing described as if it were
physically present. Don’t be really imaginative; don’t talk about associations or metaphors or what it
means, just write a rich ½ page description of what you see.
5) ELEMENT 2: INTRODUCE IMAGINATION: The next step is to show the reader how this image works on
the viewer’s imagination by analyzing a number of different elements of the image. Here are some
passages in Pallasmaa that may help you get started: pp.21-24; 41-46; 69-71; 87-88. Consider how the
image you chose can become a rich source of exercise of imagination in the audience. Write at least one
full paragraph that summarizes some of main points Pallasmaa makes about the relationship between
the poetic image and imagination.
6) ELEMENT 3: FOCUS YOUR IDEAS: Choose the ONE primary way that you think this images works on
your imagination. Consider the different things it evokes in you – the associations, the emotions, the
stories, the metaphors, the ideas, etc. Analyze what makes it a POETIC IMAGE. Focus these different
ideas by naming the ONE thing it does above all else. For ideas on how to name this one thing, skim
through Chapter 3 in Pallasmaa (or Chapter 5 if you are writing about a space). Choose one of the
subsections to help you analyze the image: e.g. image of embodiment, matter, multi-sensory
experience, condensation, archetype, mandala, our unconscious, metaphor, collage, destruction, etc.
Write at least one full page showing how this ONE way the image works on your imagination helps
explain the different things it does.
7) ELMENTS 4 & 5: After writing these other elements, write a short introduction that includes your thesis
and a conclusion that summarizes what your paper did.
8) Put all the pieces together.
In this assignment, we hope to accomplish the following goals:
• Build upon your ability to summarize a situation/experience concisely and richly.
• Analyze a work of art to reveal its structure and coherence or lack-of-coherence
• Build upon your ability to integrate the ideas of other authors with your own.
• Build upon your ability to craft a debatable thesis which is defend through an organized argument
In writing your paper be sure to:
• Find an interesting and workable topic for a 3-4-page paper which aligns with the assignment; it should be
narrow enough to probe it in some depth
• Construct unified and coherent paragraphs of reasonable length for academic papers (i.e., usually between
5-10 sentences)
• Make good use of topic sentences, both to announce a paragraph’s subject and to usher an argument along
in a meaningful sequence.
• Cite all quotes, paraphrases and summaries from your outside sources.
• Work on presenting your ideas in a natural-sounding voice.
Dates:
Nov. 3: Solid draft of a minimum of 800 words due. Bring 2 additional copies to class turn one copy into WA.
Nov 3-Nov. 11: Writing Conferences, revision work.
Nov. 12: Revised, last draft due at the beginning of class. Turn in both the final revision and the copy you
worked on in your WA conference (with all the markings).
Format: 900-1100 words, printed double-spaced, with reasonable margins (1-11/4 in.), no additional spacing
between paragraphs.
Late Papers: The final grade of this paper will be reduced if any of the drafts are turned in late.
Cornerstone – Analysis Essay Grade Sheet - Soderstrom
CONTENT
1) PROMPT: The first step in writing is to summarizing the specific element of the movie for what
it is. This section should be brief (one or two full paragraphs) and will be evaluated according to
how it uses concise and descriptive prose to paint a picture of the element from the film and
how it relates to the overall story.
GRADE: ________________
2) PROMPT: The next step is to introduce your reader to the concept of eros, philia, or agape and
give some indication why it appears promising to use this concept in analyzing the movie. You
need to use some secondary source here to provide your definition and description of the
concept; do not make up your own definition from scratch. The source could be Diotima,
Aristotle, or Augustine, or a contemporary source on the topic.
GRADE: ________________
3) PROMPT: Next, expose the parallels or contradictions between the idea of eros, philia, or agape
and the movie. This part of the essay will be evaluated according the sophistication of what you
identify in the element from the movie that relates to the particular concept of love.
GRADE: ________________
4) Your final task is to formulate the specific problem/question that your essay answers. This
solution to this problem is your thesis. With the specific problem and thesis in mind, write the
introductory paragraph.
GRADE: ________________
STYLE
• Find an interesting and workable topic for a 3-4-page paper which aligns with the assignment; it
should be narrow enough to probe it in some depth.
GRADE: ________________
• Construct unified and coherent paragraphs of reasonable length for academic papers (i.e., usually
between 5-10 sentences)
GRADE: ________________
• Make good use of topic sentences, both to announce a paragraph’s subject and to usher an
argument along in a meaningful sequence.
GRADE: ________________
• Cite all quotes, paraphrases and summaries from your outside sources.
GRADE: ________________
• Work on presenting your ideas in a natural-sounding voice.
GRADE: ________________
______________ Overall Grade