What is Analysis Essay Writing?
Taking a part a particular passage and dividing it into its basic components for the
purpose of examining how the writer develops his or her subject.
For this exam, the different types of analysis include the analysis of
Structure (narrative, process analysis, compare contrast, cause & effect, etc.)
Purpose (author purpose in writing)
Style (diction, syntax, figurative language, etc.)
What is Rhetoric?
This is an umbrella term for all the strategies, modes, and devices a writer can
employ to all the reader to easily accept and understand his or her point of view.
What are Rhetorical Strategies?
These are the basic approaches a writer uses to tell a story, explain a point,
describe a situation, or argue a position.
Narration
Description
Process analysis
Contrast & comparison
Cause & effect
Definition
Division & classification
Argument & Persuasion
What is Style?
(See other notes: subject matter, diction, pacing, selection of detail, etc.)
Types of Analysis Essay Prompts
Analyze an author’s view on a specific subject.
Analyze rhetorical devices used by an author to achieve his or her purpose.
Analyze stylistic elements in a passage and their effects.
Analyze the author’s tone and how the author conveys this tone.
Compare and/or contrast two passages with regard to style, purpose, or tone.
Analyze some of the ways an author recreates a real or imagined experience.
Analyze how an author presents him or herself in the passage.
Discuss the intended and/or probable effect of a passage.
How AP Readers Rate Essays
9 – This essay has all the qualities of an 8, and the writing style is especially
impressive, as is the analysis of the specifics related to the prompt and the text.
8 – Essay effectively and cohesively addresses the prompts. It will analyze
and/or argue the elements called for in the question. It will offer appropriate
evidence from the text, and show the writer’s ability to control language.
7 – This essay has all the properties of a 6, only with a more complete and welldeveloped analysis/argument or a more mature writing style.
6 – This essay adequately addresses the prompt. The analysis and/or argument is
on target and makes use of appropriate specifics from the text. However this
essay is less developed. The ideas are presented with clarity, but the writing has a
few errors in syntax and or diction.
5 – This essay demonstrates that the writer understands the prompt. The
analysis/argument is generally clear, but is limited or uneven. The writing has a
few errors in syntax and or diction.
4 – This essay is not an adequate response to the prompt. The writing indicates
misunderstanding of the prompt, oversimplification or misrepresentation of the
passage. Evidence offered may be inappropriate or insufficient to support the
analysis or argument.
3 – Essay is less effective than a 4, and less mature in syntax and organization
2 – Essay indicates little success in answering the prompt – typically offers little
more than summary of the passage.
Developing the introduction paragraph
Include author and title
Address all parts of the prompt
Specifically mention the elements of writing style that you will discuss in your
essay
Writing body paragraphs
Present your analysis and the points you want to make to answer the
prompt
Use specific references and details from the passage
Use direct quotations (words, phrases) and place quotation marks
correctly
Work the quotations into sentences to show more mature writing
style
Use connective tissue in your essay to establish adherence to the topic
Use the repetition of key ideas in the prompt and in your
paragraphs
Try using “echo words” (synonyms) to enhance repetition of key
ideas (ie: bland/ordinary/undistinguished)