How to write a successful analytical essay
MLA

 Double space entire essay
 Heading
John Public
Mr. Lyke
World Literature Honors
14 October 2015
 Header
 Right aligned
 Last Name page # (Public 1)
 Title (centered)
 Not generic
 Reflect topic
The bridge from your reader’s daily life into
your fascinating analysis
Purpose

 First impressions
 Road map
 Capture reader’s attention
Structure

 Hook
 Grab the attention of the reader
 Make your topic appealing
 Background
 Draw the reader into the topic and the work
 Provide a framework for your discussion
 Thesis
 What you will prove in the essay
 ***All sentences in the introduction should link
together to provide flow of ideas
Hook

 Avoid stating the title in the hook
 Native Son is a novel about the struggles of AfricanAmericans in the 1940’s.
 Avoid vague statements
 Life for African Americans was difficult in the 1940’s.
 Avoid definitions
 Avoid restating the question
 Avoid “book report” introductions
 Richard Wright wrote Native Son in 1940. The novel tells the
story of a young black man growing up in Chicago.
 Avoid “In this paper” and any “I” statements
Hook

 Make the audience care about your topic
 Should be 2-3 sentences
 Make your hook fun or intriguing
 Vivid anecdote / example
 Provocative quotation
 Enigmatic statement
Background

 State the author, title and a general idea / summary
of the novel
 Should be 2-3 sentences
Thesis

 Debatable statement that you will prove in the essay
 Doesn’t simply state facts
 Not just a summary
 Answers the question or topic asked of you
 Provides a roadmap for your essay
Thesis

 Avoid grocery list theses
 The North fought for slaves’ freedom, rights and
equality.
 Avoid “In this paper” and any “I” statements
Thesis

 A weak thesis can destroy an essay
 The North and South fought the Civil War for many
reasons, some similar and some different.
instead
 Be specific
 Both Northerners and Southerners believed they
fought against tyranny and oppression; Northerners
focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners
sought to defend their right to self-government.
Example Introduction

The 1940’s was a time of racial inequality and economic
disparity in the United States of America. Many African American
writers, frustrated with the lack of advancement generated by the
Harlem Renaissance, created works of literature to protest the racial
tensions and issues in the country. Richard Wright created the novel
Native Son, a controversial look at the bleak life many African Americans
were living. Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of the novel, initiates huge
controversy because he murders a white woman and feels powerfully
liberated after the crime. Despite the fact that Bigger commits murder,
he is the true victim in this novel because he is a product of the violent
environment in which he has been raised, was forced into a situation in
which he had no free will, and did not receive a fair trial.
Red– Hook
Green – Background
Black – Thesis
Example Introduction

The 1940’s was a time of racial inequality and economic
disparity in the United States of America. Many African American
writers, frustrated with the lack of advancement generated by the
Harlem Renaissance, created works of literature to protest the racial
tensions and issues in the country. Richard Wright created the novel
Native Son, a controversial look at the bleak life many African Americans
were living. Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of the novel, initiates huge
controversy because he murders a white woman and feels powerfully
liberated after the crime. Despite the fact that Bigger commits murder,
he is the true victim in this novel because he is a product of the violent
environment in which he has been raised, was forced into a situation in
which he had no free will, and did not receive a fair trial.
Red– Hook
Green – Background
Black – Thesis
Links
How to organize your essay
Structure

 Topic sentence
 First sentence in each body paragraph that states what
you will prove
 Must link back to your thesis statement
 Transition sentence
 Last sentence in the paragraph
 Concludes argument and transitions to next topic
 Good idea to link transition to next topic
Use the author’s words and your explanation
to prove your point
Quotations

 Choose quotations that support your position
 Do not overload the paper by using too many quotes
or quoting too much information.
 The majority of the paper should be composed of
your words
 Avoid leaving quotes as sentences unto themselves.
 Even if you have provided some context for the quote,
a quote standing alone can disrupt your flow
Quotations

 Introduce / provide context for your quotation
 Explain the meaning of your quotation
Sophocles establishes the hubris of Oedipus through the
king’s declarations to his people who are suffering from a
plague. Oedipus thought so highly of himself that he
believed the people should not pray to the gods for
salvation, but “Let [him] grant their prayers” (245). This
quote shows that Oedipus believes he has the ability to
grant the prayers of his people more than the gods of the
land.
avoid this
Quotations

 Do not take the quotation out of context
 Use ellipses “. . . “to indicate omitted material
 Use brackets to indicate edited material
 “[him]self” as opposed to “myself”
 Citation punctuation goes outside the parentheses.
 Put parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence
Quotations

 Embed quotation in your sentence when possible
 The entire town was looking forward to the game and John
“could hardly contain his enthusiasm” for the evening’s
match (Jones 2).
 Use the grammar of your sentence when quoting material
 When Hamlet tells Rosencrantz that he “could be bounded
in a nutshell and count [him]self a king of infinite space,” he
implies that thwarted ambition did not cause his depression
(II.ii.273-274).
 Offset the quotation by using commas
 When faced with a troll, Ron gathers his courage, shouting,
“Wingardium Leviosa!” and drops the club on its head
(Rowling 176) .
The bridge from your fascinating analysis
back to your reader’s daily life…
hopefully better for the experience
Conclusion

 Synthesize, don’t summarize
 Do not just restate your topics, tie it all together
 “So What!”
 Summarize your paper and ask yourself “So What?”
 Your response to the question will provide you with a
great conclusion
 Return to key ideas in your hook
Conclusion

 Do not use the phrases “in conclusion,” “in
summary” or any “I” statements
 Do not simply restate your thesis
 Do not use quotations that should have been in the
body of the essay
 Do not introduce new topics
 Do not make emotional appeals out of character with
the essay