The Analysis Essay
AP English Language and
Composition
What is the purpose?
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To demonstrate your facility with reading,
understanding, and analyzing challenging texts
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To assess your ability to manipulate language to
communicate your written analysis of a specific topic
What Kinds of Analysis Essays Can
You Expect?
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An author’s view on a specific subject
Rhetorical devices to achieve a purpose
Stylistic elements and their effects
Author’s tone & how it is conveyed
Compare/contrast with regard to style, purpose, or
tone
Recreation of an experience
Intended and/or probable effect of a passage
Planning the Analysis Essay
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1-3 minutes deconstructing, reading and working
the prompt
5 minutes reading and making marginal notes
regarding the passage (SOAPStone)
10 minutes preparing to write
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Outline
Key words
20 minutes writing
3 minutes proofreading
Writing the Introduction
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Include the author, title
Address the elements you will refer to in
your essay
Address the second part of the prompt
Writing the Body of the Analysis
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Analyze the parts that make up the whole
Use specific references and details from
the passage (use quotation marks)
Use “connective tissue” to establish
adherence to the question
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Repetition of key ideas in the prompt
Echo words
Transitions between paragraphs
Writing the Conclusion
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Be unique!
Offer insight: Answer the question, “So
what?”
Qualities of a high-range paper
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Complete understanding of the prompt and
passage
Mature diction
Integrates references to support the thesis of the
essay in a sophisticated manner
Grasps subtleties & implications
Uses “connective tissue”
Creates original and insightful comments
Unique, insightful conclusion