We accept Apple Pay Google Pay Quick and secure payment options.
Chat
Available 24/7
Order
Essay in 3 Steps!

This article is a guideline on how to write an analytical or analysis essay. It emphasizes the purpose and importance of this type of essay by giving a general definition of an analytical essay. The text lists possible essay topics that students and scholars can choose for analysis, covering diverse domains, including politics, healthcare, general knowledge, technology, and science. Moreover, the paper includes an example of a general analytical paper outline, a sample outline, and a sample essay. Lastly, the article provides a detailed procedure for writing an analytical essay, covering the technical details that writers must observe to produce high-quality papers. These details include defining and researching the topic, selecting sources, creating an outline, writing a draft, and perfecting the final draft by correcting grammatical and formatting errors and any illogical flow of ideas and thoughts.

Analytical & Analysis Essay Writing

Writing is an academic and intellectual exercise in which students and scholars engage from time to time in their respective domains. The purpose of writing is to expand one’s intellect by utilizing information to construct new knowledge. Analytical essays are vital because they help readers to understand an issue more comprehensively. Technically, these essays provide an argument or claim about a problem and explore diverse viewpoints to confirm it. When writing different types of essays, one should consider topics that provide a basis for an argument or claim. Additionally, such topics under analysis should allow a comprehensive discussion to ensure writers exhaust all information, including claims, counterclaims, rebuttals, and criticisms, in their essay outline. Thus, this article is a guideline on how to write an analytical or analysis essay that students, scholars, and anyone interested in writing various types of papers will find helpful.

How to Write an Analytical Essay in 4 Steps & Analysis Example

Definition of What Is an Analytical or Analysis Essay

In a simple definition, an analytical essay is a text that dissects a concept, idea, or topic under analysis through logical arguments, claims, counterclaims, rebuttals, and criticisms. Analysis essays are important because they provide critical insights into issues in a manner that one may not understand from reading other types of texts about the interconnectivity of some problems in society. Basically, analytical essays are most appropriate in public and intellectual discourses where an in-depth analysis of issues is critical to debate. In turn, an analytical essay differs from an argumentative, descriptive, expository, or persuasive essay. The main point of difference is that, while these other papers also involve an argument or claim and its defense, an analytical essay goes a step further to interpret information. Simply put, this type of analytical work helps readers know about an issue and how it impacts people or society.

General Outline of an Outstanding Analytical or Analysis Essay

I. College Essay Introduction

  • Hook
  • Relevant contextual information
  • Thesis statement that includes Point 1, Point 2, and Point 3.

II. Body

First body paragraph

  • Topic sentence for Point 1
  • Claim 1
  • Supporting evidence 1
  • Transition to the next body paragraph

Second body paragraph

  • Topic sentence for Point 2
  • Claim 2
  • Supporting evidence 2
  • Transition to the next body paragraph

Thrid body paragraph

  • Topic sentence for Point 3
  • Claim 3
  • Supporting evidence 3
  • Transition to the next body paragraph

III. Conclusion

  • Summary of main points discussed in three body paragraphs
  • Restate the thesis by rewording it
  • Final thoughts or concluding remarks
Unique Essay Example

Count on Wr1ter Team to provide you with authentic, well-crafted papers with zero plagiarism.

Analytical & Analysis Essay Structure

When people want to know how many paragraphs are in an essay, they should understand that an analytical or analysis paper is usually a five-paragraph text characterized by an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the body paragraphs form essay structure because it is where writers analyze their topics. In this respect, the essay’s general format is three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each section has a specific purpose that writers must recognize and demonstrate.

πŸŒ… Introduction

A good analytical essay has an exciting and informative introduction with a clear thesis statement. The introduction is the first part of an analytical essay characterized by information that increases the reader’s interest to continue reading. As such, the purpose of this part is to capture the readers’ attention to compel them to want to know more about the author’s thinking about the topic. For example, the hook may be a fact, statistic, quote, or statement that grabs the reader’s attention. Then, contextual information entails details, helping readers to understand the topic’s background and why the author is interested in writing about it. In turn, the thesis statement gives readers a narrow focus on the writer’s goal since the topic may be broad for a short paper. It gives a brief account of the main points and claims and contains a strong thesis statement. When writing the introduction, writers must ensure the provided information is sufficient to make readers proceed to the body paragraphs. Thus, the introduction of an analytical essay gives readers a clear picture of the content and outlines the body paragraphs.

πŸ”΅ Body

Body paragraphs of an analytical essay contain convincing assertions and a transition to the next section. It is the central part of an analytical essay because writers provide information to support the thesis statement’s claim. Each of the three body paragraphs starts with a topic sentence that touches on a single idea about the general topic under analysis. As such, writers use the rest of the paragraph to convince readers about the paper’s central claim. Moreover, every paragraph offers evidence to support the claims and accounts. The best way to write this essay section is to formulate unique ideas for each paragraph. For example, the first paragraph may explore a concept, the second examines facts and statistics, and the third discusses popular opinion. However, readers must sense a logical flow of thought throughout the entire section. In turn, the last sentence in every paragraph contains a summary of key ideas presented and a transitioning statement. Thus, an excellent analytical essay contains substantial body paragraphs that support the thesis statement and maintain a good flow of ideas.

🏁 Conclusion

An excellent analytical essay ends with a conclusion that restates the central claim and summarizes the content. As the last part of an analytical essay, the conclusion allows writers to make concluding remarks. Besides restating the main points, writers reword the thesis statement and give final thoughts about the topic under analysis. However, it does not introduce new concepts if they are not discussed in body paragraphs. By reading the conclusion, one can understand the paper’s purpose and what the writer considers vital regarding the subject. Thus, an excellent analytical essay contains a conclusion that summarizes the general arguments.

Possible Topic Examples for an Analytical or Analysis Essay

Since analytical essay topics help readers to understand issues more comprehensively, students and scholars often use them to disseminate knowledge across various political, economic, social, cultural, and technological domains. In this case, students and scholars can pick from the following list to write a good analytical essay. Essentially, each topic requires writers to make a claim, defend it, and demonstrate the significance of the information about a particular issue.

  • Decoding Symbolism in β€œLord of the Flies”
  • Forms of Addiction and Their Impact
  • How Do Video Games Affect Teenagers’ Academic and Social Well-Being?
  • Women in Career and Work-Life Balance
  • Politics and Social Ills
  • Social Media on Family Cohesion
  • Nexus Between Politics and Social Welfare
  • Why Crime Exists?
  • Industrialization and Climate Change
  • Climate Change and Global Food Insecurity
  • Global Pandemics and Disruption of Life
  • Political Violence and Immigration
  • Adolescents’ Proclivity to Abuse Drugs
  • Stressors and Delinquency in Adolescence
  • Mental Health in Old Age

A Sample Outline for Writing a Good Analytical or Analysis Essay

Topic: Politics and Social Ills

Introduction

  • Opening hook: Politics and social ills have a historical relationship globally.
  • A fact: Crime and social ills connected to economic inequality are serious public and intellectual debate issues globally.
  • Thesis statement: The nexus between politics and social ills is the politicization of social life, where citizens of any country believe that politicians hold the answer to every social problem.

3 Body Paragraph Examples

First paragraph

  • Beginning a sentence with a main idea: Technically, politics is a structural phenomenon whose purpose is to manage societal expectations.
  • Claim: Politics exist in almost every domain of society.
  • Evidence: Officials exist to address issues of concern to people.
  • Transition: Provide information that allows a smooth flow to the next paragraph.

Second paragraph

  • The opening sentence with an idea to guide the rest of the second paragraph: Social ills do not develop or exist in a vacuum.
  • Argument: Crime and economic inequality result from policy failures.
  • Support: The government is a political institution.
  • Connection to the next paragraph: Use words that connect the paragraph to the next one.

Third paragraph

  • The first sentence with a central idea: Policymaking is central to political governance in any country.
  • Contention: Policies are the instrument that politicians use to make the government functional.
  • Information backing up: Selfish interests obstruct government functionality.
  • Link to the following section: Link the paragraph to the conclusion using an appropriate sentence.

Conclusion

  • Wrap up an analytical essay by rewording the thesis statement and restating the paper’s main points.
  • Offer final thoughts about the topic under analysis based on the information in body paragraphs.

Analytical & Analysis Essay Example

Paper Topic: Politics and Social Ills

Paragraph 1 Example: Introduction

Politics and social ills have a historical relationship globally. This relationship explains why social ills take center stage in all political campaigns. As such, people need to discuss the relationship between issues across various domains, resulting in social problems. The nexus between politics and social ills is the politicization of social life, where citizens of any country believe that politicians hold the answer to every social problem.

Paragraph 2 Example: Managing Societal Expectations

Technically, politics is a structural phenomenon whose purpose is to manage societal expectations. Basically, politics exist in almost every domain of society because people have different expectations that require effective management to avoid conflict. Whether in the home, school, or work environment, people are political because they have selfish interests. At national levels, politics, exercised through legitimate legal institutions, like parliament, help to balance expectations from diverse groups, including racial or ethnic communities, civil society, and foreign powers. This societal architecture makes politics central to a country’s political, economic, and social progress. Ultimately, people see their politicians as capable of eliminating problems they face, while they may be unaware that they may be a real reason why those problems exist.

Paragraph 3 Example: Social Ills

In principle, social ills do not develop or exist in a vacuum. Generally, crime and economic inequality result from policy failures, where the government either fails or refuses to develop or implement effective policy interventions. Since the government is political because it comes into being following an election, one can conclude that politicians are to blame for social ills. However, it is impossible to imagine that the government is unaware of the causes of chronic unemployment and how to solve it. In turn, the only logical argument for why such a social problem remains unresolved for years is that politicians see these problems as a platform for political relevance. Without social problems, politicians would lack the political capital to position themselves as saviors of people.

Paragraph 4 Example: Policymaking

The concept of policymaking is central to political governance in any country. Because the government is a robust entity that operates through agencies and departments, policymaking is the instrument that politicians use to make the government functional. This feature is essential to service delivery, including ensuring easy access to quality healthcare, crime prevention and control, and promoting the economic participation of local and foreign investors. In this respect, the government focuses on enhancing people’s welfare. However, because politicians form the government, selfish interests, including political survival, hinder its functionality. Asa result, these conflicts between the role of the government and politicians’ selfish interests create an environment in which social ills develop and entrench into society’s social fabric.

Paragraph 5 Example: Conclusion

The nexus between politics and social ills is the erroneous perception of masses that politicians can address and solve all social problems. While the government exists to improve people’s social welfare, politicians’ selfish interests are a powerful obstacle to this noble goal. In essence, politicians have perfected the art of positioning themselves as saviors of masses. On the other hand, social ills remain a constant issue in every election cycle in most countries and communities because people have come to believe politicians have the solution to all issues plaguing them year after year.

Individual Essay Example

Get professional writing assistance that ensures your paper stands out among the rest.

4 Easy Steps for Writing Good Analytical & Analysis Essays

Writing an analytical essay is technical because students or scholars must observe certain conventions when writing. In this case, writing conventions are rules that authors should follow when writing academic texts. On the other hand, violation of such rules can result in penalties for students. For scholars, such violations can deny their analytical work credibility in the intellectual world. Therefore, students and scholars need to know what it takes to write a quality analytical essay. The most critical knowledge is knowing the steps in writing an analytical essay. These steps include preparation, stage set up, starting of writing, and wrap-up. In each stage, writers must address specific issues and provide logical details. Each step also requires authors to address specific issues to produce a high-standard paper: zero grammatical or formatting errors or illogical flow of thought.

Step 1: Preparation for Analysis

In this step, writers define the topic that they want to write about, which is vital in establishing intellectual focus. This exercise is critical in guiding research because searching for information using specific keywords is easy. Most importantly, defining the topic under analysis helps authors to prepare ideas that may serve as topic sentences in the paper’s body. The next exercise is to consider the audience, those who may read an analytical essay out of intellectual curiosity, such as students, scholars, politicians, organizational leaders, or policy experts. Since the goal is to write an outstanding analytical essay, students or scholars should choose a specific topic that allows them to make a good claim, support and defend using evidence, and interpret information to give readers a comprehensive understanding of issues under analysis.

Step 2: Setting Up the Stage

Writers should locate credible sources that help to support and defend the claim(s) that they intend to make in the thesis statement. Basically, they should note any information that helps to formulate ideas in body paragraphs. Then, authors should create a clear outline for their paper with three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Writers should also create an annotated bibliography when making notes to ensure they relate every piece of information to the source document to avoid plagiarism. Researching the analytical topic helps to provide a quality and in-depth analysis because authors can consult reliable sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles. Besides using Google to search for information, students can use online databases, like Google Scholar, JSTOR, EBSCO, and ProQuest. Other credible sources include government reports, scholarly magazines or journals, educational websites, and stakeholder policy statements.

Step 3: Starting the Writing Process for an Analytical Essay

When starting the writing process, authors should begin with a first draft where they put all ideas together. Upon completion of the draft, they should read it to ensure all ideas flow logically from start to finish. In this case, they should ensure their papers have a strong and clear thesis that addresses the issue under analysis in a manner that supports intellectual discourse. They should also ensure the paper’s outline aligns with format rules of an analytical essay. In turn, the introduction should have a hook and a thesis statement. Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence, a claim, evidence, information connecting the claim and evidence, and a transition that allows readers a logical flow to next body paragraphs. Finally, the conclusion should restate the thesis and offer the writer’s final thoughts on the topic under analysis. In most cases, an analytical paper should consist of 5-parts of an essay with a 3-point thesis.

Note (!): A critical exercise that writers should undertake when writing the draft is ensuring that their analytical work follows applicable writing conventions. Besides following general outline rules indicated above, all papers must align with standards of the applicable writing style, whether APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago/Turabian, or any other. Doing so ensures that analytical essays meet all standards of academic texts.

Step 4: Wrapping Up

After writing and reading the first draft, authors should wrap up their papers by perfecting them. The first exercise is to revise any mistakes, including statements that do not make any logical sense. The next activity is to edit papers by deleting or adding information. For instance, this exercise is vital in making the flow of thought logical throughout the document. The next point is to ensure each body paragraph is of high quality by confirming a topic sentence, appropriate evidence, concluding sentence, and transition. Lastly, writers should ensure entire papers are of high quality by eliminating any formatting errors, while the information is peer reviewed and cited adequately per the applicable writing style. As a result, the final draft of an analytical essay should be a perfect paper with no mistakes.

Summing Up on How to Write a Perfect Analytical or Analysis Essay

A perfect analytical essay closely examines a subject or another material to invoke a better understanding. Basically, this type of essay supports a central theme with reasons and substantial evidence. Excellent analytical essays contain a well-organized introduction that covers main points of three body paragraphs. Moreover, the introduction should attract the reader’s attention and gives a clear picture of the whole analytical essay. Then, all body paragraphs examine and interpret evidence to convince readers of the primary claim’s validity. Finally, the conclusion of an analytical essay restates the central argument, including the main ideas covered in body paragraphs.

  • Based on the information in the sections above, a strict procedure exists for writing a good analytical or analysis essay.
  • Choose a specific topic under analysis and ensure one can discuss it comprehensively.
  • Research the topic using keywords to find the information in peer-review journals.
  • Make notes that help to formulate ideas essential in supporting and defending the paper’s central claim.
  • Create an outline of a five-paragraph analytical or analysis essay: introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion.
  • Write the first draft that captures all the ideas the writer gathers during the research exercise.
  • Make the final draft by correcting all grammatical and formatting mistakes and any disconnect in the logical flow of thought.
  • Proofread the final draft to ensure it is perfect for presentation.