How to Write an Analytical Essay Like a Professional

When you know how to write your analytical essay, you will complete lots of other academic assignments, including synthesis and argumentative essays. So, as you can understand, writing analytical essays is a certain basis of being able to cope with any other assignment.

For that reason, we believe you should not neglect an opportunity to learn how to create a good analytical essay step-by-step. And our detailed guide will help you do it properly!

What is an analytical essay?

Writing an analytical essay means providing certain arguments and analyzing them with special attention. It even can be considered similar to the illustrative essay.

What can you analyze? You can write such work analyzing everything, a movie, research, or even an event. Keep in mind that it is not about summarizing facts but about making an analysis.

When writing an analytical essay about a book, it is necessary to analyze all the details the author used. When writing an analytical paper, you analyze a certain topic. You provide the pros and cons of the issue under discussion. And now let’s find out how to write the main parts of it properly.

Writing step-by-step

Now as you hopefully understand what an analytical essay is, you should understand what steps to complete to create a successful paper. And here they are:

Preparation

To get ready to write your analytical essay, pass the following preparation steps:

• Find out the core. Usually, you are required to provide a thorough analysis or represent a solid opinion on a movie or work. But sometimes, you may need to analyze a problem or an issue. You will have to provide facts for supporting your opinion.
• Think about what you will write. As a rule, teachers assign you a topic or a couple of them, so you should read the task carefully. But very often, students are also required to choose their topic. This already is a bit more complicated while you will have to devote some time to it and choose something eye-catching and interesting.
• Start with the thesis. A thesis summarizes all your intentions and assumptions. Inform your reader of what you will discuss.
• Search for extra evidence. Any materials you will find in the piece of literature or movie, any detail may serve as evidence that supports your thesis. Make a list of secondary arguments, too. Don’t forget to mark or write down the pages where you found them. Check how exactly they support your thoughts.
• Create a plan. A sort of plan is very helpful when it is necessary to create the structure of your analytical essay. Having an outline or a plan will help you in the process of writing. Like almost any essay, this one should consist of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Composition

Now you can start writing your analytical essay. It includes the following parts:

• Introduction. Your readers should get an idea of what you are going to tell them about your introduction. It has to be creative and eye-catching, by no means boring. Make sure not to overdo your creativity.
• the introduction should not contain any facts or lists of events, statements, etc. Here you should provide your personal ideas. Your task is to get the attention of the reader with the very first sentence. Keep in mind readers do not like dramatic introductions, so avoid using a question or exclamation marks.
• Body paragraphs. As a rule, every paragraph has the main sentence, text analysis, and a fact that supports and confirms the statement. Every statement supports the thesis! By all means, avoid using the first person when working on your analytical essay. Except for those cases when you are required to provide your personal opinion.
• Insert quotes. Choosing a good place for paraphrasing thoughts and citations. Don’t forget about the citation format – MLA, APA, or Chicago citation maker. Follow the requirements of your professor to choose the right format.
• Conclusion. The conclusion is the summarizing part and its task is to remind your reader about everything you have provided before. You can restate the thesis but don’t use the same words, paraphrase it. It should be different from the introduction but not less eye-catching. Your conclusion is the last thing your readers will remember, so make sure it to be able to get into their minds for a long time.
• Don`t forget to show the link between the proofs and facts you have provided and the core idea of your paper.

Reviewing your essay

Now as your analytical essay is ready, it’s time to review it and improve if necessary. Try to follow these steps:

• Check it for grammar, spelling, punctuation mistakes and typos. Mistakes and typos will affect your final grade, so better double-check everything. You can use special tools online to make sure your essay doesn’t contain anything mentioned.
• It is very important to submit a unique paper, so you can always check it for plagiarism online.
• Read it aloud. This is a very helpful method that will help you hear your essay as if you are a reader or a listener. You will be surprised how many things you may not like when reading it aloud. Now you will take a fresh look at your essay. You may find out that not all the examples are relevant enough, so you may need to replace them.
• Check to spell. Not only grammar mistakes and typos are crucial for your grade but also character, location, and place names play a huge role in your success. In some time, you may return to your paper and read it again. Pay special attention to character, place, and location names. You can find a good review online and double-check all the spellings. There is nothing worse than a character name written with a mistake.

Some more tips

Now as you know how to write your analytical essay step-by-step, you can also pay attention to some other factors and follow some simple tips to succeed:

1. Consider what you are trying to prove. The answer that question in your thesis statement. If you didn’t then get back to it and improve the thesis statement.
2. Don’t spread your thoughts. Your arguments should be very solid and clear to impact your reader. When your flow is thoughtless, you will hardly manage to do it. Don’t try to make your paper longer, it is better to keep it brief but essential.
3. Don’t use too many quotes. Using someone’s ideas to support your arguments is great but do not overwhelm your text with them. It will only mean that you didn’t come up with any of your own ideas and will consider your essay to be poor.
4. Make it outstanding. Your professor has to remember your essay among all others, right? In case it is not forbidden, you can create your personal design and provide your essay in the form of a letter, a dialogue, a play, anything your imagination lets you think of.
5. Wonderful epigraphs, infographics, etc. will make reading your essay easier. Also, keep your language formal and avoid everyday slang.