Analytical Essays Made Easy with this Ultimate Guide

Just got assigned an analytical essay?

Can’t exactly figure out what it means or how to go about it?

Have you made up your mind that writing an analytical essay is beyond you?

You thought College would be all fun and games, the professor assigned you to watch a particular movie or read a novel.

Piece of cake, right?

You are watching the movie snuggled in your bed, snacking on popcorn, but turns out this assignment wasn’t solely for entertainment purposes.

You are required to write an “Analytical Essay” on the movie or novel.

Analytical Essay!?

The term analytical essay sounds scary and complex and in fact, is.

When it comes to writing analytical essays, students get terrified.

Sure, it seems like a hard-nut to crack due to its complex nature, but I’ll let you in on a secret.

After you get done with this article, you will no longer fear analytical essays.

All aboard the Analytical Essay Train!

1. What is an Analytical Essay?

Let’s start with the true analytical essay definition.

An analytical essay is an argumentative essay which requires an intense analysis of the issue being examined. It differs from other type of essays due to its explanatory nature; the goal here is to explain everything in great detail in order to strengthen understanding.

You will be asked to provide supporting and authentic evidence to back your arguments. You can perform the analysis on an existing work such as a film, a play, a book, a poem, an event, some literary work or another piece of writing or art, and sometimes you will have to analyze an issue or an idea.

Analyze your topic without simply retelling the story, and just stating the fact is not enough either; a detailed analysis and giving meaning to these facts is necessary for your work to qualify as an analytical essay.

Bear in mind, that this paper is not a simple summary and therefore, requires critical thinking and presenting of evidence from different sources either from your own research or from an already written text to support your claim.

For example, when writing an essay about a movie, you must analyze the direction, how the script was written, how the actors portrayed their characters, and what impact did the movie leave on its audience.

It is important to write your essay in accordance to the assigned format; an analytical essay normally uses the present tense.

To learn more about the do’s and don’ts of an analytical essay, it can be useful to take help from several tutorials and guidelines online. And if you are in need of rapid assistance, you can ask analytical essay writers on several essay writing services online to help you with your analytical essay writing.

2. Important Elements of an Analytical Essay

2.1 Introducing the Topic and Argument

It is pretty obvious what the purpose an introductory paragraph is; make your readers aware of the topic you are going to discuss.

Like every other literary work, analytical essays tackles some major issues. In your introductory paragraph, highlight the issue you are going to examine in your essay.

This is also referred to as the thesis statement or a research question that explains the purpose of your work.

Note: don’t generalize your topic, instead narrow the focus.

2.2 Analysis

Analyzing your topic and argument is the main point that the rest of your analytical essay revolves around.

When analyzing a text  or another work, focus on the “hows?”

How has the author convey his meaning, and was he successful in making the readers understand his point of view?

Discuss about the thing you find the most interesting and according to you how the author dealt with the topic.

2.3 Personal Opinion

The prime element of an analytical essay is your opinion and understanding of the subject. Don’t be under the impression that you are only to have a positive response.

If you don’t agree with the author or he has failed to persuade you then state your critical response.

However, you must provide evidence from the text to support your response.  

2.4 Conclusion

Towards the end, you are to explain how your argument and work under analysis are related.

3. How to Write an Analytical essay?

Be Organized

Before you begin the writing process, it is effective to know what the conclusion of your essay is going to be. Knowing where you’re going with your essay and what you want to write about will help steer your essay in the right direction.

Use the Correct Tense

Analytical essays are normally written in the present tense.

Also, avoid writing in the first person.

Avoid Colloquial Language

Do not use colloquial language or slang when writing an analytical essay.

Avoid Contractions

Contractions are two words combined as one; for example, the contraction for “do” and “not” is “don’t.”

Craft your Own Title

Do not use the title of the work under analysis; instead, come up with an original title.

Don’t Use etc.

This usually gives the impression that the writer has nothing to say.

Don’t Summarize

Don’t simply retell the story; your professor isn’t interested in knowing what happened in the text but how you have analyzed it.

Your analysis must include what the author’s objectives were, what techniques were used to achieve these objectives and whether they were effective and your personal response.

4. Six Types of Analytical Essay

These six types make use of different analysis types.

Curious to learn more about them?

4.1 Poetry Analysis Essay

As you can tell from the name when working on a poetry analysis essay, you are required to examine, interpret and explain the content, structure, and historical importance of a poem.

The prime focus should be making your reader understand the message being delivered in the poem and its importance.

Poetry Analysis Essay Examples:

• “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” - Robert Frost
• “There is a pain — so utter —" - Emily Dickinson's
• “The valley of unrest” - Edgar Allan Poe

4.2 Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Rhetorical analysis revolves around logic and proving facts. Have you ever had an argument proving a fact to someone who didn’t believe that it was true?

That is the nature of a rhetorical analysis essay.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Examples:

• Theory of Relativity
• Fundamentals of Economics
• Mathematical Proofs

4.3 Literary Analysis Essay

This is the kind of analysis you are asked to perform after finishing reading a book for your literary class. You can analyze the plot, or a particular situation, a quote and its influence, or the choices made by some character.

Literary Analysis Essay Examples:

• The effects love has on people's decision making – Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
• Women and misogyny – Hamlet by Shakespeare
• Witchcraft – Macbeth by Shakespeare

4.4 Process Analysis Essay

A process essay is written with the purpose of explaining the process and steps of performing a particular task.

Process Analysis Essay Examples:

• Recipe for making a strawberry cheesecake
• The process of grading a research paper
• The filmmaking process director’s go through

4.5 Character Analysis Essay

Remember the movie your professor told you to watch?

In this type of essay, you are required to analyze a particular character, could be the one you liked or could relate to the most.

Analyze their character traits, personality, the role they played, how they developed over time.

Character Analysis Essay Examples:

• Viktor Navorksi role in The Terminal
• How Will Hunting’s character evolved in Good Will Hunting
• Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

4.6 Causal Analysis Essay

The focus of causal analysis is to answer “why?”

The causal essay requires you to answer a “why” question. Causal academic paper is also known as the speculating about causes essay, and it requires you to describe the process that occurs, following up with why you believe it occurred the way it did.

Causal Analysis Essay Examples:

• Why are teenagers rebellious?
• Why is gun violence increasing in the US?
• Why do we fear dark?

These were few of the analytical essay types. However, they all follow the same structure and outline

5. Tips to Prepare for Writing

• Take help from guides and tutorials on analytical essay writing.
• Brainstorm ideas
• Create an engaging title
• Craft a strong thesis statement
• Gather supporting evidence
• Create an outline

6. Creating an Analytical Essay Outline

When writing an analytical essay, you will have to create the outline, which is an essential part to help organize the entire writing process. This will help you come up with a logical and analytical work, making it easier for the reader to understand.

The traditional way is to include three parts: the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

You can incorporate these in three-five paragraphs.

Introduction:

• Introduce the topic
• Provide the background context
• Hook sentence
• Thesis statement

Body:

• This is the main part where the claims and their supporting evidence is stated, consider the following template.
• Topic sentence which includes the argument and evidence to prove it and then link it with another sentence.

Conclusion:

• Summary
• Thesis statement
• Final thoughts

7. Writing a Thesis Statement

Sure, crafting a thesis statement seems like a complex task, but it’s not that difficult if you have the right practice and understanding.

• The topic decides the nature of the thesis statement.
• It must be comprehensive.

Weak thesis statement destroys the whole body of the analytical essay.

Take a look at the following example to know the difference between powerful and weak thesis statement:

Weak Thesis: The human beings cannot survive without technology, and they may get doomed.

Strong Thesis: After the rapid advancement in technology, humans have become largely

dependent on technology and may not thrive in any walk of life in its absence.

Have you noticed the difference between both of these thesis statements?

If you want to persuade the reader, you will have to come up with a good thesis statement without making it sound too general. Do this by learning various literary terms and enrich your essay with it.

The weak statement leaves the reader guessing which points will be discussed in the analytical essay.

8. Choosing the Perfect Topic

If your professor has assigned you the topic, good.

If not then start your essay by choosing a topic, there are limitless topics available for you to write on, but you must always choose something that interests you and is easy to research.

9. Analytical Essay Topics

9.1. Analytical Essay topics on Society:

1. Drug usage in sports and the reasons why sportsmen use drugs
2. How does body-size influence one’s quality of life
3. Why students should not have to wear uniforms
4. How technology influences the lives of modern people
5. Imagine the world had no rules for a single day
6. Appropriate age for obtaining a driving license
7. Is it possible to balance career and family life?
8. Are footballers being overpaid?
9. Does music therapy improve the health conditions?
10. Is it possible to avoid multicultural dominance?
11. Role of fashion in the lives of teens
12. Why is street art and graffiti so popular nowadays?
13. How does being raised by a single parent affect children's psychology?
14. Do you believe in gender roles? And if so, how are they changing?
15. Should the voting age be decreased in the US?

9.2 Analytical Essay Topics on TV and Movies:

6. Should children watch TV shows?
7. What are some helpful movies or shows for kids?
8. Should historical movies become a part of student’s syllabus?
9. What are the advantages of watching a movie instead of reading the book
10. What are the disadvantages of watching a movie instead of reading the book
11. What was your favorite TV show as a kid and what impact did it have on you?
12. Analyze the difference between a book and its film adaptation
13. What effects do long-lasting TV show’s have on the lives of their actors?
14. Why have Marvel movies gained so much popularity?
15. What factors lead to the success of Game of Thrones?

9.3 Analytical Essay Topics on Literature:

1. Describe and analyze the main character of a book/poem
2. Describe and analyze a main event of a book/poem
3. Literary terms that are commonly used
4. Analyze the mood of a literary work
5. The concept of morality in hamlet
6. The main concepts of wealth, loyalty, and class in “The great expectations.”
7. What are the main themes discussed in “Pride and Prejudice”?
8. Analyze the hidden meanings in a particular book.
9. How does a story affect your mood?
10. How does the setting and background of a novel support its storyline?

9.4 Analytical Essay Topics on People:

1. What causes people to fall in love?
2. Why are teenagers rebellious?
3. Why do teenage girls’ fantasies about male celebrities?
4. What causes people to fear things or have phobias?
5. Why are some people introverts and other extroverts?
6. What are the social, psychological reasons for bullying?
7. How do TV shows influence the lives of teenagers?
8. Why do people drop out of College?
9. Analyze why there is a lack of motivation for studying in teenagers.
10. Why are teenagers reluctant to be dependant on their parents?

9.5 Analytical Essay Topics on Nature:

1. Why are animals used to test products? Ways to avoid it if any.
2. Are trees conscious?
3. Do birds such as parrots really speak and understand us?
4. What makes dogs loyal?
5. Is surrounding yourself by nature really therapeutic? And why?
6. Adverse effects of cleaning products on our environment?
7. How can full-scale recycling be promoted?
8. Find out the ways to remove waste from the oceans.
9. Why are several species becoming extinct?
10. Why are pets beneficial for kids?

10. Analytical Essay Examples

We have added the three best analytical essay example pdfs for you to download and seek help from.

11. Professional Help

With this guide on how to write an analytical essay, we have covered everything necessary to write a high-quality analytical essay, but if you are someone who doesn’t enjoy writing or lack creative writing skills, you can use professional help.

We will assist you on how to choose the perfect essay topic and produce high-quality academic essays. You can get 24-hour customer support to finish your essay within the deadline.

What are some other topics you think can make interesting analytical essays?