Intro essay

What is an analytical essay?

An analytical essay is a written exploration of a topic that argues a claim with
contextual evidence. Analytical essays are common in academic writing, but can
also appear in trade journals, newspapers and other publications. An essay
includes an introduction, one or more body paragrapgh and conclusion

Introductory paragraph
The opening paragraph captures the attention and sets up your analysis by doing
these three things:

Start with a hook. Open your essay with something enticing related to your topic,
the goal being to grab the reader’s attention.
State your topics. Once you have your reader’s attention, establish the upcoming
topics as you move toward your thesis statement.
Make your thesis statement. By the close of the introduction, you need to state in
clear terms the thesis, which should act as a reduction of your entire analytical
argument in one sentence.

Writing the body of the essay

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It
contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure
A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five
paragraphs: the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph
model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to
your thesis.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of
each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It
can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous
paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth
transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting
beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he
waits.

.
This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious
symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous
paragraph’s conclusion.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as
religious symbolism.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from
the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance
to your point.

conclusion

The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments.
Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try
to emphasize their significance to the reader.
A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then
stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis
provides on the text as a whole

Brainstorm

a good analytical essay writer spends some time brainstorming and making a mental
map of thoughts associated with their subject before deciding on a theme.

This might assist you in coming up with original and intriguing approachs to your stufy.
You may, for instance, come up with a list of several ideas or motifs that emerge in the
books and assess their relevance if your essay is about literature.