GUIDE FOR WRITING AN ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION
How to write an Analytical
Exposition
The purpose of an analytical essay is to
propose and support an argument. By analyzing the material on which the essay
is based, the essay writer should develop a position regarding the accuracy of
the original information. The introduction is one of the most important parts
of an analytical essay. This is because it is in the introduction that the
reader will receive his first impression of the essayist's position
Regardless of what the essay is about, most
analytical or expository essays conform to a specific structure; they all have
an introduction, a main body and a
conclusion.
Before Writing
Step
1
Select your topics to provide evidence for
your thesis. Try to pick something manageable, that will fit within the space
specifications of your essay.
Step
2
Organize
your ideas. You can do this in several different
ways. For instance, some people will simply make a list of their ideas and
select the ones they want. Other people who think more visually might make a
tree of their ideas, beginning with the central topic and drawing
"branches" to represent other ideas working from the central topic.
Some people might engage in free-writing, simply putting their ideas on paper
with no worries for structure, simply to see where their ideas go.
Step
3
Write
a thesis statement. This is the single most
important section of your essay. The thesis statement is essentially a sentence
that explains what your central argument or idea is. You will use this idea to
develop everything else in your essay. While thesis statements are usually only
one sentence long, they can be longer if necessary, but the more direct your
thesis, the better.
Step
4
With your thesis statement in mind, pick three or four ideas from your previous
work in Step 2 that you feel support this statement.
Step
5
Write a topic sentence for each one of these ideas. These will be the topic
sentences for each paragraph of your essay's main body.
Step
6
Plot the body of your essay. This is where
the introduction--main body--conclusion structure comes into play. Take each of
the topic sentences you wrote for the main body, and decide the order in which you wish to present them.
Writing
Step
1
Write your introduction. The introduction
must include your thesis statement as well as a summary of your topic sentences
for each paragraph in the main body. You also want to capture the reader's
interest, making certain that he or she will read your essay all the way
through.
Tips
·
Understand the source material
thoroughly. Every analytical essay is essentially a commentary on someone
else's work. This means that an effective analytical essay writer is someone
who is able to read and understand the source material exceptionally well.
·
Grab the reader's attention. By
including a quotation or controversial statement in the first few lines of the
introduction you generate interest in your essay. This increases the likelihood
that your essay will leave an impression and actually influence the reader's
opinion.
·
Summarize the source material.
This summarization is sometimes referred to as an abstract and should be
included in the introduction. The summary should inform the reader of the title and author of the source document as well as provide a brief overview of the source document's
main points. By including this abstract in the introduction, the reader will
have a better idea of the context in which your argument arose.
·
Finish with a thesis statement. A thesis statement is
a concise sentence that outlines precisely what the main argument of your essay
is. The thesis statement is going to be the main idea or position that the remainder of your essay is going to
support. It is important that this position be an opinion rather than a fact,
since it must be something that can be argued both for and against.
Step
2
Write a paragraph for each of the topic
sentences. Expand upon how this topic sentence supports your thesis, and
provide any information you wish in support.
Step
3
Write a concluding paragraph for your
essay. The conclusion must restate the thesis, restate each of your arguments
in support of the thesis, and generally bring the essay to an effective close.
Make sure to word all of these differently than you did at the beginning and in
the body. Also, make sure to never introduce any new material in the
conclusion.
Intro and Conclusion hints
Construct the Introduction using the key
facts. For instance, if your subject is "Chocolate," your
introduction can be "Chocolate is a sugary concoction made out of the
cocoa bean." Write out all of the facts in the same manner.
The "thesis" is very important,
it is the last sentence in the Introduction, which will tell the readers what
the essay will be about.
Build the thesis statement using three
reasons to back up and support it. Your thesis should look something like this:
"Chocolate is over-rated because it is too rich, too fattening, and not
tasty."
The conclusion paragraph is much like a
conclusion sentence; it ends your exposition by summing up the points you made
earlier.
Restate the importance of the topic you
covered. For example, "Chocolate is enjoyed by many people the world
over." Then restate the reasons you like or dislike chocolate. Then, in
your final sentence, you will want to write a sentence that looks toward the future,
such as, "In the future, I wish to never see chocolate again," or
something to that effect.
