How to Write an Essay

College Writing Help for Adult Learners

A+ Literacy Skills
for Lifelong Learners

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How to Write an A+ Analysis (Without Going Crazy)

Knowing what an analysis is and being able to write one can mean a difference between passing or failing a course. And here’s why:

  • Your professor may ask you to write an analysis without even mentioning that it is, in fact, an analysis
  • Any time you discuss a work of fiction or even a film or a work of art, you’re doing an analysis
  • Being able to do it may count for as much as 80% of your grade, especially in a Humanities course such as Literature, Art, or Sociology

What You Need to Know How to Do

In order to write an effective analysis that will get you the grade you desire, you need to get the all-important skill of Perceiving Structure.

But don’t worry if it sounds too complex or unfamiliar. All this really means is that you should be able to look at something and see what parts it consists of. In fact, the word “Analysis” literally means “The act of breaking up a whole into parts.”

So, in short, you need to be able to see individual parts in a work of art or any kind of a complex object.

How Do You Do That?

Let’s do an example right away. Look at this picture:

Set a Goal for Your Analysis

Let’s say that we need 300 words written about this picture. Very good, then. This is our goal.

What would be our steps?

Step 1: Identify Categories of Elements

Category 1: Human Elements

Category 2: Non-Human Elements – Plants and Soil

Step 2: Get Basic Facts about the Elements:

Human Elements:

  • Hands
  • How many hands? –Nine Pairs
  • What colors? –Varied: from lighter to darker
  • What can we say about the people? –They are kids
  • Anything else?
  • All hands are together, forming an inner circle
  • Some are younger, some are a bit older

Anything else?

It looks like we got pretty much everything.

Non-Human Elements:

  • Plants
  • What kind of plants: -Young herbs that look fragile
  • Where are the herbs? –In the children’s hands
  • What else is in the picture? –Earth

Anything else?

Looks like we got everything here, as well.

Step 3: Find Relationships Between Elements

  • Children’s hands hold the earth, and the earth holds the young plants.
  • The hands form a circle, creating a unifying effect.
  • The union of all the hands conveys power.
  • What do children usually signify? –Hope; Future.
  • What do young plants signify? –Environment; Ecology; Future of Our Planet
  • What can the earth signify? –The Earth (planet)

So, this whole picture may mean something like: “The hope for the green and ecological future is in the hands of the children all over the world.”

We arrived at this by considering all the elements separately, and then studying their relationship.

Step 4: Write the Thesis Statement

“The meaning of this picture can be interpreted the following way: “The hope for the green and ecological future is in the hands of the children all over the world.” Two kinds of elements, the human and the non-human, as well as their relationship with each other, help the author of the picture to convey the idea.”

Step 5: Write the Body of Your Essay

Well, after having taken the picture apart element by element, we have enough material to write up the body. Into which three sections are we going to divide it? Into the familiar three:

  1. Human Elements
  2. Non-Human Elements
  3. The Relationship between the Human and the Non-Human Elements

Let’s Do It (We’ll write a paragraph per section, starting with the thesis statement)

The meaning of this picture can be interpreted the following way: “The hope for the green and ecological future is in the hands of the children all over the world.” Two kinds of elements, the human and the non-human, as well as their relationship with each other, help the author of the picture to convey the idea.

The author of this picture chose children and, more specifically, children’s hands in order to convey his point. The observer can tell that these are children’s hands. And, in many, if not all human cultures children evoke the feelings of hope, new beginnings, and the future. People very often say, “Children are our future.” Furthermore, the children are of different ethnic backgrounds. This is evident from their skin colors, which vary from lighter to darker. This detail shows that the author probably meant children all over the world.

The non-human elements of the picture are the plants and the soil. The plants are very young – they are just sprouts, and that signifies the fragility of life. The soil in which they grow, and the picture shows some nice chunks of it, evokes the image of our planet Earth.

Finally, and most importantly, the relationship between these elements helps the author convey his message, which is something along the lines of the following: “The future of our planet and its ecology is in the hands of children all over the world.” This idea can be arrived at by careful examination. First, the arrangement of the children’s hands is in circle, which signifies the power of unity. This is the power that the children have when observed as a whole. The future depends on their cooperation. Second, it is reasonable to assume that these children are in the process of planting. And this is their joint effort. Third, the placement of the sprouts, which rest inside the children’s hands, is a strong way to suggest that the future of the ecology is literally “in their hands.”

In sum, the author chose the images of children and young plants to say that the future of our planet depends on the joint efforts of children all over the world.

Your Takeaway Points

  • An analysis is the process of taking the whole apart element by element
  • When your professor asks you to write about a painting, a poem, or a piece of music, he really asks you to write an analysis
  • In order to do it, identify the separate parts and study their relationship
  • The goal is to arrive at the meaning the author is trying to convey

Hope this helps,

Tutor Phil

Comments

  3. The material I have been receiving from you is useful, clear and suitable for me to teach my students different techinques to achieve a better writing.

    Good job! I will continue unloading your material ….

    Reply

  5. thanks for such kind of help you have on this particular example you made me feel like i am going to write an excellent essay for my regent and S.A.T.Thanks Tutor Phil

    Reply

  6. Hi Phil
    Cheers!
    Thanks for your advice. I have been a teacher for the last 25 years. But I still feel that sky is the limit for learning. Your encouraging words that I can even write better than native speaker is very inspiring.
    I am obsessed with the idea of creativity and story writing. Will you please suggest some American publishers who accept stories and creative write ups ?
    Another area of my interest is Picture Composition. Can you suggest some free sites which provide story ideas and picture prompts?
    Frankly speaking, you may flash it. “I AM WILLING TO BE A PART OF YOUR TEAM FOR WORLDWIDE FREE COACHING OF WRITING”
    RSVP Cheers …… Sanjay

    Reply

    • Sanjay,

      Quite frankly, I haven’t attempted to publish any fiction, so I wouldn’t know where to go if I needed to right now. I guess, Mr. Google is our best option at the moment.
      The same goes for picture prompts.
      As far as the ideas are concerned, your own mind is the best place to go. India is a fascinating place for inspiration. Just look around and write. Tagore did.

      T.P.

      Reply

  9. This is truly very useful. I didn’t know how to start my analysis paper, but you example helped me get my thoughts together.
    Thank you TutorPhil.

    Reply

  10. it is extremely curing my point about analysis of picture and documents as well thank for being so kind Tutor phil, really this is going to be a reliefe of my painful about the professor’s questions, it is greateful,thank you very much in deed my coach Tutor phil

    Reply

  11. Iam very grateful with this example you gave me Tutor Phil, it helps me providing a way to deal with next exam papers,really thank you for being active and helpeful teacher thank you Tutor Phil long life!!!!

    Reply

  12. hi im a yr 11 high school student and my teacher tells us to write about context, is the ecological side of this analytic essay apart of context?

    Reply

    • Neha,

      I think you should simply follow the advice in this article but just shorten the process. In other words, practice doing the same but quickly.

      Just try it…

      Reply

  18. Writing a picture analysis essay requires a basic understanding of essay structure and these visual communication techniques. Excellent picture analysis essays combine both these elements while addressing the more ephemeral ideas and experiences communicated by a picture.

    Reply

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