16.1 What Is an Analysis Essay?
In an analysis essay, you may be asked to examine a work such as an essay, article, image, video, advertisement, speech, or work of literature. In doing so, you’ll consider not only what is being conveyed (information, opinion, argument, story, persuasion) but how it’s being conveyed.
Let’s take an example from everyday life. You and a friend watch a movie. Afterward, you talk about the film. You’ll discuss the plot, characters, conflicts, the ending, what you were thrilled by, and what you didn’t like. In other words, you’re talking about what happened in the film. Then maybe, if you’re a real cinephile (movie nerd), you’ll talk about how the director conveyed the story, the emotions, the thrills. How did the director use cinematography, sound, music, setting, narrative arc, and other devices? Now you’re analyzing the film, breaking it down into its parts and their interrelationships in making up the whole of the film.
That’s part of what you do in an analysis essay: breaking the object of your study down into parts in order to understand the whole.
There is a second component in an analysis essay, which is examining the object of your study through an analytical lens. Think of it as a camera lens: you are looking at your subject through a lens that you choose. Using different lenses, you can view and examine the subject from various perspectives. Similarly, in an analysis essay, we choose a lens through which we engage with and analyze the work. Following are examples of lenses we may use in the analysis essay. In addition to these examples, we can create our own analytical lens.
- Rhetorical analysis: how does the author use logic, emotion, and ethical appeals (logos, pathos, and ethos) to attempt to persuade?
- Cultural analysis: how does the work relate to broader social, historical, cultural, and political contexts and events? For example, how are traditional gender roles reinforced or challenged in the work?
- Theory and argument: examining the object of study through a theory or argument. For example, how does the 1619 Project call into question the race-blind approach to addressing inequality?
- Literary devices: how does the work achieve its effects through its use of literary techniques?
- Visual analysis: what visual effects are used and how do they contribute to the work’s meaning and purpose?
Essentially, analysis means breaking the subject down into parts that are viewed through a lens in order to understand the whole.
We use analysis in everyday life. Say you need to buy a car. You go to a showroom or lot or online to choose one. First, you may focus on its external appearance. Does it look cool? What colors does it come in? You test drive a couple and see how they handle and feel. After this initial assessment, you need to develop an analytical lens to decide the one that’s right for you. What is most important to you—sportiness, family comfort, fuel economy, price, style, or other factors? Next, you’ll break down the choices and examine how each meets or doesn’t meet your criteria. After a thorough analysis, you drive off the lot, happy with your decision. And what a deal you got!
As you drive home, maybe you’ll view your choice through another lens as well. For example, how does your choice of car align with your particular demographic or cultural group, or values? Is that factor important to you? How important is that factor for people when they buy a car? What means of persuasion were used by the dealer or the car company in its advertising to appeal to you? Which were effective? Is the car’s impact on the environment a factor in your decision? Why or why not?
As you can see, we use analysis every day to go below the surface of our initial reactions for a more in-depth analysis, to better understand the whole by examining its component parts.
Continue Reading 16.2 Analysis in Practice
