What Kinds of Questions Are Asked in This Type of Essay?
The Analysis Essay
What is analysis? – An examination of a piece of writing to determine its parts or elements. It is explaining how the parts relate to the whole.
How will it apply to the AP exam? – Generally you will be given a prose passage that will involve the analysis of language including rhetorical strategies and stylistic elements.
What kinds of questions are asked in this type of essay?
- Analyze an author’s view on a specific subject
- Analyze rhetorical devices used by an author to achieve his or her purpose
- Analyze stylistic elements in a passage and their effects
- Analyze tone and how the author conveys this tone
- Compare and/or contrast two passages with regard to style, purpose, or tone
- Analyze the author’s purpose and how he or she achieves it
- Analyze some of the ways an author recreates a real or imagined experience
- Analyze how an author presents him or herself in the passage
- Discuss the intended and/or probable effect of a passage
What is rhetoric, again?– Rhetoric is the art of using language as a means to persuade. It is the ability to convey a point in a convincing, eloquent, and effective way. Rhetoric is what makes some writing beautiful and other writing bland.
How do I get started? –
- First, read the prompt carefully. Deconstruct it, as we have discussed previously. This will help you “internalize” the question so you will be sensitive to details that apply to it.
- Next, read the passage through the lens of the prompt. Two suggestions: A. read it quickly – then reread making annotations or B. read it slowly making annotations and then reread it to confirm that you have caught the full impact of the passage
- Look at the prompt again before you start writing
How do I organize my essay?
- Introduction should be engaging, give context to subject and state your position clearly
- Body paragraphs should be clearly focused on a topic. Analysis involves close reading and your writing should be reflective of that. Specific words, phrases, and sentences that support your position should be identified, defined or explained, and linked to the main purpose of the writing.
- Conclusion should leave reader with a final impression about the topic. You might do that by echoing a thought expressed in introduction.
What about voice? – Remember, your voice is conveyed by your attitude (tone) toward both the subject and the audience. Who is going to read your paper? Explain your points thoroughly, assertively, and confidently- but not arrogantly. Don’t insult your audience’s intelligence by defining words or terms that they should know. How do you feel about the subject? Is it coming through in your writing? Voice also includes style. Are you developing one? Think about diction, sentence structure, use of detail, and structure. What makes how you write different from everyone else? This is difficult when you are writing an essay in 40 minutes, but it comes down to paying attention to what you say and how you say it.