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Analyzing An Essay

1. The document provides steps for analyzing an essay, including identifying the main idea, thesis, structure, and key points. 2. Readers are instructed to mark up the text by underlining the thesis, main ideas, and topic sentences, and noting the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusions. 3. Analyzing the essay in this way will help readers understand the author's argument and be prepared to answer questions or write about themes and ideas related to the passage.

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58 views3 pages

Analyzing An Essay

1. The document provides steps for analyzing an essay, including identifying the main idea, thesis, structure, and key points. 2. Readers are instructed to mark up the text by underlining the thesis, main ideas, and topic sentences, and noting the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusions. 3. Analyzing the essay in this way will help readers understand the author's argument and be prepared to answer questions or write about themes and ideas related to the passage.

Uploaded by

Tiffany
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Analyzing an Essay

Let’s analyze an actual essay. We will work on the Howard Gardner essay
from the CPE Information for Students booklet which you can get from the
Testing Office (N700). You can use that version, or print out a copy of the
essay here.

Follow these steps for analyzing the long reading (Reading Selection A):

1. Take a pen or pencil in your hand.


2. Read the essay over once, quickly. What is the main idea? What is the
essay about in general? What does the author seem to be saying?
Don’t get bogged down in details. (If you come to an unfamiliar word,
circle it but go on reading.)
3. Check the meaning of unfamiliar words. If they seem to be key words,
i.e., if the author uses them more than once, scribble a brief definition
at the bottom of the page or at the end of the essay.
4. Now re-read more slowly and carefully. This time isolate the single
most important generalization the author makes: the thesis. Follow
the author’s line of thought. Try to get some sense of structure. The
thesis determines the structure. (If you have trouble finding the
thesis, the structure can lead you to it.) What is the main point the
author is making? Where is it? Remember, examples or “for instances”
are not main points.

The thesis is the generalization the author is attempting to prove


valid. Your job is to ask yourself, “What is the author trying to prove?”

Another way of identifying the thesis is to ask yourself, “What is the


unifying principle of this essay?” or “What idea does everything in this
essay talk about?” or “Under what single main statement could all the
subdivisions fit?”

If the author’s thesis is fully and clearly stated and all in one place,
your job is easier. The thesis may be stated somewhere in the last few
paragraphs. In this case the preceding paragraphs gradually lead up
to it. It may be somewhere right after the introduction. In that case,
the rest of the essay justifies the statement and refers back to it.
Sometimes, however, the author never states the entire thesis in so
many words: it is given to you a piece at a time. Then you must put it
together.

5. When you think you have grasped the main point of the whole essay,
underline it and write thesis in the margin. If you find you have
several possible theses, don’t panic; they all fit together somehow.
One or more will probably turn out to be supporting the thesis rather
than part of it.

Now re-read for structure. You are looking for the main divisions of
the essay. If there is an introduction, draw a line under it and write
intr in the margin. Now tackle the body of the essay. You are already
pretty sure what the main idea is. What are the main points the
author makes in leading up to the thesis or in justifying it?

Occasionally, you will find a paragraph that doesn’t seem to


accomplish much. Some paragraphs are purely illustrative: the “for
example” type of paragraph. Some are just comments or digressions
by the author—the “that reminds me” type. A third very common type
is the transitional paragraph, which takes you gracefully from one
point to another. When you come across a paragraph like one of
these, label it in the margin.

6. Within each structural division locate the points the author is making.
In other words, identify the topic sentence of each important
paragraph. Underline the sentence. Sometimes the topic sentence is
at the beginning of the paragraph and sometimes at the end.
Sometimes the topic is not stated but is only implied.
7. You now have the skeleton of the author’s argument and should be
able to follow his or her reasoning. If you are still having trouble, try
scribbling a word or two in the margins and summing up the
paragraphs as if you were annotating a textbook. You can also
underline key transitional or structural words or phrases like “but,”
“however,” “moreover,” “on the other hand,” and “nevertheless.”
These words indicate relationships between ideas and points.
8. Now write out a thesis statement for the entire essay. Remember, the
thesis was the author’s purpose in writing the essay.
                           (—Adapted from the RSSL, University of Maryland)

Mark up the Gardner reading using as many of these steps as you can. You
should be able to answer the following questions:

 What is the author’s main claim(s) or main idea(s)—the thesis?


 
 What does the author use as support for his or her thesis?
 
 How convincing do you find the author’s argument? Which parts or
ideas are most convincing? Which least?
Now think about how the reading could be used for Task 1:

 What section(s) of the reading might the test focus on?


 
 What theme(s) might the test ask you to write about?
 
 What personal experiences or observations could you relate to the
ideas and main points in the reading?

If you have thoroughly analyzed the reading, you are ready to practice
writing a summary.

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