Analytical Writing in 3 Simple Steps
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers a straightforward guide to analytical writing, emphasizing the importance of focused attention on a single subject. It outlines the process of analysis through three key questions: 'What?', 'So what?', and 'How do you know?' The script uses the example of a pen to illustrate breaking down an object into its parts and explaining their roles. It encourages specificity in identifying details, explaining their significance, and validating one's analysis. The speaker also provides a real-life example of academic analysis, demonstrating how to effectively communicate an author's ethos.
Takeaways
- π Analysis is a common type of analytical writing that requires focused attention to detail rather than broad research.
- π The goal of analysis is to explain how something works by breaking it down into its individual parts and explaining their roles.
- ποΈ Analyzing a pen involves identifying each part and explaining how it contributes to the pen's purpose of writing.
- π The first step in analysis is to document the individual pieces of the object being analyzed, focusing on specific details.
- π When identifying details, look for patterns or significant details that contribute most to the object's overall purpose.
- π The second step is to explain the significance of those details to the readers and how they work towards the object's purpose.
- π€ The 'so what' question is crucial as it delves into why the identified details matter in the context of the analysis.
- π To show readers how you know your analysis is valid, explain the logical steps of your interpretation and thought process.
- π In academic writing, it's important to show your work and thought process to validate your analysis for the readers.
- π Even complex analyses, like those in a PhD program, follow the same basic process of answering 'what', 'so what', and 'how do you know'.
Q & A
What is the main focus of analytical writing?
-The main focus of analytical writing is to explain how something works by breaking it down into its individual parts and explaining the role each piece plays in contributing to the object's overall purpose.
What are the three key questions that guide the process of analysis?
-The three key questions that guide the process of analysis are: 'What', 'So what', and 'How do you know'.
Why is focused attention to detail important in analytical writing?
-Focused attention to detail is important in analytical writing because it allows for a deep and thoughtful examination of a single subject, which is necessary for breaking down and understanding the individual components and their significance.
How does the process of analysis differ from research writing?
-The process of analysis differs from research writing in that it requires focused attention on a single subject to break it down and understand its parts, rather than collecting information from multiple sources.
What should be the goal when identifying details during analysis?
-The goal when identifying details during analysis should be to focus on the most significant details that contribute to the overall purpose of the object being analyzed, and to be as specific as possible.
Why is it important to explain the significance of details in analytical writing?
-It is important to explain the significance of details in analytical writing to show readers how those details work and contribute to the object's overall purpose, which helps to provide a more convincing and meaningful analysis.
How does one answer the 'So what' question in an analysis?
-To answer the 'So what' question in an analysis, one should explain why the identified details matter in terms of the object's overall purpose and how they contribute to that purpose.
What does the 'How do you know' question require in an analytical paper?
-The 'How do you know' question requires the analyst to show their readers the logical steps taken to interpret the details, explaining the thought process and providing evidence to support the analysis.
Why is it necessary to show the thought process in an analysis?
-It is necessary to show the thought process in an analysis to make the implicit explicit for the readers, ensuring that they understand the reasoning behind the analysis and can follow the logic used to interpret the details.
Can you provide an example of how to answer the three key questions in an analytical paragraph?
-An example of answering the three key questions in an analytical paragraph could be: 'What' by listing specific details from a text, 'So what' by describing how those details contribute to the creator's persona, and 'How do you know' by explaining the logical connection between the details and the persona.
How does the order of answering the three key questions affect the analytical writing?
-The order of answering the three key questions does not necessarily affect the analytical writing as long as all the elements are present in the paragraph. Different orders can be used as long as they effectively convey the analysis.
Outlines
π Introduction to Analytical Writing
The paragraph introduces the concept of analytical writing, emphasizing its commonality in academic settings. It contrasts analysis with research writing, highlighting the need for focused attention on a single subject rather than gathering information from various sources. The speaker assures that despite its initial complexity, analysis is straightforward and involves answering three key questions: 'what', 'so what', and 'how do you know'. The goal of analysis is to explain how something functions by breaking it down into its components and explaining their roles. Using a pen as an example, the speaker illustrates how each part contributes to the pen's purpose of writing. The paragraph concludes by encouraging a detailed and specific approach to identifying and explaining the significance of these components.
π― The Significance of Specific Details in Analysis
This paragraph delves into the importance of specificity when identifying details in an analysis. It stresses the need to focus on the most significant details that contribute to the overall purpose of the object being analyzed. The speaker advises against merely listing every detail, but instead, to concentrate on those that are most relevant. The paragraph also discusses the importance of explaining the significance of these details to the audience, using the example of a pen's nib transferring ink to paper. The speaker emphasizes that an analyst should not only point out details but also explain how they work and why they matter, ensuring that the analysis is convincing and informative. The paragraph concludes with a reminder to show the reader the thought process behind the analysis, making the implicit explicit and validating the analysis with logical reasoning.
π Practical Application of Analytical Writing
The final paragraph provides a real-life example of academic analysis, demonstrating how the speaker analyzed a 'Physics Girl' video to explain the creator's communication of her ethos or persona. The speaker shows how specific details from the video were used to answer the three key questions of analysis: 'what', 'so what', and 'how do you know'. The paragraph concludes by reinforcing that analysis is a straightforward process that requires answering these questions, and it does not necessarily require external research. The speaker invites questions and suggestions for future topics, emphasizing the goal of helping the audience with their writing. The paragraph ends with an encouragement to continue learning about effective and meaningful writing.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Analytical Writing
π‘Rhetorical Analysis
π‘Literary Analysis
π‘Focused Attention
π‘Significant Details
π‘Patterns
π‘Purpose
π‘So What
π‘How Do You Know
π‘Ethos
π‘Persona
Highlights
Analytical writing is a common type of academic writing that requires focused attention to detail.
Analysis involves answering three key questions: what, so what, and how do you know.
The goal of analysis is to explain how something works by breaking it down into its individual parts.
Analyzing a pen involves explaining how each part contributes to its overall purpose of writing.
The first step of analysis is to document the individual pieces of the thing being analyzed.
Details should be as specific as possible to make the analysis convincing.
Focus on the most significant details that contribute to the overall purpose of the object being analyzed.
The second step is to explain the significance of those details to the readers.
Explain how the details contribute to the object's overall purpose.
The 'so what' question addresses why the details matter in the context of the object's purpose.
The final step is to show readers how the analysis is valid by explaining the thought process.
Academic writing requires showing your work and explaining how you derived your conclusions.
A real-life example of academic analysis is provided to illustrate the process.
The example shows how to answer the three key questions in an analytical paragraph.
The order of answering the questions can vary as long as all elements are present.
Analysis can be challenging initially but is straightforward once you understand the three questions.
The speaker invites questions and topics for future discussions on writing.
Transcripts
analysis it sounds hard but it's
actually pretty simple
hi there it's great to have you here if
you do much writing in school chances
are that you'll end up doing some kind
of analytical writing you might be doing
a rhetorical analysis or a literary
analysis or who knows what else kind of
analysis the point is that analysis is a
common type of analytical writing and it
can be tricky at first because it
requires a different kind of attention
or discipline when compared to other
things like research writing instead of
going out into the world and finding
sources while doing research analysis
requires focused attention to detail you
think deeply and thoughtfully about a
single thing rather than going out and
collecting information from a lot of
different places and because that kind
of focused attention is unfamiliar to a
lot of people at first it can be hard to
know where to get started with analysis
the good news though is that analysis is
fairly simple and it really just
involves answering three questions what
so what and how do you know today I want
to show you how to answer those
questions and write a really fantastic
analytical paper but before we do that I
think it's worth spending some time to
get on the same page about what the goal
of analysis really is
at its most basic analysis is a process
of explaining how something works by
breaking it down into its individual
parts and then explaining the role that
each piece plays in contributing to that
object's overall purpose so for example
we could analyze a pen by pulling apart
its separate pieces and then explaining
how each piece contributes to the Pen's
overall purpose which of course is to
write and here we can see a pen broken
down and ready for our analytical
Insight you have the barrel this piece
houses all the internal stuff but it
also gives you something to hold on to
and it makes the pen look nice from the
outside the cap keeps ink from leaking
all over the place when you aren't using
the pen and of course the clip lets you
clip your pen onto something like a
pocket for convenient Transportation
moving into the center you have the nib
that's the part that transfers ink to
paper allowing a person to write there's
the grip which a person holds while
writing and the converter which holds
ink so that you can keep writing without
having to dip your pen in an Inkwell
every six letters if our goal is to
analyze the pen and explain how it works
we can identify each individual piece
and explain how that piece contributes
to the overall purpose of writing and at
its most basic that's what analysis is
of course it's not likely that you'll be
writing a paper in which you analyze
something as simple as a pen rhetorical
and literary text can get kind of
complex but the basic process of
analysis Remains the Same and like I
mentioned it happens in three easy steps
[Music]
the first step of analysis is to
document the individual pieces of the
thing you're analyzing break it down cut
it up separate its individual components
our goal is not to see the pen but to
see the individual working pieces of the
pen when you answer the question what
you're telling your readers what you
notice that it's important to be as
specific as possible remember we're
looking for details and the more
specific those details are the more
convincing your analysis will be so for
example if you wanted to say something
about an author's word choice don't just
say the author uses a lot of scientific
and Technical language that might be
true but it doesn't really show readers
the actual details and it doesn't
specifically answer the what question in
order to do that it would be more
effective to say something like the
author uses scientific and Technical
words like lysis hydrophobic and
mitochondria see how this sentence
provides more specific details that's
what we're after when we're doing
analysis be detailed be specific and be
thorough row I've yet to see a writer be
too specific but I've seen countless
writers not be specific enough of course
your job is not just to list every
specific detail that you notice more
than likely you'll have limited space to
write your analysis and a bulleted list
of every specific detail by themselves
would be pretty uninformative and kind
of boring
so as you prepare to write your analysis
you'll want to focus on the most
significant details in the thing that
you're analyzing you aren't going to be
able to talk about everything so you'll
need to draw your reader's attention to
the most important things and in order
to do that you might Begin by looking
for patterns in the thing that you're
analyzing are there things that the
Creator or author does consistently if
so those patterns might point you to the
most significant details or there might
be places where the author violates
their patterns and does something
unusual these are also a likely place to
find significant details whatever the
object you're analyzing remember that
your job is to explain how the overall
object functions so focus on the details
that contribute the most to that purpose
for example when we were talking about
the pen we focused most on the details
that help the pen to function we didn't
spend a lot of time talking about
aesthetic decorations or colors because
our objective was to explain how the pen
works not how it looks so think about
the overall purpose of your analysis
analysis and then focus on the details
that contribute the most to that purpose
and again be as specific as possible
[Music]
but identifying specific details is of
course only part of the job anyone can
take apart a pen or notice details in a
poem or advertisement but an analyst
goes one step further by explaining the
significance of those details to their
readers by showing them how those
details work so again we didn't just
point out the nib of the pen we
explained that the nib transfers ink
from the pen to the paper helping the
pen to do its job of writing so when you
identify important details on the thing
that you're analyzing the next step is
to spend some time explaining how those
details contribute to the object's
overall purpose for example how do the
scenes in an advertisement of a car
racing through the forest motivate the
viewers to go by that car or how does
the rhyme pattern in a poem contribute
to the poet's feeling of Joy often I'll
see less experienced analysts only
partially explain the significance of
the details often they'll say what they
mean but they don't go as far as to
explain how they work to contribute to
the purpose of the object for example
they might say something like the author
uses scientific and Technical words like
lysis hydrophobic and mitochondria these
words show that they know about science
this isn't bad writing but it's only
part of the analytical job remember the
question now is so what why do these
Details Matter it's true that they show
that the author is knowledgeable but why
does that matter so what this analysis
could go a step further by saying
something like the author uses
scientific and Technical words like
lysis hydrophobic and mitochondria these
words show that they are knowledgeable a
move that prompts readers to trust them
and believe their message see how this
sentence goes a step further and
explains why those Details Matter in
terms of the object's overall purpose
the words are not just a demonstration
of the author's knowledge they have a
purpose one of getting readers to trust
the author or you could say something
like the Rhythm in this poem a mix of
trokies and dactyls evokes the feel of
nursery rhymes and then go on to explain
why that pattern Matters by saying this
Rhythm complements the nostalgic tone of
the poem bringing readers back to their
childhood
again don't just point out the details
and don't explain them in isolation show
your readers why those Details Matter by
explaining how they work and how they
contribute to the overall purpose of the
thing you're analyzing and it's worth
remembering that how you answer the so
what question will depend on the kind of
analysis that you're doing for example
if you're doing rhetorical analysis and
let's be honest why would you want to do
any other kind the purpose of your
analysis will be to explain the
significance of those details in terms
of how they motivate the audience to do
what the author wants them to do
and finally once you've spent some time
to identify the details and explain
their significance it's important to
show your readers how you know that your
analysis is in fact valid this step gets
us back to one of the primary purposes
of academic writing your readers don't
just want to know what you know they
want to know how you know it they want
to see where your knowledge comes from
and how you got it so take a little time
to explain the logical steps that you
took to interpret the details in the way
that you did If This Were a math problem
I'd be telling you to show your work put
your thought process on the page so that
your readers can see it so going back to
our sample analysis if we read this we
could say that's fine this is what you
know but how do you know it what leads
you to believe that the nursery rhyme
rhythm is nostalgic or evokes childhood
you could show your work or make that
thought process explicit by saying
something like this
the Rhythm in this poem a mix of trokies
and dactyls evokes the feel of nursery
rhymes nursery rhymes are a common
fixture in early childhood literature so
the poet's use of those rhythms brings
back reader's memory of the nursery
rhymes they learned as children thereby
enhancing the nostalgic tone of the
peace now I understand that this might
feel like a little bit of a tedious
process but remember that you've spent a
good long time analyzing this object and
your readers haven't what may feel
obvious to you might not be so obvious
to them so make sure that your readers
get it by taking the time to explain
your thought process show your readers
how you know something and you'll make
it much more likely that they understand
your analysis in the way that you intend
your job as an analyst is to show your
readers the things that they might
Overlook and to make the implicit
explicit so even if you're reasoning for
how you know feels obvious say it
explicitly so that nobody can miss it so
even if how you know something feels
like it would be obvious say it
explicitly so that nobody can miss it
now before we quit I just want to show
you a real life example of academic
analysis so that you can see how it
works in the wild and also to show you
that I'm not making this stuff up so
here's part of an analytical paragraph
that I wrote when I was finishing up PhD
School the focus of this paragraph is to
analyze a physics girl video and to
explain how she communicates her ethos
or her Persona to her audience with some
minor adjustments to include information
that shows up elsewhere in the paragraph
we can see answers to all three
questions in this one passage what do we
notice well we get a good list of
specific details from the video so what
we get a description of what those
details contribute to the Creator's
overall Persona that's why those Details
Matter and how do I know well the
paragraph concludes with an explanation
of how those details contribute to the
purpose of constructing an authoritative
but relatable persona it's as easy as
that even for someone working on a PhD
so see you're already doing real serious
academic work work and all it takes is
answering three simple questions also
just as a reminder you do need to answer
these three questions probably in just
about every paragraph that you write but
you don't need to answer them in the
same order every time as you can see in
the paragraph we just talked about I
answered those questions in a different
order and that's totally fine as long as
the pieces are there you'll be in good
shape
so that's it for today like I said in
the beginning analysis can be a little
tricky at first because it's a different
kind of skill compared to the research
papers that we might be more used to
writing but the reality is that analysis
is easy peasy you just have to answer
three simple questions and you don't
even have to go to the library or the
library website to find the answers
before you go let me know if you have
any questions or if there's some other
writing topic that you'd like me to talk
about my goal is to be helpful to you so
don't be shy about letting me know how
to do that best in the meantime we're
always talking about writing and how to
make it more effective and meaningful so
I hope you'll stick around to see some
of the other things that we've already
talked about either way though thanks
for spending this time with me happy
analyzing and I'll see you next week
foreign
[Music]
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