Writing Analysis Papers

Angela BakerLaura Cline

Eng 102May 5, 2013

Step One

• Read the required text.• Find what you think the writer is trying to say.• Write your observations and opinions. *If you are unsure what you believe the writer is trying to say, re-read parts of the text and continue with the process.

Step Two• Once you have decided on your viewpoint you will need to

structure a thesis for your paper.(* if you have problems with this part, start by writing if from your point of view, you can later re-write it from a 3rd person perspective.)

*remember your thesis should be arguable, if it is not, then you need to re-write it in a way that is and you need to make it understood why it matters to the original text. *also you should have some small amount of summary in your thesis paragraph, but not too much.

Step Three

• When writing your body paragraphs you should always have supporting facts (from the original work and from your other research sources) for your thesis and they should reaffirm your thesis statement.

*watch out for sentence structure and spelling. *cite your sources in text where necessary.

Step Four

• Your conclusion! Here is where you condense and restate your opinion (again 3rd person) and wrap up any loose ends that you might have left hanging.

Things to Remember• Always cite your sources and use in text citation where

needed.• Never use 1st or 2nd person perspective in your paper, it’s

ok to start out that way if you need to, but make sure to change it before submitting your paper.

• Watch for run-on and fragmented sentences.• Use spell check!• If using another’s work in your paper, do not plagiarize!

Give credit where credit where credit is due and do your own work.