Some Hints For Good Analytical Writing:
(updated: 24 February 2000)


I am going to place hints here every week of ideas to make you papers clearer, more direct in the cogency of the argument you propose, and more enjoyable to read.


1.  Before composing an organized paragraph or piece of text, discuss your topic with others and see what they have to say about it.  Are you articulating your idea well enough so they do not labor to understand your point?  Are you asking the right questions of your audience?  Are you considering your audience as you write?  These are all very important in being able to see your own writing from the eyes of others.  In the end, at least in the context of the assignments for this class, you are writing for a very specific audience.

2.  Identify the main idea that you want to get across--identify it generally, globally--then work down from there to specifics that get across the main idea, yet that don't fall into cliches or too broad statements that you cannot support or pass off as mere opinion (things you believe in).  Whenever you state an opinion or use an example from your own life experiences, qualify them, make them come alive, and allow the reader to glean in conclusions rather than you telling the reader what to think.  After you find your arguments and their supports, see if you have enough to get your point across;  Are any of your points or supports sounding irrelevant or illogical?  If they are, fix them.

3.  Read your work or text aloud after you have done composing it.  First, after the rough draft.   Explain to your listen what you think is your main idea and the supports.  See if they agree...if they do not, find out what is missing or what you can add.  Then go back and make changes accordingly.  Then read it again to yourself.  How do you like your own main idea and how it connects up with your supporting statement?  Read the second draft to the person again and see what they think....

4. Be open minded always to the strength of your own convictions.  If you think it is a good idea and something worth writing about, go with it.  If it looks and sounds like it is not going to work, try something else.  Don't be afraid to start over again.  The writing of texts is a process.