How to Write an Analytical Essay

The purpose of these analytical essay assignments is to teach students to examine a feature film, interpret its meaning, and develop an argument based on and supported by material presented in the film itself as well as in HUM 1020.  Thus, these assignments have been designed not only to develop compositional skills but to teach students to make meaning of experience by analyzing, evaluating, conceptualizing, condensing, and synthesizing ideas presented in the film and then relating them to course information.
 
To begin, you need to develop your note-taking skills. After all, in order to write a good analytical essay, you must start out with raw materials that will eventually be condensed into a refined piece of writing. As you view a film or listen to a class lecture for that matter, don't take down every word that you hear. Even if you went to secretarial school, you'll be left behind, and you won't be able to concentrate. The appropriate technique to follow is to be attentive for visual cues as well as listen for key words, main concepts and supporting evidence. For instance, it is very probable that in the beginning of the presentation, whether in a lecture or a film, the speaker or narrator will announce what the purpose is or a mood will be created. Once you have jotted these down, in all probability, the presentation's organizational pattern will begin to emerge. Take down only essential information; keep it brief. Separate main points from sub-points and evidence.
 
Now that you have the raw material from which your analytical essay is about to emerge, look at your notes carefully and begin to relate all of the parts to the whole. Ask yourself what did the speaker or narrator want to accomplish as well as what information was presented. After having decided what the purpose and the thesis are, you are now ready to write. Make sure that the thesis is backed up by main points, and these, with sub-points and evidence. Furthermore, make sure to connect all of the main points through the use of transitions so as to indicate the relationship between them. Remember to be brief but, at the same time, complete.
 
In analyzing a feature film, make sure that you do not merely describe its plot. The plot is merely a mechanism for packaging what the film is really about. Again, what you will be focusing on are the themes and values that the movie advances. To do so, you will have to be analytical. Once you have decided what its themes are, each may then be illustrated through the use of events and characterizations depicted in the feature film. For instance, the film Titanic deals with, on the surface, the sinking of a ship. However, what you will be writing about is what ideas the film advances: 1) that class distinctions were very rigid during la belle époque; 2) that technology was worshiped and thought to be infallible; and 3) that men and women did not have the same rights. Each of these ideas can then become a separate topic sentence, the central idea of a paragraph, anchoring a paragraph which can be developed by alluding to situations and characterizations that are portrayed in the film. Once you have decided what these topic sentences are going to be, then formulate a thesis which will synthesize these subordinate ideas into a unified whole. Thus the thesis statement of this particular summary might be expressed in the following manner: The film Titanic illustrates the values of la belle époque by focusing on the rigid class and gender distinctions as well as the worship of technology.
 
Finally, as you write the analysis essay, complete the following:

1.         Cite the title of the movie.

2.         Provide background information and formulate the thesis in the introductory paragraph.

3.         Indicate the main ideas presented in the film. Each of these main ideas should be framed into a topic sentence and developed through the use of specific details.

4.         Use direct quotation of key words and phrases.

5.         Use tags ("according to" or "as explained in the movie") to remind the reader that you are summarizing the view presented rather than your own.

6.         Avoid summarizing plot.

7.         Report the main ideas as objectively as possible. Do not include your own reactions and responses.

 
To better understand what a good analytical summary is, I am providing you with sample essays.  Read them and please note that each of these summaries are written in the MLA style, the same format that you need to follow.