Essay Writing

Analytical Texts

Texts whose primary purpose is to identify, examine and draw conclusions about the elements or components that
make up other texts. Analytical texts develop an argument or consider or advance an interpretation. Examples of
these texts include commentaries, essays in criticism, reflective or discursive responses and reviews.

Pay careful attention to the question wording and unpack the meaning of the terms in front of you.

Your response should demonstrate your analytical and critical thinking skills with reference to any text or text
type you have studied.

Unpack the elements of the question:

• Genre, number of texts, specific text to be analysed
• Concepts; context, genre, ideas, issues, perspectives, voice, purpose values, attitudes, empathy,
controversy, representation,
• Techniques/Device: setting, tone, characterisation, dialogue, symbolism, narrative point of view,
language features, persuasive devices, structure, figurative language, etc.
• Command terms/Verbs: identify, argue, consider, examine, illustrate, interpret, justify, discuss,
analyse, compare, evaluate, describe, explain, impact, conform, challenge, subvert, manipulate,
positions, shapes, adapts, influences, conveys, reveals, promotes.

Show an understanding of the key concepts and terms of the Course.

Use subject-specific, literary terms and metalanguage (language that is used to talk about language -
symbolism, metaphor, etc.)

Address the specific requirements of the question

Include detailed analysis of the text, not retelling the plot. Analyse, don’t describe.

Focus on the ideas/themes/issues, perspective, values, structure, and stylistic / construction features. You don’t
need to retell what has happened in the text.

Organise your essay based on the organising principle (big idea) of the question, eg. the ideas, theme, characters,
settings, representations or context, rather than techniques used by the writer.

If possible, value add to your essay by including information on the context of the writer and/or text, your own
context, or make intertextual links, or make reference to the genre (type) of text you are discussing, eg. a novel,
bildungsroman, romance, a feminist text, a post-colonial text.

You can write in first person to develop your own personal voice in your essay. Some questions require a first
person response – they specifically refer to your context, your response, your reading, etc. you must write in first
person when answering these questions. However, you are still required to be analytical in your content and
formal in your writing style.

Text Titles
 Underline the title of a complete text when hand writing and italics when typing eg. a novel, play,
expository text, feature film, documentary
 Use “inverted commas” for a short story, poem, feature article, essay, speech, photograph, etc.
 Essay Structure

Introduction

 Include the text title (acknowledge it accurately), the name of the author/director/photographer, and the
year of publication.
 Very short, one/two sentences that sum up the text – genre, purpose, context, what the text is about
 Define/explain the key words of the question in your introduction.
 Thesis statement(s): the last sentence in your introduction. It includes the key words of the question. It
rephrases the question into an argument / statement that you will address throughout your essay.

Body Paragraphs (PEEL structure)

 Point/Topic Sentence (WHAT)

o Explains the focus/topic of the paragraph – says what the paragraph will be about
o Includes the key words of the question

 Explanation/Developing Sentences (HOW)

o Detailed explanation and analysis based on the focus of the paragraph and what the question is
asking – eg. ideas, conventions, techniques, values, context, purpose, meaning, etc.
o Explain your ideas in your own words – don’t rely on the quotes to “do the talking.”

 Evidence and Explanation

o Use quotations and examples from the text to support your ideas
o Explain how the evidence shows what your topic sentence says
o Weave your evidence into your own sentences. You should not copy out long sections of the text or
have stand-alone quotations separate from your own sentences / paragraphs.

 Linking/Concluding Sentences (WHY)

o Draw conclusions from your analysis, for example the values supported and criticised in the text,
the reader’s response, etc.
o Include the key words of the question

Conclusion

 Summarise your essay and make statements that show you have addressed the question and proved your
argument.
Using Evidence

 Quotes should be brief; a sentence, phrase, or a few words. Do not copy out long sentences.

 Quotes should be integrated/woven smoothly, seamlessly and naturally into your own sentences so your
sentence and the quotation make grammatical sense.

 Ideally quotes should be embedded into the centre of your sentence and framed either side with your own
words.

 Don’t “quote drop”. Quotes are not stand alone, separate sentences.

 Explain the meaning of the quote; give it some context and identify the technique/device used in the
quote or explain how the quote supports your idea.

 When discussing evidence , avoid frequently used phrases such as “this quote shows” and instead use
alternative such as highlights, emphasises, implies, suggests, evokes, insinuates, intimates, asserts,
proposes, indicates, showcases, reinforces, conveys, reveals, criticises, celebrates, supports, perpetuates,
etc.

Examples:
The initial description of the snake through the use of the simile “the snake moves like
mercury” indicated the sleek, shiny and smooth nature of the snake and the way it
travels through the “ferociously red gravel”.

The adjective and noun “calculated overdoses” suggest that the snake’s attack was
deliberate, harsh and intense which emphasises the ideas that it is just as powerful
and dangerous as it is beautiful.

 Avoid using the word ‘quote’ unless you are actually providing an example from the text where the
author quotes someone else. Quoting is the process of using someone else’s words. When referring to the
author’s own words in the text you are analysing, you should refer to these using such terms as example,
extract, passage, sentence, excerpt, phrase, description, words, verbs, adjectives diction, lexical choice,
sensory imagery, etc.

Examples:
The author uses the simile “moves like mercury” to suggest that …

The author uses verbs such as “grips” and “syringes” which implies that the snake is
powerful and deliberate in its actions.
Comparative Essays

Use transition (linking) phrases and words to draw attention to the comparisons and contrasts within your
response. (for further transition words go to - http://www.smart-words.org/linking-words/transition-
words.html

You must make the relationship / the connections between the two texts explicit to the marker. Connections can
be made through the ideas, context, characters, setting, values, narrative pov, perspective, etc.

Showing Similarity Showing Difference Effect / Consequence / Summary / Conclusion

(comparison) (contrast) Result

In addition Conversely As a result As a result

Similarly On the contrary In that case Therefore
Likewise In contrast to For this reason For this reason
Moreover However In effect Hence
Furthermore In spite of this Thus Finally
On the top of On the other hand Therefore Consequently
Added to this At the same time Hence Thus
Identically Yet But Accordingly Ultimately
Equally important Nevertheless Consequently In conclusion
Again Also Despite this Because On balance
Comparatively In opposition to Then Ordinarily
Additionally Regardless Another way Altogether
Correspondingly Besides For example Usually
Each of Although For instance
As well as Contradictory To illustrate
Just as … so … Different from
Next Whereas
Unlike

When writing your essay;

Do not retell the plot in great detail. Only give the information that is necessary to the point being made.

Do not chunk large quotations from the text in or separate from your paragraphs, especially in in-class essays. Try
to work or weave your textual evidence into your own sentences. Only use the most important words or phrases to
your support ideas.

Representation is not a convention or technique. It is constructed through the writer’s use of literary techniques.

Context, themes, values, audience, purpose – these are also not conventions or techniques.

Conventions/techniques/devices in themselves do not “represent” something eg. ‘alliteration in this poem

represents……’ is not correct. Rather, the convention aids in the construction of the writer’s representation of an
idea, place, an individual, a group of people or institution.

Do not start your paragraph with an example and try not to say ‘this example means ….’

Do not use ampersands (&), abbreviations or acronyms. Try to avoid using parenthesis (brackets). Do not use a
forward slash ( / ), use ‘or’ in your essay.

Do not say ‘In this essay, I will be talking about or I will be writing about….’ Or ‘My essay is about …’, ‘As I have said
in this essay…’, ‘In conclusion, my essay has been about …’
Texts do not have ‘messages’
Message suggests a narrow method of communication and texts are more complex than this.
It implies there is only one way of reading/understanding the text and the reader needs to decipher the correct
meaning of the text.

This is not the case. Readers draw on their own contextual and intertextual knowledge to make meaning, and
multiple meanings are possible when reading.

Do not refer to texts as biased

All texts present a version of reality and therefore saying a text is bias is redundant/meaningless. It also suggests
there is an ‘unbiased’ position, and that is not accurate.

Use the term perspective or point of view to acknowledge that all texts are written from a specific point of view,
they are the writer’s interpretation and representation.

* Using message and bias in your essay raises questions or concerns from the marker when reading your work. It
suggests you don’t fully understand the English course, the concepts and theory that underpin the course.