critical analysis
A critical analysis essay asks you to examine a selected text and develop a well-coherent
essay based on a specific topic. Therefore, choose one of the topics listed below and write
a 4 (full) pages, well-organized essay, and defend your thesis statement using the texts as
your source.
Distinguishing features:
Title:
The title of your essay should not be the title of the primary source but it should be a
creative, original and informative title.
Introduction:
Start your introduction by mentioning the author(s) and the text(s). Provide background
information about the topic or state the significance of the topic. Next, provide a well-
defined thesis stating clearly what you intend to argue in your essay. You may provide a
brief plot summary or relevant information about the author(s)/ time period) as your
background information. T
An arguable Thesis: Topic + Assertion (claim about the topic)
Beyond summary:
Your reader is already familiar with the text; the reader needs beyond the summary of the
text, gaining insight into what the text really mean and why. Therefore, in the body of
your essay, explore the parts of the reading that best illustrates or defend your thesis.
Make of sure to provide direct quotations or paraphrases from the text to support your
claim (follow MLA in-text citation). By doing so, you also need to explain the
significance of the quotations or paraphrases.
Keep in mind the elements of an argumentative essay:
0 Claim
0 Evidence
0 Explanation
0 closing
Conclusion:
In your concluding section, try to give your reader a sense of closure. Therefore, wrap up
your paper and restate your thesis, and avoid discussing any new topic in your
conclusion.
Sources:
For this essay you need to use the primary text; using secondary sources is options;
however, if you use them, make sure to cite the sources in the essay and works cited
page.