Analyzing the Essay Sample - Part 2

Analyzing the Essay Sample - Part 2In a recent post, I discussed how you can test for things in your essay sample analysis. In this post, I will discuss some of the ways that you can analyze a sample in a broader sense and some of the considerations you should keep in mind when making a decision as to whether or not you want to use the analysis.I strongly encourage you to read the first part of the piece, where I discuss the benefits of writing a short paragraph for your essay. In that same discussion, I also discussed the benefits of using a single sentence for the overall analysis. I still strongly encourage you to follow that recommendation, even though there are many other benefits to using several sentences or a few paragraphs to begin the analysis. However, I will make three points with regards to using a sample analysis.One, the sample analysis on the essay is usually very brief. In my most recent post, I suggested that you consider starting with a single sentence. Using that same sample, let's use it to analyze a sample. Now, if you used a paragraph or a whole page of analysis, you would not get a sense of the main idea. You would not get a clear picture of the central idea, because it would be too long.Two, the paragraph you used to start your analysis would be too short, because of the weak intro. The strong opening needs to set the stage for the primary theme of the essay. I know that people are accustomed to longer essays, but in this case, it is sometimes better to go with a single sentence to begin the analysis. In fact, the stronger the opening, the better. It will give you a sense of how the theme flows throughout the entire essay.Three, the analysis is usually too detailed, because it addresses too many broadconclusions at once. For example, if you begin with the concept of global capitalism, and then go into detail about a couple of world regions in which different cultures were dominant, it is easy to get away with having the conclusion 'all countries follow capitalism'. On the other hand, if you began by mentioning the contrast between American and European culture, and then went into detail about the different styles of Western culture, it would be very difficult to get around having the conclusion 'European culture is more liberal than American culture'.With these three points in mind, you should try to analyze the essay on the essay flight for the purpose of beginning a discussion. But you should not read the entire thing! If you do, you would be very surprised to find that the analysis stops and doesn't begin anywhere else in the essay. Why?Because the focus of the essay, and therefore the beginning of the discussion, is that which is discussed at the very end of the essay. It is that end that you need to hit if you are going to get a reasonable discussion off of your analysis. Use the analysis to give you a good starting point for discussion. Then, go on to your topic after you have hit the 'end' of the analysis.U sing the analysis on the essay flight for discussion is an important part of the process. But you should not let the analysis drag on forever, as it is going to drive you crazy if you do that.