PrintWhat is analysis? Analysis can be defined in many different ways. In a way that is important to this course, analysis is breaking a subject into its parts, determining the relationship between those parts and how they relate to the whole. Analytical writing encompasses those same ideas. To make your writing analytical you must analyze the subject matter for the reader. It is important to break your work down piece by piece to allow the reader to know what it means and what to do with it. Analytical writing also evaluates data and relates one idea and its details to another. Analytical writing is more than just writing. It also teaches students how to develop analysis methods to study a situation or issue. When using analysis methods, answer the questions “how” and “why” to get a broader look at the situation or issue. Why use analytical writing? Please spend a few minutes looking at the presentation to find out.
Please read these additional readings from David Rossenwasser and Jill Stephen's Writing Analytically: