How to analyze a text? The first step is to understand it and put it in a way that fits your perspective, having the confidence that your struggle with the text will have a satisfying result for you
What’s the secret? Exercise, exercise, and exercise again. There is always a need for exercise. In addition to these heuristic exercises, it would be recommended to analyze text with a good analytical essay example. There are excellent materials on this subject, but what I’m writing here is a simple model I use when I analyze a written text.
This analytical paper example can be used for any type of text, fictional, philosophical text, but also a biblical script. You can use this structure for your everyday job for example on media articles, or analysis essay regarding movies, videos, commercials, and so on. The analysis scheme has roughly the same principles regardless of the situation. The samples of analytical papers not definitive and do not include all the details of a text analysis that suggests logical reasoning, hermeneutics, semiotics, or rhetoric. All of this has something in common, namely that you need to analyze and draw some benefits from this: either to understand or to memorize your ideas, or to render your ideas in a personal way, or to refer to it in a report, license.
So, what are the highlights of this kind of text, regardless if you need it for high school, for colleges, or for your everyday job? The main questions need to put yourself are:
Let’s say you have to analyze a 10-line paragraph – the process is pretty much the same like analyzing and writing about a chapter or a whole book.
Every student needs to outline and follow some theoretical aspects. Examples of analytical essays can be found online and help you with the structure. Here are some main ideas which you need to use in your work:
When reading a book, you need to be able to identify the main idea of it and to formulate it in your own words. Sometimes the major idea is reproduced in the first paragraph, it is underlined at the end, or it is stated somewhere in the body of the text. To formulate it you have to ask your questions like: What does the book want to say? What is it the main idea which I want to present?
What does the author mean? Why is he saying what he says? You have to understand the author, his purpose, his motivations and his intentions better than he understood himself… at least that’s what Schleiermacher said.
It’s very easy to get started here. What are the explicit statements of the text? Note two, three statements of that text. Preferably, with your words, no cuts in the text.
What are the keywords or key topics? What are the words that repeat? What are the repeating phrases? What are the dominant themes? You have to practice your ability to see at a glance what the main ideas, main themes, keywords, and key topics are. You already feel confused that you have to find so many things in text. You do not have to make exegesis as the Bible on each text, but it is important that through exercise you can get in and master almost any type of text. In some areas, you need to study the field so you can understand a text, but most texts can be learned simply by applying a model like that.
Whoever can say anything, but on what basis? What are the arguments? Any statement should be supported by arguments? Analyzes and observes whether or not there are arguments?
The logical structure should be something like this: An affirmation and an argument. A strong argumentation is based on at least two arguments and not more than five (Over five arguments the focus falls, and the argument weakens because the arguments decrease in intensity, at least that’s what we were told. I did not verify this, but take it into account.).
All the tips & tricks you will find should provide you with secret advice: use creativity along with theoretical information. Don’t be shy to use an online structure which can help you organize better, but also let your imagination fly.
If you still have some problems in creating a good essay, then for sure you can find online help. Not only that you can inspire from others, but also, you can ask for advice.
Now, all you have to do is to… start working!
