Strategies for Analysis

1. Have something to say! Figure out some specific point you want to make about the topic. Pick something you can really care about.

2. Come up with a specific question for which you can work out an answer. The answer to your question could be worked out through your writing and analysis, or you could figure out the answer first and then reconstruct the question. This question should explore some criticism, confusion, or hypothesis that is suggested by your exploration and explanation sections.

3. Compare and Contrast your preconceptions with the readings. This requires deep analysis to explain just where your preconceptions differ from the readings. You have to spell that out! Surface similarity could hide deeper differences; superficial differences could obscure a more profound connection. The goal here is to try to understand the readings or our preconceptions more deeply and clearly.

4. Analyze your preconceptions and the readings to see which is right. This will usually involve comparing/ contrasting them first. But that comparison can help you figure out whose view is correct. The best analysis will usually conclude that both your preconceptions and the readings are right in some ways and wrong in others. A good analysis appreciates complexity rather than imposing an artificial simplicity. Avoid straw-men and false dichotomies!

5. Critique the logic, evidence, and/or proposals in the readings. Critically evaluate the preconceptions and assumptions of the author, the data he/she provides to support his/her points, and/or the reasonableness of the argument. Perhaps the analysis is correct, but the prescriptions they offer are not. You may need to search for additional evidence to evaluate the readings.

6. Integrate various readings, your personal experience, and readings, films, or experiences from other courses to provide insight. Drawing connections between the course readings and other materials will help you gain a deeper understanding of the readings and your own preconceptions.

7. Re-explain the readings. Re-read the readings and see if the initial understanding you provided in the explanation stage was adequate. It could be that your preconceptions caused you to misread the text. A deeper analysis of the readings corrects your understanding and allows you to discuss how your preconceptions led you astray. If you are confused, explain your confusion and then work through it systematically.

8. Analysis should be the longest section of any paper.

9. Make sure you revisit the texts that you explain, using cites, paraphrases, and quotes as evidence in your analysis.