What is analysis and where can I get some?

Jennifer Andreae – Centre for Academic Writing

What is Analysis?

analyse | analyze, v.To differentiate or ascertain the elements of (something complex) in order to determine its structure or nature, and hence to explain or understand it; to examine closely and methodically for the purpose of interpretation; to subject to critical or computational analysis

(OED)

What is Analysis?

Description ≠ Analysis

However, description is a necessary part of an analysis.

It gives your analysis context.

What is Analysis?

Example 1: This quotation comes from Freud's Civilization and its Discontents. Here, Freud implies that man will only be happy when living according to the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle leads people to do or desire things that bring them pleasure. Freud presents a good point here, and he uses many examples throughout the text to support it.

What is Analysis?Example 2: This quotation contains a central concept of Freud's psychology: humans are driven by the pleasure principle and are most happy when fulfilling its demands. As Freud notes elsewhere in the text, the ego and superego play the roles of watchdogs, keeping the demands of the pleasure principle in check through the moderating influences of experience (Freud's reality principle) and morality. For Freud, this battle within the personality gets reflected in a society. The society passes laws that limit our freedom, and therefore our happiness, but encourage order and morality. Freud notes that the exchange of happiness for security is, in the end, worthwhile and necessary to maintaining a civilization.

What is Analysis?What is the difference between these two paragraphs? • The first one tells us what Freud says, while the

second one considers how and why Freud comes to these conclusions about the pleasure principle.• Description - reports the findings• Analysis - examines and explains the findings;

explores the relationship between ideas; supports your thesis by showing how your data and/or research confirms your argument

Where can I get some?

Analysis and your Thesis Statement

Strong essay = thesis statement + analysis

I argue that...

Analysis and your Thesis Statement

I argue that intensive high school grammar courses are necessary for all students who are considering post-secondary education.

Intensive high school grammar courses are necessary for all students who are considering post-secondary education.

Analysis and your Thesis Statement

Thesis statements must be logical.

I argue that Shakespeare was the greatest playwright ever.

This is certainly an argument, but impossible to prove (and therefore illogical), avoid words ending with –est, and always and never.

Scope of analysis• must be based on sound evidence, be it

secondary research, or your own interpretation of the material.

• consider as much relevant information as possible, including claims that oppose your analytic perspective.

• must be logical.

Scope of analysisThoughtful insight… not outrageous claims!

This video of Charlie Sheen clearly demonstrates that he is an alien from Mars.

These sales figures indicate that the increasing sales of all-inclusive holiday packages in December are directly related to the decreased sales of boots in November.

Reading for analysis

I always read with a pencil in my hand so I can jot down my impressions of the text and any questions I may have.

Reading for analysisThings to consider:Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda? It is not always easy to separate fact from opinion. Facts can usually be verified; opinions, though they may be based on factual information, evolve from the interpretation of facts. Skilled writers can make you think their interpretations are facts.

Reading for analysis

Things to consider:Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it questionable and unsupported by evidence? Assumptions should be reasonable. Note errors or omissions.

Reading for analysis

Things to consider:Are the ideas and arguments advanced more or less in line with other works you have read on the same topic? The more radically an author departs from the views of others in the same field, the more carefully and critically you should scrutinize his or her ideas.

Reading for analysis

Things to consider:Is the author's point of view objective and impartial? Is the language free of emotion-arousing words and bias?

Using concepts to develop analysis

While you read your source, think of which larger concepts are at play.

Ti-Jean and his mother lived in the middle of a forest, vast and dark.

Concepts: isolation, absence of support or protection, fear

Their cottage was little more than a shed – its floor only beaten earth, its walls pierced by the weather. At night they heard the wolves howling close by. One day, Ti-Jean and his mother fell ill. They suffered days and nights of fever. One dawn, before the stars faded, Ti –Jean’s mother died, but the boy, although weak, recovered.

Concepts: suffering, illness, poverty, death, weakness

He understood that he must leave. Thus, carrying his meager belongings, the boy left the cottage and began to walk.

Concepts: loneliness, danger, uncertainty (maybe hope?)

Using concepts to develop analysis

Summary: Ti-Jean lived in the forest with his mother. They were very poor and undernourished, suffered a great deal and fell sick. His mother died, and since Ti-Jean was all alone, he left the cottage.

A summary states the facts.

Using concepts to develop analysis

In the French Canadian folk tale “The Adventures of Ti-Jean,” Ti-Jean’s career begins in poverty and isolation, fear and suffering, culminating in the illness that causes his mother’s death. Alone in the world, weakened by fever, the orphan must nonetheless leave his precarious shelter and find his way out of the forest in order to survive.

An analytical approach examines the story but also makes insights that go beyond the text – not just what

the story says, but how we interpreted it.

Exploring relationships between ideas

In essays that use multiple sources:

Organize body of essay by themes, rather than one section per source

This structure forces you to analyse the material because you have to compare different approaches to the theme.

If you break your essay down by source, you run a much higher risk of summarizing the content of the source rather than examining what it means in the context of your essay

Exploring relationships between ideas

Introduction Introduction

Article A - themes Theme 1 – Articles A, B, & C

Article B - themes Theme 1 – Articles A, B, & C

Article C - themes Theme 1 – Articles A, B, & C

Conclusion Conclusion

Exploring relationships between ideas

Consider the coverage of your material:

Is it a primary or secondary source?

Does the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information?

Does it extensively or marginally cover your topic?

You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints.

Using quotations effectivelyQuotations can be used to give authority to your analysis.However, if you want to use a quotation, you need to properly integrate it in your paragraph: 1. Make sure you fully understand the meaning of your

quote2. Introduce your quote to give it authority3. Integrate it into your essay4. Explain why you’ve used the quote/show why it

augments your evidence.

Using quotations effectivelyIn the Early Modern period, people were thought bathing was dangerous.

In the Early Modern period, people were warned that bathing was dangerous.

In the Early Modern period, people took baths. “Publicke bathes and hot-houses must be prohibited, for that in these, mens bodies are weekend, and made more yielding and pervious to the pestiferous aire” (Pare, 829). People were warned that bathing was dangerous.

Using quotations effectivelyNot only did public baths serve as a gathering place for great numbers of people, but there were also the effects of the heat and water to consider. In an address to city councilors, Ambroise Pare, the king’s personal physician, advised that “Publicke bathes and hot-houses must be prohibited, for that in these, mens bodies are weekend, and made more yielding and pervious to the pestiferous aire” (Pare, 829). Warnings about the risks associated with public bathing, such as Pare’s rapidly became established in mainstream thought, and by the mid-sixteenth century the custom of bathing – either at a public bath or at home – had virtually disappeared.

If you are having a hard time getting started, here are some questions you can ask yourself about the

text, event, or person you are writing about:What does X mean? What is the significance of X?

How is X made or done? How did X happen?

How should X be made or done? What kind of person is X?

What is the essential function of X?

What is my personal response to X?

What are the causes and/or consequences of X?

What is the value of X?

How is X like or unlike Y? What case can be made for or against X?

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