Examining the parts of a subject . . .From Reading to Writing Manners and

proper social behavior are concerns to people in

any age—from the Victorians to present-day

experts such as Miss Manners. Although social

customs change over time, kindness and

courtesy never go out of fashion.

Subject Analysis

Examining the parts of a subject . . .In a subject analysis the writer breaks down a

subject into its individual parts and studies how

the parts fit together. Analysis can be applied to

various subjects from science to history to

literature.

Subject Analysis

B a s i c s i n a B o x

Subject Analysis at a Glance

RUBRIC Standards for Writing

Examines Parts of Subject

Introduces Subject

Draws Conclusion

A successful subject analysis should

• introduce the subject in an interesting, informative manner

• identify the parts that compose the subject

• examine and explain each part

• present information in a logical order

• show how the parts relate to the whole subject and support the main idea or thesis

• include an effective introduction, body, and conclusion

There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.

H. L. Mencken

There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.

H. L. Mencken

1 PrewritingWriting Your Analysis

Writing Your Analysis1 Prewriting

You might begin your search for a topic

by listing problems or issues that you

want to understand better. For example,

you might analyze issues that interest

you, such as curfew laws, new rules

involving teenage drivers, or censorship

on the Internet.

Planning Your Analysis

1. Explore the topic. What do you know about

the topic? What do you need to know? Make

a list of questions about your subject. What

are good sources of information—books?

magazines? reference materials? interviews?

Planning Your Analysis

2. Think about your purpose and audience.

Do you want to inform readers? prove a

point? persuade them to a course of action?

What will your audience already know about

the subject? What background should you

provide? What terms must you define? What

tone and voice will be appropriate?

Planning Your Analysis

3. Write a thesis statement. What is the main

idea you want to communicate? Write one or

two sentences that state your main idea.

4. Break the subject into parts. When you

analyze, you break down the subject into its

parts. Will your analysis include steps in a

process, characteristics, stages of

development, or other elements?

Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting

To begin your draft, try to set down in

words everything you want to say,

keeping your overall purpose in mind.

You can always add details later or take

out what you don’t need. You may find

that what you write causes you to change

your thesis or main idea statement.

Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting

Now you are ready to organize your ideas.

Although your topic will determine how you

proceed, follow the steps below to guide

the organizational form of your analysis:

Provide a provocative introduction

that quickly attracts reader interest.

Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting

Identify the subject you plan to analyze in a sentence or short paragraph.

Describe the parts that make up your subject.

Examine each part in relationship to other parts or to the subject as a whole.

Writing Your Analysis2 Drafting

Description Describe each part in detail.

Comparison Show how your subject or one of its parts resembles or differs from another relevant subject.

Definition Define key parts, characteristics, or terms for difficult or technical subjects.

Think about how you can elaborate on your ideas so they are clear to your readers. Try one or more of the following strategies.

Writing Your Analysis3 Revising

TARGET SKILL

KEEPING SIMILAR IDEAS PARALLEL

As you break down your subject into its components, be sure that sentence parts which are parallel in meaning are also parallel in structure. Remember to join nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and phrases with phrases.

Writing Your Analysis4 Editing and Proofreading

TARGET SKILL

CORRECT COMPARISONS

In writing an analysis, you may make a number of comparisons. Be careful to avoid double comparisons.