8/8/2019 Possible Steps to Follow When Writing an Analytical
par
1/2
Possible Steps to Follow When Citing Text in an Analytical
Paragraph
1. Topic sentence of your paragraph (what your paragraph will be
about)
2. Context of the quotation (where in the story it is written,
what the situation is in which it is
said, etc.)
3. Introduction to the quotation (who says this? the author? the
narrator? another character? )
Use a comma to introduce the quotation; Use a colon if the
quotation is introduced by a completethought. *
4. The quotation itself (include page number in parentheses)
5. Explanation of the quotation in your own words or your
summary of the meaning of it. You
may also need to give more background information.
6. Analysis of the quotation (why is this important? How does
this quotation relate to yourthesis? How does this piece of
evidence support the point you wish to convey? It is your job
to
make the connection explicit.)
MOST OF YOUR PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE SPENT ANALYZING - USING YOUR
OWN
WORDS TO EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY THE QUOTATION SUPPORTS YOUR
OVERALLPOINT.
(Step 1) Utterson tries hard to repress his shadow side like a
good Victorian gentleman,
but he knows on a subconscious level that this repression is
unhealthy and unnatural. (Step 2)For example, after he decides that
Hyde must be blackmailing Jekyll for some past reckless
behavior, Utterson (Step 3 and 4) "brooded awhile on his own
past, groping in all the corners ofmemory, lest by chance some
Jack-in-the-Box of an old iniquity should leap to light
there"(54).(Step 5) Here Utterson forces himself to access his
memories of possible shameful behavior in
order to protect himself from being in a situation like he
thinks Jekyll is in. It as if he is shoring
himself against a surprise attack from his past deeds so he will
not find himself as vulnerable asJekyll. (Step 6) "Corners of
memory" implies that Utterson has put all his shameful behavior
in
the most inaccessible place in a box or trunk, echoing the
theory of many late 19th century
psychologists who believed that humans assign to a shadow or
dark side of their psyche all of
their bad qualities and deeds. "Groping" suggests that he is
reaching out in confusion, in thedark for these long repressed
memories that may be so shameful that he as shoved them into
the
most inaccessible places of his mind. It is as if he has
realized that by dealing with these
memories, he can prevent the surprise should "an old iniquity
leap to light" like a "Jack-in-the-Box." He seems to understand
that the more one is aware of his/her entire being and history,
even the bad side, the less one will be surprised by it. And in
this subtle action, Utterson
distinguishes himself from the typical Victorian who refused to
acknowledge the possibility ofevil within, the possibility of the
animal within defying the staid rules of propriety.
* If you wanted to use a colon to introduce the quotation in the
above passage you could write itas follows:
