thesis for critical analysis
What is the overall value of the passage?
After the passage under analysis has been carefully studied, the critique can be drafted using this sample outline.
- I. Background information to help your readers understand the nature of the work
- A. Information about the work
- 1. Title
- 2. Author
- 3. Publication information
- 4. Statement of topic and purpose
- B. Thesis statement indicating writer’s main reaction to the work
- A. Information about the work
- II. Summary or description of the work
- III. Interpretation and/or evaluation
- A. Discussion of the work’s organization
- B. Discussion of the work’s style
- C. Effectiveness
- D. Discussion of the topic’s treatment
- E. Discussion of appeal to a particular audience
Here is what an outline for a critical analysis essay might look like:
Thomas Picketty’s book, Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century, does an excellent job of demonstrating how wealth continues to grow through investments, but fails to provide evidence that this favorable growth keeps people from moving from the lower class to the upper class through determination and hard work.
The initial step to critical analysis to read carefully and thoroughly, identifying the author’s thesis. Most of your information will come from reading different sources and understanding different takes and opinions on the same issue. You must pay attention to details, recognize the author’s’ rhetorical devices, biases, and assumptions.
Here is a sample critical essay outline you may use for reference:
Introductory clause. Start your introduction with a hook to engage the readers, catch their attention, and make them want to continue reading your paper. Then define the author’s thesis and outline the key ideas. Finish your intro with your own thesis statement, gradually leading the readers into the discussion.
Once you have identified the flaws in your text, take a few hours to revise your work and make the necessary amendments until your text is perfect.
Example:
Example: In “Barn Burning,” William Faulkner shows the characters Sardie and Abner Snopes struggling for their identity.
References:
http://content.nroc.org/DevelopmentalEnglish/unit09/Foundations/creating-a-thesis-and-an-outline-for-a-critical-analysis-essay.html
http://essaypro.com/blog/critical-analysis-essay/
http://papersowl.com/blog/write-critical-analysis-essay
http://libguides.uta.edu/literarycriticism/thesis
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/tips/thesis/