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ELA 5: Writing an Analytical Essay 72 Views
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Description:
Aren't you just over the moon about analytical essays? Can't wait to write that critical political analytical essay right this instant? We know the feeling. Take a look at this video for a few tips and tricks to get you started.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
For better or worse, analytical essays don't just fall out of the sky, in perfect condition. [Essay falls from the sky]
- 00:18
…Hm.
- 00:19
Come to think of it, it's probably for the better…all those falling essays would be
- 00:22
a nightmare for landscapers. [Man cleaning up essays on the lawn]
Full Transcript
- 00:24
Luckily, there are steps you can follow to write your own analytical essay, so that you
- 00:27
don't have to spend all night camped out on your lawn, hoping for an essay to flutter [Man camping out alone and essay falls from the sky]
- 00:31
down from the clouds.
- 00:33
First things first: you need to understand your topic, and that means research.
- 00:36
Read up on the topic, until you're confident that you understand it. [Boy with a stack of books]
- 00:39
If you and your librarians aren't best buds when you start this research phase, you might
- 00:43
be once you're done.
- 00:45
And then you could make one of those cute BFF picture frames! [Picture of two best friends]
- 00:47
Aw…adorable.
- 00:49
Once you understand your topic, you need to figure out a position you're going to take
- 00:53
on the topic.
- 00:54
After all, this is an analytical essay, which means doing some analysis. [Coop discussing analytical essays]
- 00:58
It's not enough to just summarize all the stuff you've learned; you need to argue a position.
- 01:03
Say you originally started researching elephants.
- 01:05
The more you read, the more you might've learned about elephant hunting, and all of the bad
- 01:09
effects it has. [Man aims a gun at an elephant]
- 01:10
In that case, you might want to take the position that elephant hunting is a harmful practice.
- 01:15
The elephants would certainly agree with you.
- 01:18
Once you have your position, you need to back it up with arguments and facts.
- 01:21
That means digging back into the research you did, or doing even more. [A digger and a stack of research books appear]
- 01:25
Because even if you're right, just writing down one compelling idea is not the same thing
- 01:29
as writing an analytical essay.
- 01:31
Though it would make grading a lot easier on your teacher… [Person stamps essay]
- 01:35
To go back to our elephant hunting example, that'd mean writing about all the ways that
- 01:39
elephant hunting is harmful: it cuts elephant populations dangerously low… [Elephant essay hunting example]
- 01:43
…most are killed for their ivory, even though synthetic sources of the same materials exist…
- 01:47
…and even when trophy hunting is meant to fund preservation efforts, little of that
- 01:51
money actually goes towards conservation.
- 01:54
The more arguments you can come up with, the more convincing your essay. [Coop discussing points for essay]
- 01:57
And, if you write analytical essays against elephant hunting, the more invitations you're
- 02:01
likely to get to hang out at elephants' houses. [Elephant gives man invitation]
- 02:03
They make a mean leaf stew. [Man holds leaf stew]
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