2. analytical essay topics and ideas analytical essay examples

Brainstorm. You may not immediately know what your thesis statement should be, even once you've chosen your topic. That's okay! Doing some brainstorming can help you discover what you think about your topic. Consider it from as many angles as you can.

• 
  Look for repeated imagery, metaphors, phrases, or ideas. Things that repeat are often important. See if you can decipher why these things are so crucial. Do they repeat in the same way each time, or differently?
  
• 
  How does the text work? If you're writing a rhetorical analysis, for example, you might analyze how the author uses logical appeals to support her argument and decide whether you think the argument is effective. If you're analyzing a creative work, consider things like imagery, visuals in a film, etc. If you're analyzing research, you may want to consider the methods and results and analyze whether the experiment is a good design.
  
• 
  A mind map can be helpful to some people. Start with your central topic, and arrange smaller ideas around it in bubbles. Connect the bubbles to identify patterns and how things are related.
  
• 
  Good brainstorming can be all over the place. In fact, that can be a good way to start off! Don't discount any ideas just yet. Write down any element or fact that you think of as you examine your topic.
  

Come up with a thesis statement. The thesis statement is a sentence or two that summarizes the claim you will make in your paper. It tells the reader what your essay will be about.

Don't: write a vague or obvious thesis such as "Revenge is a central theme in Beowulf."

Do: make a specific argument such as "Beowulf explores different styles of vengeance in the Anglo-Saxon age, contrasting the dragon's honorable retribution with the response of Grendel's mother."

• 
  This is an analytical thesis because it examines a text and makes a particular claim.
  
• 
  The claim is "arguable," meaning it's not a statement of pure fact that nobody could contest. An analytical essay takes a side and makes an argument.
  
• 
  Make sure your thesis is narrow enough to fit the scope of your assignment. "Revenge in Beowulf could be a PhD dissertation, it's so broad. It's probably much too big for a student essay. However, arguing that one character's revenge is more honorable than another's is manageable within a shorter student essay.[1]
  
• 
  Unless instructed to write one, avoid the "three-prong" thesis that presents three points to be discussed later. These thesis statements usually limit your analysis too much and give your argument a formulaic feel. It's okay to state generally what your argument will be.
  

Find supporting evidence. Depending on your assignment, you may need to work only with your primary sources (the text or texts you're analyzing) or with primary and secondary sources, such as other books or journal articles. The assignment should tell you what types of sources are required. Good evidence supports your claim and makes your argument more convincing. List out the supporting evidence, noting where you found it, and how it supports your claim.[2]

• 
  Example of supporting evidence: To support a claim that the dragon’s vengeance was more righteous than Grendel's mother's, look at the passages in the poem that discuss the events leading up to each monster’s attack, the attacks themselves, as well as the reactions to those attacks.
  

Don't: ignore or twist evidence to fit your thesis.
Do: adjust your thesis to a more nuanced position as you learn more about the topic.