How to Write a Good Analysis Paper

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How to Write a Good Analysis Paper

• A Nuts and Bolts Approach

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Comparison and Contrast

• Structure 1

• Structure 2

• Piece one
• Topic A
• Topic B
• Topic C
• Piece two
• Topic A
• Topic B
• Topic C
• Etc.

• Topic one
• Piece 1
• Piece 2
• Piece 3
• Topic two
• Piece 1
• Piece 2
• Piece 3
• Etc.

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Thesis Statements

• Your paper MUST lead off with a strong thesis
  statement.
• Good Thesis Statements
• Will be argumentative
• Have an element of risk involved
• NOT Tintorettos The Last Supper, Caspar David
  Friedrichs Cross in the Mountains and Donnes
  Holy Sonnet XIV may seem to be different but they
  are all about religion.
• BUT Tintorettos The Last Supper, Caspar David
  Friedrichs Cross in the Mountains and
  Michelangelos The Creation of Adam all use
  emotion as a vehicle for accessing religion, but
  the similarities end there. The approach to
  emotion in each piece is shaped by the philosophy
  each artist held about God, art and feeling.
• Will talk about similarities OR differences, but
  not both.
• NOT Tintorettos The Last Supper, Caspar David
  Friedrichs Cross in the Mountains and
  Michelangelos The Creation of Adam all have
  extreme differences, but there are also a lot of
  similarities between them, especially when
  compared to religion.

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Thesis Statements, contd

• Will foreground the structure of the paper.
• each piece is shaped by the philosophy each
  artist held about God, art and feeling.
• Will be specific
• NOT they are all about religion.
• But, what do they say about religion? (Know the
  difference between a topic and a theme).
• Topic Religion
• Theme Religion is devastating to the masses

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Themes?
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Themes?
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Thesis Statements May

• Be about technique
• Notre Dame de Paris, Michelangelos Sistine
  Chapel Ceiling, and John Donnes Meditation
  XVII all illustrate the usefulness of symbols in
  religious art.
• Be about art or artists
• While some artists conformed and worked within
  the bounds of their religion, the great artists
  broke the rules, both within their art and within
  their religion. This can be seen in the Caspar
  David Friedrichs Cross in the Mountains, Rheims
  Cathedral in France and Dantes Inferno.
• Be about human nature
• While these three works of art serve the
  purposes of their different religious creeds,
  they demonstrate strikingly the human need to
  believe in something.
• Be about time periods, a specific theme, etc.

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Example Bernd Krysmanskis Article

• 1. Shows how Credulity, Superstition and
  Fanaticism satirizes Methodism.
• 2. Introduces Enthusiasm Delineated as a previous
  draft of the final version everyone knows.
• 3. Illustrates some of the differences between
  the two.
• 4. Argues Although Enthusiasm Delineated, like
  Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism, appears
  to be a biting satire of Methodist enthusiasm,
  the real target of the attack is, in my opinion,
  not religious fanaticism but enthusiasm in
  general and, in particular, the zealous
  predilection of zealous connoisseurs for
  traditional, sublime, religious art.
• 5. Proves his argument through close reading
  Enthusiasm Delineated (and comparing it to the
  works of art he mimics).
• 6. Explains the implications of his argument, why
  it matters that the purpose of Enthusiasm
  Delineated is different than CSF (Hogarth doesnt
  hate Methodists).

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Assignment

• Email me your thesis by Friday, 4/11. Included in
  your thesis should be the three works you plan to
  write about.
• Ill write you back and give you feedback on your
  argument.

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The Rest of the Paper

• Should follow the map laid out by the thesis.
• Each paragraph is a miniature paper. Give me a
  topic sentence that forecasts and then make the
  paragraph do what your topic sentence says it
  will.
• Should utilize close reading or detail-oriented
  analysis to make your arguments (use specifics
  from the pieces themselvesnot outside research).
  
• Should demonstrate your understanding of the
  pieces, their time periods and their creators.
• When introducing a work of art, its never The
  Creation of Adam. Its always Michelangelos
  The Creation of Adam.
• Should achieve the purpose of the paper (that
  argument is your guide and focus).
• Should explain the implications of the argument
  you are making the so what?

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Questions?
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Common Errors to Avoid

• Poem titles go in quotations John Donnes The
  Flea.
• Titles of plays and books are italicized St.
  Ignatius of Loyolas Spiritual Senses.
• Titles of paintings and sculptures are
  italicized Berninis The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
  and Caravaggios The Crucifixion of Saint Peter.
• Titles of specific buildings are capitalized
  Versailles.
• Short references to authors and artists always
  employ their last name, not their first (its
  always Donnes The Flea, not Johns).