Examining the parts of a subject... From Reading to Writing Manners and proper social behavior are concerns to people in any age—from the Victorians to present-day experts such as Miss Manners. Although social customs change over time, kindness and courtesy never go out of fashion. Subject Analysis

Examining the parts of a subject... In a subject analysis the writer breaks down a subject into its individual parts and studies how the parts fit together. Analysis can be applied to various subjects from science to history to literature. Subject Analysis

B a s i c s i n a B o x Subject Analysis at a Glance RUBRIC Standards for Writing Examines Parts of Subject Introduces Subject Draws Conclusion A successful subject analysis should introduce the subject in an interesting, informative manner identify the parts that compose the subject examine and explain each part present information in a logical order show how the parts relate to the whole subject and support the main idea or thesis include an effective introduction, body, and conclusion

There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers. H. L. Mencken There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers. H. L. Mencken 1 Prewriting Writing Your Analysis

1 Prewriting You might begin your search for a topic by listing problems or issues that you want to understand better. For example, you might analyze issues that interest you, such as curfew laws, new rules involving teenage drivers, or censorship on the Internet.

Planning Your Analysis 1. Explore the topic. What do you know about the topic? What do you need to know? Make a list of questions about your subject. What are good sources of information—books? magazines? reference materials? interviews?

Planning Your Analysis 2. Think about your purpose and audience. Do you want to inform readers? prove a point? persuade them to a course of action? What will your audience already know about the subject? What background should you provide? What terms must you define? What tone and voice will be appropriate?

Planning Your Analysis 3. Write a thesis statement. What is the main idea you want to communicate? Write one or two sentences that state your main idea. 4. Break the subject into parts. When you analyze, you break down the subject into its parts. Will your analysis include steps in a process, characteristics, stages of development, or other elements?

Writing Your Analysis 2 Drafting To begin your draft, try to set down in words everything you want to say, keeping your overall purpose in mind. You can always add details later or take out what you don’t need. You may find that what you write causes you to change your thesis or main idea statement.

Writing Your Analysis 2 Drafting Now you are ready to organize your ideas. Although your topic will determine how you proceed, follow the steps below to guide the organizational form of your analysis: Provide a provocative introduction that quickly attracts reader interest.

Writing Your Analysis 2 Drafting Identify the subject you plan to analyze in a sentence or short paragraph. Describe the parts that make up your subject. Examine each part in relationship to other parts or to the subject as a whole.

Writing Your Analysis 2 Drafting Description Describe each part in detail. Comparison Show how your subject or one of its parts resembles or differs from another relevant subject. Definition Define key parts, characteristics, or terms for difficult or technical subjects. Think about how you can elaborate on your ideas so they are clear to your readers. Try one or more of the following strategies.

Writing Your Analysis 3 Revising TARGET SKILL KEEPING SIMILAR IDEAS PARALLEL As you break down your subject into its components, be sure that sentence parts which are parallel in meaning are also parallel in structure. Remember to join nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and phrases with phrases.

Writing Your Analysis 4 Editing and Proofreading TARGET SKILL CORRECT COMPARISONS In writing an analysis, you may make a number of comparisons. Be careful to avoid double comparisons.