10 Mistakes to Avoid when Writing Analytical Essays

Assessment of knowledge and skills of students is a very important part of the educational process. Furthermore, the success of training largely depends on the correct assessment. An essay is a rather effective and activating educational process method of monitoring and verifying the knowledge and abilities of students of a higher order (analysis, synthesis, creative application of knowledge). Therefore, very often college and university students have to write various types of essays, in particular descriptive, narrative, personal, analytical, etc.

An analytical essay is a text containing an in-depth analysis of a problem or representing a thought that is based on a specific fact. In an analytical essay, it is often necessary to analyze a novel or film, to identify its basic idea or problem. When performing this task, students often have some difficulties connected with the time of writing a paper, the search for the necessary information, the logic of the presentation of the material, etc. It is good that experts can help students with such assignments. However, every modern person must learn to complete an analytical essay without anyone else’s help. And in this article, we will tell you what mistakes you should avoid when writing an analytical essay.

Errors in Writing an Analytical Essay

It should be noted that unlike test works, an essay does not imply a format with several answer options (when a learner must choose several answers). This writing process is not limited in time, so the paper can be rewritten and improved many times. It is important to avoid the typical mistakes made by the authors of analytical essays:

• Misunderstanding of the essence of the stated topic. Authors of analytical essays often represent an incomplete understanding of the topic, which does not allow them to write good work. Thus, you should immediately understand the basic idea of your paper and determine its aim;

• Tiring introductions without visual aids. Sometimes, an interesting analytical essay cannot be appreciated at a high level, because it represents a listing of statements without illustrating them with examples. It is necessary to give examples, use tables and figures;

• Verbosity. The volume of the essay is strictly limited, so verbosity is worthless here. In some cases, you need to abandon the use of ideas that are not directly related to your work or have already been mentioned somewhere else. Using such information distracts the reader from the main theme of work;

• Incorrect argumentation. Students often make mistakes in argumentation. They often give one or several examples from the novels, but do not comment or analyze them in accordance with the topic. Sometimes they give examples that do not correspond to the thesis of the work;

• Long phrases. Some students find it appropriate to use long sentences in an essay. However, this is far from the truth. Long phrases do not yet prove the author is correct, and short sentences often produce a greater effect. It is best when in an essay long phrases alternate with short ones. Try reading the essay out loud. If you feel your breath catch, break the paragraph into smaller paragraphs;

• Overloaded essay. When writing an essay, вo not use the words from the encyclopedias. The incorrect use of such words distracts the reader’s attention, downplays the importance of the paper;

• Inability to adhere to the answer to the main question. The writer sometimes does not adhere to the main theme and proceed to the disclosure of a completely different issue. Therefore, you need to concentrate on revealing the main topic of work;

• Speech, grammar, spelling, punctuation errors. Try not to allow the use of words in an unusual meaning, the misuse of pronouns, the use of words of a different stylistic coloring, the mixing of vocabulary from different eras, the inappropriate use of expressive, emotionally colored words, outdated vocabulary, jargon, inappropriate use of phraseological units, violation of vocabulary compatibility, violation of the coordination of words in the sentence , errors in constructing sentences with homogeneous members, participles, mistakes in the construction of complex sentences, as well as punctuation errors in sentences with homogeneous members, introductory words, constructions and separate definitions;

• Plagiarism. Writers often state other points of view without reference to the authors of these ideas and without expressing their own position;

• Bad check. Do not think that spell checking is enough. Reread your analytical essays and make sure that there are no ambiguous expressions, unsuccessful turns of speech, etc.

Thus, now you know what mistakes you should avoid when writing an analytical essay. This knowledge will be useful to you in life, and in the future, you will write good papers!