What comes to mind when you hear the word "interpretive" - fortune telling or interpretation of language? Take a critical look at one of the classes handled by Sybill Trelawney , the professor of Divination at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – what did the professor make the students do at first?
The next step is the body paragraphs - remember to keep this section short and concise as well. The final step is the conclusion to wrap things up. Keep in mind that you don't need to follow the format of essays having five-paragraph unless the instructions clearly state that you do so.
Now that you're aware of the common pitfalls to avoid, let's show you the features of a quality interpretative essay. These include:
For students who get bored writing text, you keep asking yourself, where can I find professional academic writers to help write my interpretive essay ? Good news is there are lots of reputable writing services online that specialize in writing all kind of academic writing including interpreting essay.
What Is Interpretive Essay
Basically, an interpretive essay is an essay that provides an analysis of another piece of writing. Your purpose is not to argue. Now you know how to go about writing an interpretive essay, so get your pen and paper ready and start writing.
This kind of essay has to do with interpreting a specific literary work. It is important to note that it doesn't necessarily have to be a discourse on all the elements in the literary work. Rather, it requires that you place more emphasis on just a few elements, except, of course, you are instructed to do otherwise. However, if you have no specific prompt to follow, knowing the right element to choose can sometimes be a daunting task.
It's no different from your task either, particularly when assigned to write a good interpretive essay. But this time, it has nothing to do with tea leaves rather you will have to interpret literary works.
- Paraphrase of thesis
- Summary of key points of analysis
- Final concluding thought(s)
Before you decide on an analytical essay topic, do a bit of research to make sure you have enough examples to support your analysis. If you choose a topic that’s too narrow, you’ll struggle to find enough to write about.
Your introduction will begin with some sort of attention-grabbing sentence to get your audience interested, then you’ll give a few sentences setting up the topic so that readers have some context, and you’ll end with your thesis statement. Your introduction will include:
You could write about how Steinbeck used literary devices throughout the whole book, but, in the essay below, I chose to just focus on the intercalary chapters since they gave me enough examples. Having a narrower focus will nearly always result in a tighter and more convincing essay (and can make compiling examples less overwhelming).
Body Paragraphs
Now it's time to begin writing your essay, if you haven’t already. Create an introductory paragraph that ends with the thesis, make a body paragraph for each of your main points, including both analysis and evidence to back up your claims, and wrap it all up with a conclusion that recaps your thesis and main points and potentially explains the big picture importance of the topic.
Follow these five tips to break down writing an analytical essay into manageable steps. By the end, you’ll have a fully-crafted analytical essay with both in-depth analysis and enough evidence to support your argument. All of these steps use the completed analytical essay in the next section as an example.
What is an analytical essay? A critical analytical essay analyzes a topic, often a text or film. The analysis paper uses evidence to support the argument, such as excerpts from the piece of writing. All analytical papers include a thesis, analysis of the topic, and evidence to support that analysis.
This is where you determine the bulk of your analysis--the information that makes your essay an analytical essay. My preferred method is to list every idea that I can think of, then research each of those and use the three or four strongest ones for your essay. Weaker points may be those that don’t relate back to the thesis, that you don’t have much analysis to discuss, or that you can’t find good examples for. A good rule of thumb is to have one body paragraph per main point
Learning about different writing styles in school? There are four main writing styles, and it's important to understand each of them. Learn about them in our guide to writing styles, complete with examples.
John Steinbeck’s language choices help to intensify his writing in his intercalary chapters and allow him to more clearly show how difficult life for migrants could be. Refraining from using specific names and terms allows Steinbeck to show that many thousands of migrants suffered through the same wrongs. Imitating the style of the Bible strengthens Steinbeck’s characters and connects them to the Bible, perhaps the most famous book in history. When Steinbeck writes in the imperfect dialogue of the migrants, he creates a more accurate portrayal and makes the migrants easier to relate to for a less affluent audience. Metaphors, particularly relating to nature, strengthen the themes in The Grapes of Wrath by enhancing the mood Steinbeck wants readers to feel at different points in the book. Overall, the intercalary chapters that Steinbeck includes improve his novel by making it more memorable and reinforcing the themes Steinbeck embraces throughout the novel. Exemplary stylistic devices further persuade readers of John Steinbeck’s personal beliefs. Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to bring to light cruelties against migrants, and by using literary devices effectively, he continuously reminds readers of his purpose. Steinbeck’s impressive language choices in his intercalary chapters advance the entire novel and help to create a classic work of literature that people still are able to relate to today.
In the rest of this article, we’ll explain how to include each of these in your analytical essay.
#1: Pick a Topic
Each of my four body paragraphs is formatted in roughly the same way: an intro sentence that explains what I’ll be discussing, analysis of that main point, and at least two quotes from the book as evidence.
Your introduction will begin with some sort of attention-grabbing sentence to get your audience interested, then you’ll give a few sentences setting up the topic so that readers have some context, and you’ll end with your thesis statement. Your introduction will include:
Besides typical essay components like an introduction and conclusion, a good analytical essay will include:
If you want to answer the question “What does this work mean?”, you are trying to interpret the book. Instead of merely rephrasing the work, analyze it. First, you need to choose your strategy
It is tempting to delve into writing after days of research, but in the end, you risk producing a jumbled mess of unrelated thoughts. So take the time necessary to create a rough outline. List the main points you want to make, use your notes and examples from the primary source to flesh out the body paragraphs. Their number and length will depend on the parameters of your assignment.
- How does this chapter make me feel?
- Which questions arise when I read this book?
- Which methods and devices does the author use to make me feel this way?
- Why can’t I stop laughing or crying when I read this dialog?
When you are assigned to write a critical essay in high school or college, your professor has another meaning of this word in mind. In such cases, “critical” means a careful judgment and analysis of both good and bad parts of the art piece. Therefore, you don’t have to be all positive or negative towards the book or article you have to discuss. Instead, you get a chance to try on a mantle of a professional critic and provide a thoughtful and informative piece of writing for people who have not had the pleasure to read the book you are discussing.
6 Steps To Write A Successful Critical Essay
The more questions you ask yourself, the easier it will be for you to create an outline and analyze the book. And to keep your notes in order, use a blank sheet of paper to write down the numbers of pages with interesting literary methods.
There are three strategies for you to choose from when writing a critical essay. Depending on the approach, your paper will require different research and analysis. So you should decide on the type of critical paper you wish to write before you start. Your instructor may specify the preferred type within the assignment, so pay close attention to the task you are given.
The word “critical” possesses several meanings. The most commonly used is related to expressing negative opinions on something. Online trolls are always critical about everything. On the other hand, “critical” can also relate to the opinions of professional critics on movies, music or literature. If you read a critical review in a “Rolling Stone” magazine, you can expect it to be expertly written and insightful.
The word “critical” possesses several meanings. The most commonly used is related to expressing negative opinions on something. Online trolls are always critical about everything. On the other hand, “critical” can also relate to the opinions of professional critics on movies, music or literature. If you read a critical review in a “Rolling Stone” magazine, you can expect it to be expertly written and insightful.
This type is the easiest to understand, though professors rarely require students to write it. In an evaluative critical essay, you should explain whether you like the book and provide the reasons for your reaction. Of course, it is not enough to say you hate the novel because it’s stupid. Instead, you have to provide your literary standards and compare them to the book you are discussing.
Not every instructor is willing to let students choose the book or poem to analyze. However, if you are among the few lucky bastards, choose wisely. Pick a work you like and know well, the one you’ve read at least a couple of times and can probably quote your favorite parts. Make your life easier by selecting the right book, and your critical essay will be done in no time.
The content of your thesis will depend on which type of critical essay you are going to write. Consult our comprehensive guide to write your thesis statement. In short, your thesis should answer the central question: “So what?”. Besides just stating the obvious, address the how or the why. Explain to the readers how you came to this conclusion or why they should care about your opinion.
Three Types Of Critical Essays
As ever, we’ll break the writing process into easily manageable steps for you to follow. As you see, writing is just a single stage, while pre-writing is where you will need to do most of the work.
There are three strategies for you to choose from when writing a critical essay. Depending on the approach, your paper will require different research and analysis. So you should decide on the type of critical paper you wish to write before you start. Your instructor may specify the preferred type within the assignment, so pay close attention to the task you are given.
After so many preparatory steps, writing a critical essay is easy. All you have to do is put your thoughts into words, and words — into sentences and paragraphs. Remember to cite the sources and edit the finished paper carefully. Think about what a professional critic would write after reading your essay. Every typo decreases your credibility, so proofreading is also a must.