Writing Analytically
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES
• A question that prompts you to take a closer look
• Some description of the subject you are analyzing
CONSIDER YOUR RHETORICAL SITUATION
Keep in mind the elements of your particular situation—your audience, your specific
purpose, your stance, and so on—and how they will or should influence the choices
you make in your writing.
• Will your subject matter to them—and if not, how can you make them care about
it?
If you are writing for the web, you will likely reach a broad audience whose
characteristics you can’t predict, so you need to assume a range of readers.
• What do you want to accomplish by analyzing this subject? How can you best
achieve your goals?
• What do you want your audience to take away from your analysis?
Think about your stance. How do you want to come across as an author? How can
your writing reflect that stance? If your subject is surfing and you’re writing on a
surfers’ blog about how to catch a wave for an audience of beginners, your stance
might be that of an experienced surfer or a former beginner. Your language would
probably be informal, with little or no surfing jargon. If, on the other hand, you’re
Consider the larger context. If you are analyzing an ad for a composition class, you will
want to look at relevant information about its original context. When was the ad
created, and who was the target audience? What were the social, economic, and
political conditions at the time? All of that is contextual information. If you are
preparing a load analysis for an engineering class, you’ll need to consider factors such
as how, when, and where the structure will be used. Other contextual information
comes from what others have said about your subject, and your analysis adds to the
conversation.
Consider media. Will your analysis be delivered in print? on a website? In an oral
presentation? Are you writing for an online class? a blog? your campus newspaper? If
you get to choose your medium, the choice should depend on how you can best
data that is easiest to understand in a chart or graph? Would headings help readers
follow your analysis? Would illustrations make your point clearer?