Summarize the process in three simple sentences. Consider what the “end product” should be.

Like any expository writing, the Process Analysis essay fits nicely into three parts, a
beginning, middle and end. The beginning has some other familiar features, like, of
course, a proper introduction. It’s important to recognize early on to whom this
piece is directed. We begin directing our attention, compassionately, toward the
neophyte; that is, the reader completely unfamiliar with the practice your going to
discuss. The best way to think of the neophyte is one who knows nothing and who’s trust
has to be won over.
The introduction should present to the reader the subject that is being undertaken.
It should, at the end of the first paragraph, contain a clear, precise thesis statement. The
thesis statement presents clearly the process that the paper will go on to describe, and
why that process is important. This final feature is what we will begin to refer to as the
“so what(?)” factor, the controversy that makes the process worth writing about. For
example, if you’re describing how to process photochemical images (traditional
photographic techniques), the reader is bound to ask “why do this? Aren’t these
technologies obsolete, old, expensive, and messy? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply take
digital photos and manipulate them in Photoshop?”
The author, therefore, is obligated in the thesis to give an answer to the “so
what(?)” factor. So the thesis might be something like: “Processing film and printing
photographs using traditional techniques serves as an indispensible means of
reminding the photographer of the primacy and power of she’s creating, the
singular photographic image.”
Note that this statement brings up something contentious. Someone could have an
alternate, and perhaps strong, opinion in favor of, or against, this idea. This, therefore, is
an effective thesis. The author could then add a statement before the thesis, to give it
context, a place from which has come: “Everyone is capable of taking photographs
and, as a result, we’re inundated with forgettable images to the point of nausea. It’s
easy to become desensitized, to forget the virtues of the medium and the potential it
hold to enliven, inspire and change the way we look at things.
Research, books, articles, etc. might reveal that there are skeptics of this thesis, or
proponents: professionals, critics, theorists, etc. able to voice opinions in interesting ways
that could drive the thesis home. There may be clear historical instances in which
photographs have changed perception, altered the way we think about people, or places,
or our reality in general. Again anecdotes and information acquired via research.
Thesis Statement:
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1. Is this a how-to, or how-it-works analysis? (more on next page)2. Define the objective, the desired result of the process you’re describing.
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3. Summarize the process in three simple sentences. Consider what the “end product”
should be.
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5. Briefly, what do you know about the context, the background or history of this
process?
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5. Begin a rough draft of your introductory paragraph in the space below.
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