critical analysis

Critical Analysis Guidelines
The purpose for writing a critical analysis is to evaluate someone’s work (book, essay,
movie, paining, play, etc…) in order to increase the reader’s understanding of it. A critical
analysis is subjective writing because it expresses the writer’s opinion and evaluation of the
work. Analysis means to break down and study the parts. Writing a critical paper requires
two steps: critical reading and critical writing.
CRITICAL READING:
-Identify the author’s thesis/purpose
-Outline the work or write a description of it
-Summarize the work
-Determine the purpose of the work and evaluate the means by which the author has
accomplished this purpose:
-To inform with factual material?
(Has the material been presented clearly, accurately, with order and

coherence?
-To persuade with appeal to reason or emotion?
(Is there evidence, logical reasoning, contrary evidence?)
-To entertain (affecting emotion?)
(How are the emotions affected? Does it make the reader laugh, cry, get

angry? Why and how does it affect the reader this way?)
Consider the following questions:
1. How is the material organized?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. What are the writer’s assumptions about the audience?
4. What kind of language and imagery does the author use?

SAMPLE OUTLINE FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY
I. Background information on author and essay to help readers understand the nature of the
work.
A. Title and author
B. Publication Information
C. Statement of Topic/Purpose
II. Thesis Statement indicating the writer’s (YOUR) main reaction to the work.
III. Summary/Description of the work
IV. Interpretation and Evaluation
a. Organization
b. Style
c. Effectiveness
d. Treatment of Topic
e. Appeal to a Particular Audience
V. Conclusion
Tips to remember when writing:
-Avoid using first person. Do not introduce your ideas by stating “I think,” or “In my
opinion.” Keep the focus on the subject of your analysis, not on yourself. Identifying your
opinions weakens them. For example: instead of writing “I thought the piece was a good
example of…” use “the piece was a good example of…” YOU are the author. The reader
already knows and assumes that is your opinion.
-Always introduce the work. Do not assume your reader knows what you are writing
about; therefore does not need to know the title and the author*. Assume your reader
knows nothing about the piece you are writing about.
(*Never use author’s first name only; chances are you are not on a first-name basis with
the author and even if you were, this is a formal essay and first names are considered
“casual”. Use first and last when introducing the author, then use last name only for the
remainder).
-Is there controversy surrounding the subject? The author?
-Overall value of the piece?
-Strength and Weaknesses of the piece?
-Support your thesis with detailed evidence from the text. Do not forget to document
quotes and paraphrases. Acknowledge your sources.
-Be open-minded, well-informed and fair. Express your opinions, but back them up with
evidence.

A Sample Critical Essay on a Novel
To keep Jake Barnes drunk, fed, clean, mobile, and distracted in The Sun Also
Rises, Ernest Hemingway employs a large retinue of minor functionaries: maids, cab
drivers, bartenders, porters, tailors, bootblacks, barbers, policemen, and one village idiot.
But of all the retainers seen working quietly in the background of the novel, the most
familiar figure by far is the waiter. In cafés from Paris to Madrid, from one sunrise to the
next, over two dozen waiters deliver drinks and relay messages to Barnes and his
compatriots. As frequently in attendance and as indistinguishable from one another as they
are, these various waiters seem to merge into a single emblematic figure as the novel
progresses. A detached observer of human vanity, this figure does more than serve food
and drink: he serves to illuminate the character of Jake Barnes.

Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961, Pulitzer and Nobel prize winner, wrote numerous
stories that are considered classics of American Literature. In The Sun Also Rises,
published in 1926, an understated style creates one of his strongest characters.
On a number of occasions, Jakes expresses a sympathetic awareness of the waiters
around him.For instance, after dining with Brett and the count at the restaurant in the Bois,
Jake recognizes that the two waiters standing by the door “wanted to go home” (61).
Likewise, on the French train crowded with pilgrims, Jake discourages Bill from teasing the
overworked waiter, saying, “No. He’s too tired” (88). It is fitting that Jake should identify,
at least implicitly, with waiters. Like them, he is a reticent and passive observer, carrying
out routines with emotional detachment. For the waiters, of course, such detachment is
merely professional decorum. For Jake, however, emotional detachment is a means of
protection, a method for coping with life.