Textual Analysis Essay Examples, Topic, and Outline Samples (2023)

Filed in Education by TMLT Editorials on June 16, 2021

Does your teacher like assigning to write textual analysis essays? Then, devote a little bit of time to learn what this kind of essay is and how it differs from other academic papers.

Lucky for you, this article has all you need; you will get to see some of the textual analysis essay examples to help guide you while writing your essay.

What is a Textual Analysis Essay?

A textual essay is also known as a literary essay. This kind of paper can be defined as a piece of writing, which should contain your own thoughts on certain literary works and the evidence from the text in the form of poems, quotes, etc.

You are supposed to process the text and conduct an in-depth analysis before you start structuring it. Don’t hurry to make any conclusions. This type of task isn’t as easy as ABC. It requires the ability to think logically. When writing this kind of work, your main purpose is to provide the persuasive textual evidence of your ideas.

(Video) Textual Analysis Essay

Tips for Writing

In the very beginning of your paper, you should provide the following information: the name of the author of the literary work used for the analysis and its title. How to start a textual analysis essay? Start with a summary of the text, use quotes from the text. Introduce the topic and do your best to engage the reader.

There are different tricks that can help you to hook your target audience. Think of some interesting facts you can start your paper with. Sure, the search for factual information will take you a certain amount of time but believe that it is worth it! Your reader will be attracted!

How to Organize It?

Remember that you’ll get the desired high score for the essay if you stick to the correct structure. You should divide your paper into three major parts: an introduction, the main body, and the conclusion. What should you write about in each of them? Have a closer look at the tips on how to write a textual analysis essay structure below.

  • An introduction: Read a hooking introduction able to attract the reader to your analysis paper. The well-written thesis statement is a must for successful textual paper writing. Your chances to get the desired A-grade will increase if you craft a powerful thesis statement reflecting the main text idea. Place the thesis sentence at the end of the introductory part.
  • The main body: The largest part of your work will be devoted to the main points of the text that you have identified while reading it. You should look for the textual evidence to each thought you include in your paper. As for the volume of the main body, usually, it is either 3 or 4 informative paragraphs that help the reader to understand what the text is about and what your attitude to the author and his/her work is.
  • The conclusion: Every paper has a final part. A textual paper isn’t an exception. Write a short paragraph summarizing all ideas and evidence and helping the reader to make his/her own conclusions with the help of your in-depth text analysis.

A Textual Analysis Essay Outline Sample

Check a sample of the textual analysis essay outline before you get started with crafting your own paper. Remember that at this stage you should concentrate on the major points not to miss anything important. You are expected to craft an outline, which will become your helper. The detailed plan is the key to success! Here, there is an example of how to write a textual analysis essay on a poem.

(Video) Literary Analysis Outline

  • Introduction:
    • Time (place) of writing, history of creation;
    • Genre peculiarity;
    • The place of this poem in the poet’s work or a series of poems on a similar theme (with a similar motive, plot, structure, etc.);
    • Explanation of unclear places, complex metaphors, and other transcripts.
  • The Main Body:
    • Feelings expressed by the lyrical hero of the poem; feelings, which a poem causes in the reader;
    • The author’s thoughts, feelings from the beginning to the end of the poem;
    • The interdependence of the content of the poem and its artistic form.
  • The Conclusion:
    • Associations, caused by this poem (literary, life, music, picturesque – any);
    • Typicality and originality of this poem in the poet’s work, deep moral or philosophical meaning of the work, opened as a result of the analysis.

Textual Analysis Essay Topics

Check the list of the interesting topics for a textual analysis essay and choose the one you like most:

  1. Choose any play by Shakespeare and analyze it.
  2. Write a textual essay on the poetry of Robert Burns.
  3. Write an analysis of the literary work “ To Kill a Mockingbird.”
  4. Provide the textual analysis of the Bible story.
  5. Write a Great Gatsby essay.
  6. Analyze the characters of M.Twain.
  7. A textual analysis of a famous speech of D.Trump.
  8. Choose successful/unsuccessful advertising and provide the textual evidence of why it is successful/unsuccessful.
  9. Choose a slogan of some famous company and analyze its text quality.
  10. A textual analysis of the religious text.

Textual Analysis Essay Examples

Textual Analysis of Generation Q(502 Words, 2 Pages)

Generation Q is an essay that discusses the attitudes of today’s twenty-something versus those of the authors generation. After spending a week visiting several colleges and observing students, the author came away with two conflicting feelings. This article expresses how he felt both impressed and baffled by the students … Read More

Mending the Void: A Contextual Analysis of Learning Disability Policies And Special Education In Malaysia(2323 Words, 13 Pages)

Learning disabilities generally refer to conditions that give rise to significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of knowledge in individuals of average or above-average intelligence (Larsen, 2013). As students they often underperform in relative to their peers, stemming from an inability to learn via conventional methods of teaching. Due …Read More

A Textual Analysis of the Article Riding To the Rescue While Holding On By a Thread: Physical Activity In Schools(2313 Words, 8 Pages)

In 2004 the academic journal Quest published an article by author Katherine Thomas entitled Riding to Recuse While Holding On By a Thread Physical Activity in the Schools. In this paper, I will analysis Thomass argument on the issue regarding daily activity in schools across the United States. The journal … Read More

A Visual and Textual Analysis of Keep This Horror from Your Home, an American Propaganda Poster during World War II(1006 Words, 2 Pages)

“Keep this Horror from Your Home,” an American propaganda poster produced during World War II, uses many visual and textual elements to encourage Americans to buy war bonds by portraying the Japanese as rapists. The author of the piece is unknown, but it is obvious that the creator of the …Read More

Textual Analysis: Beowulf(883 Words, 1 Page)

Textual analysis Beowulf Beowulf is a very complex piece of literature, or perhaps I just have a small mind, never the less it was difficult for me to understand. It was originally a folk-lore, passed verbally through the years, therefore it was told in a manner that could be easily … Read More

A Textual Analysis of the Hounds of Tindalos(1867 Words, 2 Pages)

Textual Analysis The Hounds of Tindalos The Hounds of Tindalos is a short science fiction story containing many and varied elements that have been long associated with the genre of science fiction. This essay will identify these elements, examining their placement within this short text and also the interchange of …Read More

(Video) Text Analysis Essay Example

A Textual Analysis Of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” (397 Words, 1 Page)

A Textual Analysis of Nothing Else Matters by Metallica An Open Mind and True Heart “Metallica plays heavy metal music.” This is a common stereotype of the band. “Their songs consist of nothing but meaningless screaming while banging their guitars as loud as possible. Hordes of incomprehensible fans jump around in circles … Read More

The Life and Textual Analysis of Lorenzo Valla(825 Words, 2 Pages)

Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo Valla was born into an affluent Roman family in 1407, and died there in 1457. Valla was a humanist as well as a philosopher, philologist, priest and author. Valla single-handedly disproved the dubious, yet sacred document enabling the Papacy to own territory in Constantinople in his book …Read More

A Textual Analysis of the Novel Beowulf(883 Words, 2 Pages)

Textual analysis Beowulf is a very complex piece of literature, or perhaps I just have a small mind, never the less it was difficult for me to understand. It was originally a folk-lore, passed verbally through the years, therefore it was told in a manner that could be easily remembered …Read More

A Study on the Chronological and Contextual Analysis of Archaeological Materials(4821 Words, 9 Pages)

Ideally, analysis of the materials found on a site begins in the field laboratories while excavation is still in progress. Often, however, reconnaissance and excavation are completed in a relatively brief period of time, and the records and preserved remains are taken back to a museum, university, or laboratory for …Read More

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A Textual Analysis of a Speech Transcript(825 Words, 2 Pages)

Textual Analysis PracticeComment on the speaker’s tone and use of linguistic devices (choice of words, use of rhetorical questions)How does the speaker convince the audience to accept her point of view? The transcript of the speech shows many linguistic devices, such as repetition and metaphors, and we see the variation in … Read More

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(Video) Tips for Writing a Textual Analysis Paper

FAQs

What is an example of textual analysis? ›

For example, a researcher might investigate how often certain words are repeated in social media posts, or which colors appear most prominently in advertisements for products targeted at different demographics.

How do you write a textual analysis essay? ›

Example what its effect is on a reader. And then at the end of that paragraph. Explain why that

How do you write a textual analysis outline? ›

The reader's textual analysis ought to include a summary of the author's topic, an analysis or explanation of how the author's perspective relates to the ongoing conversation about that particular topic, an interpretation of the effectiveness of the author's argument and thesis, and references to specific components of ...

What are the 4 key features of writing a textual analysis essay? ›

Acquisition of texts is important as is the representativeness of the texts selected since sampling is typically used. A. There are four major approaches to textual analysis: rhetorical criticism, content analysis, interaction analysis, and performance studies.

Which is the first step of Text Analysis? ›

The first step in text analytics is identifying what language the text is written in.

How do you analyze two texts by theme or topic? ›

To do so, follow these eight steps:
  1. Read each text very carefully.
  2. Identify the type of text.
  3. Identify the text's topic.
  4. Identify the text's purpose.
  5. Identify the author's main idea or argument.
  6. Identify the reasons and evidence the author uses to support or explain the main idea.
  7. Clarify any unknowns about the text.
29 Oct 2021

How do you start a text analysis response? ›

Begin with a topic sentence about how the writing strategy/literary element is used. 2. Explain using quotes 3. Connect to the central idea.

How do you end a textual analysis essay? ›

Include a brief summary of the paper's main points, but don't simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together.

What are the types of textual analysis? ›

Types of Text Analysis
  • Word frequency (lists of words and their frequencies) ...
  • Collocation (words commonly appearing near each other)
  • Concordance (the contexts of a given word or set of words)
  • N-grams (common two-, three-, etc.- word phrases)
  • Entity recognition (identifying names, places, time periods, etc.)
19 Jan 2017

How many paragraphs are required for the text analysis response? ›

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs: the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion. Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic.

How do you write a Grade 11 literary essay? ›

First, study the topic carefully and underline the most important aspects as shown. Once you know what you must focus on in your answer, you can plan your essay.
...
  1. Write out your conclusion in full.
  2. Summarise your main argument. Round off your essay in a strong statement. ...
  3. End your essay with a strong statement.

What should you write in the first sentence of the body paragraphs? ›

Often the hardest sentence to write, the first sentence of your body paragraph should act as the topic sentence, introducing the main point of the entire paragraph. Also known as the “paragraph leader,” the topic sentence opens the discussion with an underlying claim (or sometimes a question).

How do you write a topic sentence for an analytical essay? ›

Good topic sentences can improve an essay's readability and organization.
...
It needs to meet three criteria:
  1. It must be arguable rather than a statement of fact. ...
  2. It must be limited enough so that the paper develops in some depth. ...
  3. It must be unified so that the paper does not stray from the topic.

How do you start an analysis paragraph? ›

The opening paragraph captures the attention and sets up your analysis by doing these three things:
  1. Start with a hook. Open your essay with something enticing related to your topic, the goal being to grab the reader's attention.
  2. State your topics. ...
  3. Make your thesis statement.

How do you Analyse a text? ›

When you analyze an essay or article, consider these questions:
  1. What is the thesis or central idea of the text?
  2. Who is the intended audience?
  3. What questions does the author address?
  4. How does the author structure the text?
  5. What are the key parts of the text?
  6. How do the key parts of the text interrelate?

How do you Analyse words? ›

What Are Word Analysis Skills?
  1. use context clues.
  2. differentiate among multiple meanings of words.
  3. use knowledge of roots, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.
  4. use word reference materials (dictionary, glossary, thesaurus)
  5. identify figurative language.
9 Jan 2019

What is the purpose of text analysis? ›

Text analysis is the process of using computer systems to read and understand human-written text for business insights. Text analysis software can independently classify, sort, and extract information from text to identify patterns, relationships, sentiments, and other actionable knowledge.

How do you find the purpose and conclusion of a text? ›

To determine a text's purpose, readers should ask themselves the following series of questions.
  1. Is the text a novel, a story, or a poem? ...
  2. Does the text offer a set of facts? ...
  3. Does the text provide a series of steps to accomplish a specific task? ...
  4. Does the text tell how something works?
29 Oct 2021

How do you Analyse a theme? ›

How to Find and Analyse Themes in Texts
  1. Consider the plot.
  2. Examine the characters.
  3. Find recurring symbols or images.
  4. Identify any ideas that are explored in the text.
  5. Figure out the main message in the text.

How should a reader analyze a text to identify its theme? ›

4 Ways to Analyze Theme
  1. Look for recurring images. ...
  2. Ask questions (and make a note of them) ...
  3. Identify the different tools the author uses to express the theme. ...
  4. Keep a notebook of notes while reading, and then compare all once finished reading.
24 Jun 2018

How do you write a topic sentence for a text response essay? ›

Topic Sentence: Students should begin each of their paragraphs with a topic sentence. This sentence introduces the point that will serve as the main idea of the paragraph – the central riff if you like. It will engage directly with an aspect of the question or writing prompt.

How do you write an introduction to a text response essay? ›

An introduction can be divided into three steps:
  1. Firstly, briefly set up context. ...
  2. Explicitly outline your contention. ...
  3. Finally, briefly signpost the upcoming arguments in your essay.

How do you write a body paragraph in a text response essay? ›

Your argument to the reader to achieve. This what you should do is ensure that every sentence you

How do you write an introduction? ›

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order: An opening hook to catch the reader's attention. Relevant background information that the reader needs to know. A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

How can I start my conclusion? ›

Conclusions should always begin with a topic sentence. Restating the thesis from your introductory paragraph in the first sentence of your conclusion is an effective way to remind the reader of the main argument.

How do you start a conclusion in an essay? ›

The conclusion paragraph should begin by restating your thesis, and then you should broaden back out to a general topic. End with a closing statement. This paragraph looks like the reverse of your introduction paragraph, going from specific to general.

What is a text analysis essay? ›

Text Analysis Papers

A text analysis paper will focus upon an area of the work that you find interesting, significant, or feel merits discussion. A text analysis paper should be fairly formal, and should genuinely attempt to shed light on one or more aspects of the work.

What are the key features of a textual analysis? ›

W-6a Key Elements of a Textual Analysis
  • A summary of the text. Your readers may not know the text you are analyzing, so you need to include it or tell them about it before you can analyze it. ...
  • Attention to the context. ...
  • A clear interpretation or judgment. ...
  • Reasonable support for your conclusions.

What is the textual analysis model? ›

Textual analysis is a methodology that involves understanding language, symbols, and/or pictures present in texts to gain information regarding how people make sense of and communicate life and life experiences. Visual, written, or spoken messages provide cues to ways through which communication may be understood.

How do you start an analysis sentence? ›

Most analyses begin with a brief summary of the main points that the analysis will make. Writing your thesis first will help you stay focused as you plan out and draft the rest of your analysis. In 1 or 2 sentences, summarize the major argument(s) you will be making.

How do I write a topic sentence? ›

How to Write a Strong Topic Sentence in 6 Steps
  1. Have a thesis statement. You need to know what your paper or essay is about to determine the topic sentences. ...
  2. Outline your paper. ...
  3. Be clear and coherent. ...
  4. Share an opinion. ...
  5. Be specific in your wording. ...
  6. Add transitions between paragraphs.
28 Sept 2022

How do you start a literary analysis essay? ›

Start with the title of your work and its author's name. One or two sentences will suffice. Stress on the main idea of the analyzed work to make these sentences more hooking. Briefly tell what the work is about or how it influenced the world literature.

How do you start an English literature essay? ›

The best place to start with any essay is an introduction. This is a short summative paragraph that will let your examiner know what you will be writing about, also known as a thesis statement. The first thing you'll need to do is address the question.

How do you start a topic sentence? ›

How to write a topic sentence
  1. Identify the main point in your piece of writing. Think about the overall topic for your writing. ...
  2. Write a sentence that connects to your main idea with a what and a why. ...
  3. Use the sentence you created as an opening statement. ...
  4. Create the first sentence in each supporting paragraph.

How do you end a introduction paragraph? ›

Finish the first paragraph with a concluding or summary sentence. It must also contain a transitional “hook” which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the essay. topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence.

How do you write an introduction body and conclusion in an essay? ›

Each of these three parts—the introduction, the body, and the conclusion—has its own three functions.
  1. Introduction. Grab the reader's interest. Bring in the general topic for the paper. ...
  2. Body. Say what the evidence is. Give a concrete example of the evidence. ...
  3. Conclusion. Reconnect to the introduction. Summarize the evidence.

How many paragraphs should an analysis essay have? ›

An analytical essay is basically an expanded five-paragraph essay containing an introduction, body, and conclusion, with specific components required for each section.

How many sentences should an analysis be? ›

Analysis should be a minimum of two (2) sentences. 6. Concluding/Transition Sentence – If you are writing just one analytical paragraph then this sentence serves as your conclusion. It answers the question “what's your point?” It should tie back to the topic sentence.

Can you use i in an analysis essay? ›

Use formal, academic diction (word choice) in a literary analysis. Therefore, write in the third person. First person (I, me, our, we, etc.) and second person (you) are too informal for academic writing, and most literature professors prefer students to write in third person.

What is the best topic for an essay? ›

Some great ideas for your essay topic are: Your favorite childhood memory. Most recent travel experience. The death of a friend or relative that influenced you.

What are some topic ideas? ›

Topic Examples
  • Education: Sex education, homeschooling, school bullying, non-smoking campus, learning disabilities, Common Core, affirmative action.
  • Equality/Human Rights: ...
  • Community/Social Issues: ...
  • Romantic Relationships: ...
  • Family/Friends: ...
  • Recreation/Hobbies: ...
  • Work: ...
  • Identity/Appearance:

What makes a good analysis essay? ›

An analytical essay answers how something does what it does or why it is as it is. Therefore, a thesis statement in an analysis paper should be answering a HOW or WHY question. A strong thesis makes a claim about the subject that needs proving.

How do you plan an analysis essay? ›

To write an analytical essay, first write an introduction that gives your reader background information and introduces your thesis. Then, write body paragraphs in support of your thesis that include a topic sentence, an analysis of some part of the text, and evidence from the text that supports your analysis.

How do you analyze the structure of an essay? ›

Analytical Essay Structure
  1. Introduction: Introduce your topic. ...
  2. Thesis statement: This is where you state your intentions for the essay. ...
  3. Main body: This will always differ, depending on what you're analysing. ...
  4. Conclusion: this is where you'll draw all your points together, and restate your thesis.
31 May 2017

How do you Analyse textual analysis? ›

The methods used to conduct textual analysis depend on the field and the aims of the research.
...
They might analyse many different aspects of the text:
  1. Word choice.
  2. Design elements.
  3. Location of the text.
  4. Target audience.
  5. Relationship with other texts.
7 May 2022

What are the key features of a textual analysis? ›

W-6a Key Elements of a Textual Analysis
  • A summary of the text. Your readers may not know the text you are analyzing, so you need to include it or tell them about it before you can analyze it. ...
  • Attention to the context. ...
  • A clear interpretation or judgment. ...
  • Reasonable support for your conclusions.

What is an example of statistical analysis? ›

Statistical analysis is the science of collecting data and uncovering patterns and trends. It's really just another way of saying “statistics.” After collecting data you can analyze it to: Summarize the data. For example, make a pie chart.

How do you Analyse a text? ›

How to analyze a text?
  1. Read or reread the text with specific questions in mind.
  2. Marshal basic ideas, events and names. ...
  3. Think through your personal reaction to the book: identification, enjoyment, significance, application.

How do you write an introduction to a textual analysis? ›

It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay's structure. A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement.

How can I improve my Text Analysis skills? ›

Three Strategies for Improving Analysis of Texts
  1. Compare and contrast events, characters or settings. This requires moving past focusing on the elements that are clearly visible and obvious and considering implied similarities and differences that are not explicitly stated in the text. ...
  2. Identify the theme.
17 Jun 2021

What is textual content analysis? ›

Content analysis is a research technique used to make replicable and valid inferences by interpreting and coding textual material. By systematically evaluating texts (e.g., documents, oral communication, and graphics), qualitative data can be converted into quantitative data.

What is the purpose of analyzing text? ›

The purpose of Text Analysis is to create structured data out of free text content. The process can be thought of as slicing and dicing heaps of unstructured, heterogeneous documents into easy-to-manage and interpret data pieces.

What is the difference between content analysis and textual analysis? ›

Textual analysis is the rhetorical concepts that are used to analyze the features of texts. Contextual analysis is the understanding of particular rhetorical acts as parts of a larger conversation.

How do you close textual analysis? ›

Here is a template to use:
  1. Choose the word or phrase.
  2. Explain the literal meaning.
  3. Explain the connotations or implicit meanings (there may be more than one!)
  4. Link back to the question, other poem or theme.
  5. Identify the techniques being used.
  6. Explain the effect on the reader.

What are the 5 types of analysis? ›

5 Types of analytics: Prescriptive, Predictive, Diagnostic, Descriptive and Cognitive Analytics - WeirdGeek | Data analytics, Data science, Data analysis tools.

What are the 5 basic methods of statistical analysis? ›

The five basic methods are mean, standard deviation, regression, hypothesis testing, and sample size determination.

What are the two main types of analysis? ›

Descriptive and inferential are the two general types of statistical analyses in quantitative research.

What is Text Analysis in English? ›

Text analysis is the process of using computer systems to read and understand human-written text for business insights. Text analysis software can independently classify, sort, and extract information from text to identify patterns, relationships, sentiments, and other actionable knowledge.

How do you find the purpose and conclusion of a text? ›

To determine a text's purpose, readers should ask themselves the following series of questions.
  1. Is the text a novel, a story, or a poem? ...
  2. Does the text offer a set of facts? ...
  3. Does the text provide a series of steps to accomplish a specific task? ...
  4. Does the text tell how something works?
29 Oct 2021

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