Writer

All artists know that the creative process Involves the acquirement of Inspiration and an Idea, however critics have been criticizing where these ideas and Inspiration comes from. In the movie “40 minutes “we see how the writer Is grappling with finding the correct inspiration and Idea. The Idea Is that the exposure that various artists faced with in the past, whether It Is a writer that read a book or an artist that saw an Image, incorporates these experiences Into their own work.

This can therefore happen willingly or accidental In from the subconscious. There Is thus a adolescently between creators that merely copies an element of work and Incorporate their own meaning and creativity Into It with slightly changing It, and then we get creators who steal the work of others and make It their own by exactly copying every element. (as did the writer in the movie) In the film we witness the incorporation of a whole text that the writer had found and making it his own, therefore exposing the creative process at its rawest.

When Steve Jobs said that a good artist copies he meant that the artists moulds and perfects the ideas and influences of others, but the artist that steals (like his company apple was stolen from him) is a great artist for they wholly encapsulate previous work of others and make it their own. Therefore if the creative process means that you cannot but incorporate the work of others, you might as well steal everything and turn it into your own to be the greatest. We therefore build on the work of our predecessors in some degree.

Compare and contrast the ways in which adults and children are presented in the extract. The adults and children are presented differently in the extract through their actions, reactions and feelings. This extract deals with the helplessness of being sent to a concentration camp, conveying the effects of the departure on them, the adult’s powerlessness to the event, and the children’s resistance. In the extract, the adults are presented as being aware of what was going on, and of their current situation. They know where they’re going, and what it’s like in concentration camps.

They are completely aware of their fate, yet they did not resist it, or try to prevent it from happening. Although they did not do anything significant to try and change their horrific fate in the concentration camps, in their minds, they were trying to stop it from occurring, by refusing to drink coffee. That is significant because the coffee means a lot more than just coffee for drinking. It meant ‘breakfast, and therefore the departure. ’ By refusing to drink coffee, it meant they didn’t have breakfast yet, and therefore their departure is belated.

The adults are also portrayed as being restless and powerless, it could be because they’re scared, or maybe because they know they can’t do anything, and have accepted their fate. This makes me as a reader feel sympathy for the adults as they have no choice and are unable to control their life and fate. The writer used strong adjectives to describe the state the adults in, it helps the reader sympathise with the adults and understand their feelings, provoking a sense of grief. The writer used adjectives such as ‘sobbing passion’ to describe the state in which some of the adults wrote their letters back home in.

It makes the reader visualise that, and almost hear it. This conveys sorrow, as they are sobbing passionately, meaning it’s deep and from the bottom of their hearts. As a reader, I find that very touching, and it makes me feel some of their sorrow, like it was my own. The writer also described the adult’s actions and feelings in such a way; it will leave an impact on the reader, and making it unforgettable. ‘The way in which they were remembered, depended upon their choice of words. ’ I find that quite ironic, as the writer’s words and how he described this is memorable.

This provokes a sense of sympathy from the reader, as this portrays restlessness, and that the adults have given in and accepted their fate, without fighting back. It also provokes a sense of sadness, as the adults do not want to be forgotten by their families, just as the writer does not want them to be forgotten by us. It sounds final. On the other hand, the children are ignorant and do not fully understand the situation. They are only aware of the fact that they are going to a concentration camp, but do not understand the horrors of that. That makes the reader feel pity for the children.

Unlike the adults, they are resistant to this, and try to stop it. ‘In the filthy straw they dug their heels and screamed. ’ The reactions of the children portray the simplicity of their minds, and how to them this is a normal journey; not a fateful one. This is also shows by ‘their ability to fall asleep where they lay, to dream of other places. ’ That is also quite ironic, as the place they are going to, is a nightmare rather than a dream. The children are also left with nothing, but each other, ‘Jacob’s limbs were intertwined with his for warmth. This conveys how little they have, and how they count on each other, despite their young age. They don’t even have heat to keep warm, so they rely on each other for that. This makes me feel pity for these children as a reader. The children are also thankful for what little they have, ‘One of the older boys embraced her in his gratitude, but the bucket was soon empty. ’ This conveys misfortune, and makes the reader feel pity for them. ‘Some of the children were too small to manage the step up and had to be helped on by gendarmes,’ this shows how young they are; they are unable to get on the platform of the bus.

This portrays the unjust and cruelty of the situation, little children who are unable to get on the platform of the bus are being sent to concentration camps, to face the most horrific times of their lives at such an age. They will be forever psychologically scarred. The adults and children are presented in completely different ways, yet we sympathise for both. As they are both about to face the same thing, except the children don’t know what they’re going to face. As a reader I sympathise for the children more, as they are innocent and young, and do not deserve to go through such a thing at a young age.

The crime and the detective novel and their conventions have changed considerably over the last century. As societies have changed, these genres have adapted and branched out to meet the needs of writers attempting to express new concerns. Edgar Allen Poe’s detective novel, The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) follows conventions we would now consider to be traditional in mystery writing.

Bearing a close resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, we find a detective who relies on reasoning and deduction to solve a mystery that to all intensive purposes appears unsolvable; a locked room mystery such as Doyle’s The Speckled Band (1892). In America, between the world wars, emerged the ‘hard-boiled’ private eye novel, featuring tough private investigators, often themselves outcasts from society. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are examples of authors from this school of detective fiction.

After the Second World War there was increasingly a feeling that literary fiction was an inadequate means of accurately describing the horrors of the modern world. ‘New journalism’ emerged, a term coined by Tom Wolfe to describe non-fiction novels by authors such as Truman Capote. His true crime novel, In Cold Blood (1965) is one of the texts that will be examined in this essay. Later in the century literature became more preoccupied with issues of alienation as a result of city living and capitalist expansion. Postmodern concerns were expressed in detective metafiction, such a Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy (1987).

This novel will also be examined. Lastly, this essay will look at James Ellroy’s My Dark Places (1996). Ellroy himself has described this as an “investigative autobiography”, but it also contains elements of the police procedural novel, which came into being in 1940’s America. This sub-genre deals with the more detailed elements of police detection, in comparison to that of the private eye. The extent to which writers are also detectives in these three texts varies greatly. The fact that they are all very different in terms of the sub-genres of detective or crime fiction makes direct comparison difficult.

Therefore this essay concentrates on each in turn, drawing together the main arguments in the conclusion. I have tried to give equal attention to each text, but the fact that each story in Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy can stand alone as an individual piece of writing has made this difficult. In New York Trilogy, the distinction between writer and detective is particularly indistinct. This is complicated by the fact that Auster continually subverts the conventions of the detective genre that are expected by the reader.

For instance, in a detective novel there is generally an expectation on the reader’s part that a crime has been committed, and that the mystery surrounding this crime will be solved thereby restoring the social order. In the first story of the novel, City of Glass, no crime takes place. The central character, I will for now call Quinn (this term as I will later explain is also problematic), accepts a surveillance job, which only becomes a mystery when his employers, Virginia and the young Peter Stillman disappear.

Rather than providing a solution to this mystery the novel instead throws up more questions and leaves the reader increasingly confused. It is with this central character, Quinn, that the distinction between writer and detective first becomes unclear. Quinn is an author of detective fiction. He has created the character Max Work, a private eye, under the pen name of William Wilson. At this stage Quinn has already to some extent become a detective. For Quinn the roles of, “the writer and detective are interchangeable”1.

Both the writer and the detective must look out in to the world and search for thoughts or clues that will enable them to make sense of events. They must both be observant and aware of details. Quinn appears to exist only through the existence of Max Work, “If he lived now in the world at all, it was only at one remove, through the imaginary person of Max Work. “2. He even finds himself imagining what Max Work would have said to the stranger on the phone after receiving the first call. Perhaps this is why the next time he answers the phone to the stranger he finds himself taking on the identity of the unknown detective, Paul Auster.

Surely this is not an action one would expect from the uncomfortable writer Quinn, but one that could be easily identified with the confident private eye Max Work. From this moment on, Quinn the writer has also taken on the physical duties of the detective. Adding to the complication, by taking on the identity of an unknown and apparently non-existent detective named Paul Auster, Quinn also takes on the identity of an existing writer Paul Auster, who agrees to cash the checks paid to Quinn by the Stillmans. At this point Quinn (as his name suggests3) has five identities.

Three of these are writers and two are detectives. As a detective, Quinn finds that the thought processes in which he must engage are not dissimilar to those of a writer. As “Dupin says in Poe… ‘An identification of the reasoner’s intellect with that of his opponent'”4is necessary. In this case Stillman senior is the opponent. This is similar to the process in which Quinn must put himself in the fictional Max Work’s place in order to determine what course of action he might take in order to make him appear realistic to the reader.

In the second story of the trilogy, Ghosts, the reader is introduced to Blue, a professional rather than sham detective. A man named White hires him to watch a man called Black, and to make weekly reports on his movements. In contrast to the first story in which the writer becomes detective, in this we see the detective become writer. Faced with very little understanding of the case he has embarked upon, Blue finds himself making up stories in order to bring some meaning to the position he is in, “Murder plots, for instance, and kidnapping schemes for giant ransoms.

As the days go on he realise there is no end to the stories he can tell. “5. Blue is hardly restricted in the number of theories he can advance because he possesses only a small number of facts they have to meet. The detective becomes a writer in his attempt to reconstruct a possible crime. This can be seen in any number of detective or crime novels, including In Cold Blood and My Dark Places. According to Peter Huhn in his article ‘The Detective as Reader: Narrativity and Reading Concepts in Detective Fiction’, … he text of the novel can be said to have two authors (at least): the criminal (who wrote the original mystery story [by committing the crime]) and the detective (who writes the reconstruction of the first story).

As a detective, Blue has never previously had difficulty with writing reports. It is only when he sits down to write his first report on Black that he encounters a writers struggle to find a way of adequately expressing events. Before, action has always held “forth over interpretation”7 in his reports. As he feels pulled towards interpreting events he becomes more a writer than detective.

In one report he even includes a completely fictitious observation, that he believes Black is ill and may die. The incident in the Algonquin Hotel, in which Blue approaches Black under the guise of a life insurance salesman named Snow, the reader is made aware that perhaps Black is also a private detective (unless he is lying). If we take this to be the case then it could be considered that Black the private detective is also a writer, in that his actions determine those of Blue. Blue must follow him wherever he goes, is trapped by Black’s routine and so Black is, in effect, writing Blue’s life.

Conversely then, the same must be true for Blue. If Black really is a private detective, as Blue is, then Black must follow Blue, becoming trapped in his routine. Blue is therefore the writer of Black’s life. In the third story, The Locked Room, the central character, an un-named author is a writer who turns detective in an attempt to locate his childhood friend Fanshawe. Until Fanshawe contacts the narrator in a letter, he has been presumed dead. Initially, the process of detection begins under a pretext of writing a biography of Fanshawe’s life. As a writer of a biography, one is expected to stick to facts, as is a detective.

However, as this biography would be written under the illusion that Fanshawe is dead it would actually in effect be a work of invention rather than accurate reconstruction. The narrator tells us, “The book was a work of fiction. Even though it was based on facts, it could tell nothing but lies. “8. Thus, in this story, the central character even through the process of detection remains, in essence, a writer. The extent to which writer is also detective in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood must be looked at in a very different way due to the type of crime novel it is.

Tom Wolfe has as I have mentioned, described it as ‘New journalism’. Capote himself, however, distances his novel from this school of writing. He views his work as “creative journalism” as opposed to for instance, a “documentary novel”9. The distinction for Capote is that to be a good creative journalist a writer must have experience in writing fiction so that he has the necessary knowledge of fictional writing techniques. Writers trained in journalism for example would not possess the skills needed to write a creative journalistic piece, but are more suited to writing documentary novels.

Capote’s distinction is relevant to the question because it gives us an insight into the extent in which In Cold Blood was created as a compelling true crime novel, largely based on fact (by a writer), in comparison to the extent in which a crime and it’s effects was accurately reconstructed and completely based on fact (as a detective would attempt to do). In order to determine the real extent to which Capote as author of this novel was also a detective a number of issues need to be addressed. To begin with the opinion that in researching and writing In Cold Blood Capote was in fact acting as a detective will be examined.

The research Capote undertook in writing this non-fiction novel was indeed extremely thorough. He arrived in Holcomb in November 1959, the same month of the murders and a month before Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested. He was therefore present during the time in which the initial police investigation was taking place. He conducted hundreds of interviews with residents of Holcomb, and other individuals who had come into contact with the two murderers. Some of these interviews, as he told George Plimpton in an interview for the New York Times in 1966, went on for three years.

Capote also undertook “months of comparative research on murder, murderers, the criminal mentality,” as well as interviewing, “quite a number of murderers” in order to gain a perspective on Smith and Perry10. In his interviewing of Smith and Perry after their arrest, he acted to a great extent as a detective is expected to. As the men were kept apart following their arrest, Capote was able to cross-reference their interview answers in order to determine fact from fiction, “I would keep crossing their stories, and what correlated, what checked out identically, was the truth”11.

In Cold Blood has been widely accepted as an extremely accurate portrayal of the Clutter murders and the following investigation. However, the opinion that In Cold Blood was as much a work of fiction as of fact needs to be considered. Within this novel there are several instances in which Capote could be said to have used artistic licence. The clearest example of this is the last scene of the novel in which Detective Alvin Dewey meets murdered Nancy Clutter’s childhood friend at the graveyard in Holcomb, four years after the family’s deaths, ‘And nice to have seen you, Sue.

Good luck,’ he called to her as she disappeared down the path, a pretty girl in a hurry, her smooth hair swinging, shining – just such a young woman as Nancy might have been. 12 We know this to be an utterly fictitious scene because, according to Dewey’s biographer Gerald Clarke, Dewey never met Susan Kidwell until the executions of Smith and Hickock in 196513. According to Capote, however, the meeting at the graveyard took place the previous May, in 1964. In the novel, the reader also cannot escape a feeling that Capote is somewhat biased towards Perry Smith.

As a writer, personal opinions and feelings are perfectly acceptable inclusions in a reconstruction, but as a detective they are not. Of course this bias may arise directly from Capote’s observations of the two men, and of factual, psychological evidence. In which case this would be a fair assessment. However, it has been suggested by some that this bias arises from Capote’s feelings for Perry Smith and the relationship they developed whilst Capote was conducting his research. Ned Rorem, referring to a dinner conversation with Truman Capote in 1963, said of Capote “he seemed clearly in love with him [Perry].

It must be remembered however that this is just speculation. In Cold Blood has also been seen as a polemic against capital punishment and the American justice system. By indicating in the novel that Perry Smith was in a “psychological cul-de-sac”15 at the time he committed the murders he insinuates that the death penalty was an unjust sentence. With regard to Capote’s attack on the justice system, his criticism can clearly be seen in his account of the jury selection for the trial, The airport employee, a middle-aged man named N. L. Dunnan, said, when asked his opinion of capital punishment, ‘Ordinarily I’m against it.

But in this case no’ – a declaration which, to some who heard it, seemed clearly indicative of prejudice. Dunnan was nevertheless selected as a juror. 16 If this is indeed a polemic, it must be the case that opinions and facts in opposition to Capote’s argument would have been left out. This would make him more writer than detective. He himself confessed that, I make my own comment by what I choose to tell and how I choose to tell it. It is true that an author is more in control of fictional characters because he do [sic] anything he wants with them as long as they stay credible.

But in the nonfiction novel one can also manipulate. 17 Ellroy’s My Dark Places is also a true crime novel containing, as I have mentioned, elements of autobiography and of the police procedural. Unlike In Cold Blood, in which the reader is aware of the culprits’ identities from the beginning, it is more of a ‘whodunit’ in that the reader does not know who the murderer is. Through the process of detection, and with the help of a homicide detective named Bill Stoner, Ellroy retraces the initial investigation into his mother’s murder in the hope of finally solving it.

As in New York Trilogy, however, the reader is denied the solution and restoration of order generally expected from (and often desired in) a detective novel. The novel is written in four parts, and the extent to which Ellroy is both writer and detective varies with each one. The first part, ‘The Redhead’ is Ellroy’s reconstruction of the original investigation. Although true crime, this section reads as a police procedural novel, involving meticulous detail of each piece of evidence and information collected at the time.

Ellroy has had to take on the role of detective in this section in order to reconstruct events as they happened at the time, 1958, thirty-five years before his own investigation. Unlike a fictional police procedural, in which the reader expects at least a portion of the evidence to be significant in solving the case, in the end it proves to be useless. It is Ellroy’s inclusion of this irrelevant information that increases the extent to which he is also detective. Rather than using it as a plot device, he has included it for the purposes of accuracy.

This section is also largely devoid of emotion, regardless of the significance of the case to Ellroy. The title, ‘The Redhead’ is an example of this emotional absence; it provides a superficial physical description of Ellroy’s mother with no real clue as to her identity. Ellroy himself, as narrator, is absent. He appears only as a character in the drama, the murdered woman’s son. Unlike the last section in the novel, Ellroy does not appear as a detective. The second part of the text, ‘The Kid in the Picture’, is autobiographical.

It traces Ellroy’s personal involvement in crime, such as going on “righteous burglary”18 runs, and his development as a writer of crime fiction. In this section Ellroy is clearly writer rather than detective. This is made even more evident as he mentions novels written by him during this period, such as L. A. Confidential – which he describes as a novel “all about me and L. A. crime”19. The third part of the novel, ‘Stoner’, introduces the reader to the detective Bill Stoner, the man who will eventually aid Ellroy in the search for his mother’s killer.

This section is a biography of Stoner’s life and cases as a homicide and later as an unsolved crime detective. Ellroy himself is again absent from this section. As a writer he would had to have investigated the events in Stoner’s life that are mentioned here. Thus, in writing this section Ellroy has had to, in effect, engage in detection. The other way in which Ellroy could be seen to also be a detective in this part is the language he employs. Much of the information we are given reads as would a police report.

As Blue in New York Trilogy is accustomed to writing reports in which “action holds forth over interpretation”20, we see Ellroy writing in the same manner. This can be seen in the following extract, The Soto guys let her in. Karen verbally attacked John’s common-law wife and ran out of the apartment. The wife chased her. They traded insults on the sidewalk until 2:00 in the morning. John Soto ran down. He made his wife go upstairs. The whole of this section is written in the same manner. In contrast to In Cold Blood there is no emotion or interpretation, only facts.

For this reason, as Ellroy’s novel also deals with true crime, it could be said that Ellroy is a detective to a greater extent than Capote because he sticks more rigidly to the facts. The fact that the reader finishes this novel with a sense of dissatisfaction (as the case is not solved) could also add credence to this idea. This is because as a self-consciously literary exercise, rather than accurate detection, In Cold Blood manages to create a sense of suspense even though the reader knows who has been killed and who committed the crime.

Ellroy instead recounts facts as they were rather than attempting to satisfy readers’ expectations. Conversely, if we are talking about conventional detective literature, we could say that Ellroy is less of a detective (in the traditional manner) for the very reason that he fails to solve the crime, thereby failing to restore social order. The final section, ‘Geneva Hilliker’, is that in which Ellroy is most evidently a detective as well as writer. This section of the novel details Ellroy’s own investigation. It follows his collation of evidence, false leads followed and the final (if unsatisfying) resolution to Ellroy’s story.

Even if the reader does not find out who killed Geneva Hilliker, they, as Ellroy does, find out about her and her life. For Ellroy this provides some closure, as we would expect from a crime novel. It is not conventional to the genre but does resolve some of the questions Ellroy hoped to answer when he embarked on the investigation, thus consolidating his position as detective (however temporarily). In each of these novels, writers have to a considerable extent also been detectives. It is difficult to determine whether this is truer in any of the texts than in the others due to the different ways in which this has been the case.

In My Dark Places and In Cold Blood, the authors of the novels have also carried out acts of detection in the research carried out for those novels. In New York Trilogy we see characters that happen to be either writers or detectives exchanging these roles. It may be said that any author is to some extent a detective, whether they are researching a factual book, or writing a fictional novel in order to discover something about the world in which they live. As Quinn believes, “the writer and detective are interchangeable”21.

Choose a poem in which you feel there is a significant moment which reveals the central idea of the poem; show how the poet achieves this in an effective way.

‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen is a poem in which a significant moment reveals the central idea of the poem. The poet achieves this through many poetic techniques such as depersonalisation and alliteration.

The first hint of content of the poem comes in the title, the paradox of ‘Doomed Youth’ implies that it will not be a happy poem but the first line is significant as the central idea of the poem is revealed.

“What passing bells for those who die as cattle?”

The rhetorical question at the very beginning of the poem draws the reader in making them think fully about the ideas carried on through the rest of the poem. From the very start we are aware that the people who are dying are not considered important as the writer refers to the people as ‘those’. Also the depersonalisation as he calls them ‘cattle’ implies that they were thought to be no more than animals. They also lose their own personal identities. ‘Cattle’ also implies that the men do not have voices and needs that anyone else – anyone human – can understand. As a reader I feel that opening the poem with a rhetorical question is very effective.

However in the second line of the poem Owen personifies the guns – ‘monstrous anger’ – showing that the guns are worth more and have a louder voice than the men who are dying, which links to the first line as the men were depersonalised. Also Owen uses the word ‘stuttering’ to describe the rifles which could imply that the soldiers are young and nervous referring to ‘youth’ in the title. The reader feels sympathetic towards the young soldiers.

Again Owen implies that the soldiers are not seen as individuals by the use of ‘Can patter out their hasty orisons’. By using the word ‘their’ Owen shows how the soldiers were grouped together. This idea is carried on to the next line with ‘No mockeries for them’ as he refers to the men as ‘them.’ The idea of ‘mockeries,’ ‘prayers’, ‘bells’ and ‘mourning’ all are associated with death and funerals, but the repeated use of ‘No’ tells us that no one respected the soldiers enough for a proper burial, it could also imply too many of the soldiers were dying. This also relates to the question at the beginning of the poem. The reader feels angry that the soldiers are not respected in their deaths.

Although the second stanza starts the same way as the first stanza – with a rhetorical question – the ideas suggested are different.

“What candle may be held to speed them all?”

Unlike the first rhetorical question this implies that there is not anything good or big enough to show respect to all the soldiers who died in the war. This rhetorical question also links the first and second stanzas together as they both start the same way.

Also death is portrayed in a more positive light, as the people at home respect the soldiers. This is shown by the ‘holy glimmers of goodbyes’ by the use of the word ‘holy’ the poet shows the reader that the soldiers were respected greatly. Owen also implies that only in death with the torture of war end which makes the reader feel sympathy for the soldiers and anger for the pointless destruction that war causes.

In contrast to the treatment of the soldiers in the first stanza the writer tells the reader that the soldiers will be missed as he says about the women at home:

“the pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;”

This shows that they were worried about their husbands, brothers and sons. This is carried through the next line when Owen tells the reader ‘their flowers the tenderness of patient minds’ showing that the war is not only affecting the soldiers but their loved ones who are left behind. This makes the reader sympathetic towards the soldiers and their family and friends.

The idea of respect is carried on in the last line as the alliteration of ‘And each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.’ slows down the pace of the words and ‘drawing down of blinds’ symbolises the end of another soldiers life as drawing down blinds was a mark of respect when someone died.

‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen is a poem in which a significant moment reveals the central idea of the poem. Through many poetic techniques such as word choice, alliteration and personification the writer effectively creates a moment which the central idea is revealed.

An analytical essay writing is easier than you thought

People studying at colleges and universities, and those having relevance to this area of activity face the task to deliver various types of academic papers including analytical essays. It may sound too complicated, however, when you understand the primary requirements of the work and the key points you have to include in your text, it becomes as easy as pie. The main thing is to state the idea, strengthen it with the proper vital arguments and add some “dressing” such as citations and famous sayings so that your text will be fresh and exclusive.

Try not to mention irrelevant details or discuss the same issue with too many items. Be the exact, laconic and charismatic writer, stick to your writing style. An analytical essay is a kind of investigation, which presupposes approaching the particular problem from various angles. The content of analytical article depends on the object of analysis. For example, when the work of literature is analyzed, you can investigate artistic methods applied by the author. If it is scientific work, an essay may be dedicated to the analysis of its relevance and potential. That is why the writer has to settle on the object of research before deciding on main points of the essay.

Another essay’s feature that should be taken into consideration is that in the process of preparation for the analytical writer of this type of text presupposes some work with the examples of literature. The volume of the ordinary essay of this kind should not be enormous, so you need to include only composed and maximally appropriate pieces. To make the writing attractive to the target readers you should find and include various scientific and historical facts and statistics connected to the topic.

Try to look for short and informative abstracts to enhance your text with the original pieces. Remember the fact that the essay reflects the way of writer’s thinking, outlook, and level of education. Try to express yourself concisely. The style of paper should be formal, however not too much scientific. All the points mentioned above are the characteristics of a well-written analytical essay. The procedure is simple. All you need to do just understand the topic, turn on your imagination and start the creation of a masterpiece.

Analytical essay definition

Writing of an analytical essay is not an easy task especially for those who faced this for the first time. To create a well-structured and sense-loaded article you need to understand the very essence of it. This type of academic paper is a composition where the writer expresses his thoughts and understanding of a particular issue, which are based on one specific fact. What is more, he gives a personal estimation of the problem stated in the essay and by doing this develops his analytical thinking.

The main aim of the article is to evaluate the ability to approach a question from a different angle and express one’s critical attitude to a particular problem. The compulsory requirements that should be met are the following. You need to lay out your thought accurately and correctly, present them in a well-structured manner and provide a couple of persuasive arguments that will support your thesis.

Literary analysis outline

A preliminary stage of creation of analytical essay is getting the understanding of the main idea of your writing. It may sound complicated. However, the sense is simple. In most of the cases, in this type of academic paper, you have to analyze a literary work or a film, and you have to map out the central idea that the writer intended to render. After you have to get, this main issue try to think over the facts that can be related to it and try to make a small investigation.

It will help you to broaden and enhance your writing with different views and approaches to the same problem. What is more, unique and exciting information will add a distinctive coloring to your work and make it original. All these preparations will help you to state a thesis – the central point of the text that will be supported during the whole writing process. Do not forget to use your imagination and creation. It will make the composition fresh and dynamic. To make the entire procedure easier try to use mind mapping. Just write all the ideas and associations provoked by the thesis and by doing this you will simplify the process of choosing the main arguments. After you have done all the steps mentioned above – you are half way there!

Now you have decided on a thesis. However, you cannot start the text with it. You need an introduction. It should be a small piece of information enabling the reader to get the primary information about the problem. Try to make the lead-in enthralling. You can include famous sayings or quotations to get the attention of the reader and evoke a pop-eyed interest. Try not to run it into the ground. In the introduction, you should mention a thesis. It should be relatively short and include the main idea to which you will refer to the whole text.

Then you move the main body paragraphs. Every analytical section you have to start with the new argument. Next step is to include the analysis of a specific part of literary work, and it is vital to add examples from the literary text that support your arguments and thesis as well. Bear in mind that every supportive sentence has to be related to the main idea of your essay. Try to train a feeling of the text, meaning the places where you need some dynamics. These roles of elements of dynamics can serve citations, idioms, and paraphrased thoughts. It is significant to stick to proper quoting, remember that. Hence, you have done the considerable part of your task!

The final stage is the last one. You have to make analytical summary concluding all the work done and deliver the results of your analysis in the proper form. In this final part, you have to remind the reader of the ideas and statements from the main body. You have to show their relevance to the thesis and produce a summary of the plans you have denied or supported throughout the text. You have to explain your attitude enabling the reader to get a clear understanding of that. Apart from a conclusion, the final stage also includes the pre-checking. It means that before handing in your essay, you have to examine to explore and fix the possible lexical and grammatical mistakes.

Make sure that the format of the paper is appropriately kept. Do not forget to check it for plagiarism to avoid possible unpleasant situations. A good advice is to read your essay aloud. You may see the places, which need paraphrasing. Make sure that names mentioned in the article are appropriately written. Check the names of titles and places, so such details will not spoil the general impression from the essay. A non-losing strategy is to ask a third person to read your article. It will enable you to see whether the text produces the effect you intended to make on your reader. All those steps mentioned above are the basics of creating an essay of a good quality deserving a high mark.

Analytical essay examples and writing tips

The theory is a good thing. However, the practice matters more. There are some practical rules that you can stick to make the process of writing less complicated and stressful. These main steps will make the task easier and enable you to enjoy the process. First, you have to decide on the time when you will be ready to start writing. It should be the time of a day when you are the most productive. Of course, you should have an inspiration to create something exciting and pleasant to read. When you finally decide on that, start the process. First, do a small research related to your topic. Try to write out useful phrases, inspiring quotations, and great adjectives. Then you can a make a list of ideas you want to include. Based on all these, you can write a small scheme and arrange all elements that you have correctly so that the text will be well-structured.

Usually, writers start the process of writing under the heading. It is not a necessary point, as there are tasks, which have the ready topic. However, when you have a blurred assignment, where you have an object, but there is no topic formulated – difficulties may arise. To avoid them – here are some tips. Take care of its pleasant sounding and originality. These features catch an eye of the readers. The heading also depends on the target audience. Try to step into shoes of your potential readers and decide on the name that would attract your attention. Then think about whether you have to be strict or humorous, laconic or limitless. Another useful advice will be to create the title on the final stage of your work, as it will make it more relevant and perfectly fitting.

Probably, the most complicated task is to state a thesis. Some techniques can help you. Imagine the central idea of a text as an answer to a particular question related to your topic. Analytical essay presupposes the division of a subject of research into smaller parts to get the better understanding of its essence. To make your central statement more powerful, express the precise position. You have to approach the same idea from different angles to turn all the included arguments into relevant ones to the main topic.

Try to invent or explore those statements which you have never come across before. However, be very careful and make sure that it is possible to prove them later. The formulation of a thesis also matters. It serves as a guide for reader throughout the whole text. The central statement enables the reader to follow the key points, which are mentioned in the essay. Try to make they sound pleasant and catchy.

Main body analytical paragraphs do not pose a complicated task. While working on the creation of the main arguments try to include only relevant information. Try to divide the ideas equally, so that each part of the main bode will contain the needed portion of data. Enhance those pieces of text with creative metaphors and saying to keep the recipient involved in the process of reading. And remember about the three central points of the structure – argument, proofs and small summing up. There are plenty of examples of analytical report examples on the websites of universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There you can see all the theory in practice.

Do not underestimate the role of conclusion. Perceive it as a final stage of wrapping your gift. In this part, you have to make an analytical summary of all the information that was mentioned in your essay. You have to list the key sentences and ideas one more and prove their relevance to the topic. You can recall the issues mentioned in the introductory paragraph. It is important to say the fact that analysis that you have conducted is an excellent contribution to the very topic on a broader scale. Be brief.

There is no need to produce a voluminous conclusion; it will distract the reader and disorient him in the discussed topic. Make sure, that you have included a thesis in the ending. It can be either the same or paraphrased. The paraphrased variant will be more colorful. Use modern words and avoid informal speech. It will make the quality of your text better. End up with an operative phrase! It will sound elegant, thought-provoking and fresh!

Overall, writing of an analytical essay needs profound and thorough preparation. It includes investigatory work, analysis of books, various scientific and historical facts and literary works. What is more, it demands a well-planned structuring and proper heading. Creation of this kind of essay resembles a research on a real mini-project. Try to be creative and imaginative. Use original ideas.

Make a little brainstorming to produce exclusive things. Be relevant and take the task seriously. Be involved in the process and do your work with enthusiasm. Perceive an opportunity to work on such assignments as an ability to contribute to the sphere you belong to, and you will produce an excellent essay and receive the satisfaction from the process!

The short story “Sweat,” by Zora Neale Hurston, seems to exemplify the epitome of a bad marriage. Hurston uses and irony to demonstrate the disintegrated relationship between the abusive husband and the diligent wife. Throughout the story, it becomes obvious that the husband does not oblige by the motto, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. ” Hurston’s use of irony and foreshadowing helps reveal the fact that “the good will prevail” and Sykes will finally get what he deserves. From the very beginning, the reader notices the psychological and verbal abuse that Sykes puts on Delia.

It was a Sunday and Delia decided to get ahead on her work for the week by separating piles of clothes by color. Fear then came upon her when “…something long, round, limp, and black fell upon her shoulder and slithered to the floor beside her” (355). Sykes’ bull whip, mistaken for a snake, invokes “great terror” (355) and extreme fear in Delia, foreshadowing an event that is to come in the future. It also demonstrates the distant relationship between Sykes and Delia. With full knowledge of Delia’s fear of snakes, Sykes continues to haunt her with them throughout the story.

While Delia falls to the oppression of her husband, Sykes almost commits these acts as torture. Because of Hurston’s strong use of irony, it is evident that one day Delia will prevail and a clue to Sykes’ fate is provided: that one day he will be haunted by a snake as well. Delia is obviously the breadwinner of the family and works hard to support both herself and Sykes. Unfortunately, Sykes takes this for granted by taking advantage of the free housing while saving his rarely earned money to spend on other women.

Fully aware of this, Delia mentions that “…whatever goes over the Devil’s back is got to come under his belly. Sometime or ruther, Syke, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing” (357). The use of irony here demonstrated that “what goes around, comes around” and once again alludes to Sykes’ fate. Many more indications throughout the story seem to allude to Sykes’ death. The other men in the town seem to Sykes and even suggest that he should die. While Delia started to deliver the clean laundry in town one ay, the men talked about how Delia is too good for Sykes and that she deserves better, They also despise Sykes for running around with an ugly and fat woman, ultimately cheating on his hardworking wife. Finally, one man says, “Syke Jones ain’t wuth de shot an’ powder hit would tek tuh kill ‘em. Not to huh he ain’t” (357) while another man adds, “…an’ we oughter kill ‘im” (358). It seems like Hurston portrays this hostility to reiterate to the reader that Sykes will fall victim to a well deserved death. Perhaps the most important event in the story occurs when Sykes brings home a huge six-foot living snake.

Fear once again overcomes Delia and she pleads, “Syke! Syke, mah Gawd! You take dat rattlesnake ‘way from heah! You gottuh. Oh, Jesus, have mussy” (360). Sykes, on the other hand, stands in amusement almost as if he loves to see Delia psychologically abused. His cockiness unravels as he acts like he is invincible and like anyone and anything should and will comply with him. In regards to the enormous snake, Sykes boasts, “…He wouldn’t bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handel ‘im” (360). He makes sure to instill fear into Delia by telling her to be careful because the snake would have no problem coming after her.

Hurston also has Sykes portray his own death. In this same scene, Sykes’ reply to Delia’s request of getting rid of the snake is, “Ah ain’t got to do nuthin’ uh de kin’ – fact is Ah ain’t got tuh do nothin’ but die” (360). This statement only means that Sykes will not listen to Delia at anytime and enjoys torturing her in any way possible. He admits that he would rather die than give Delia the pleasure of control at any moment. This scenario is perhaps the most ironic because it is this same snake that takes Sykes’ life once and for all.

Paraphrasing is a technique enabling a writer to render the quote or famous saying using other words. Any essay must be enhanced with some famous phrases strengthening the general sense. That is why it is of the utmost importance to master the art of paraphrasing. It may help you to express your ideas more precisely. To paraphrase means to express one’s thoughts applying other formulations. The ability to paraphrase serves as an indispensable tool in the arsenal of any writer aiming to produce the composition of the highest quality.

Exists a variety of methods helping to enhance the sense loading and emotional loading of the compositions. Among those methods, the highlighted one is paraphrasing. It is something that helps to make the assignment engaging, relevant and related to the very topic. As is often the case, one needs to be able not only paraphrase. Inserting the phrase in the most relevant place is essential. While paraphrasing, a writer needs to be able to render the inner sense of the phrase or quotation using other formulations.

Paraphrase definition

What does paraphrase mean? Paraphrasing can be defined as a writing trick, enabling to render and enhance the main idea of the composition applying another wording. To determine paraphrase technique, there is no need to consult the dictionary or a writing manual. It is necessary to understand the process hidden under the concept of paraphrasing. The meaning can be formulated in the following way: paraphrasing means changing the formulation of the same sense.

The technique is regularly applied by the authors dealing with the delivery of assignment demanding implementation of numerous quotes. Moreover, paraphrasing may become a mean of rising the uniqueness of the composition. In case, the originality of the essay is too low; one can make use of the paraphrasing. By this technique, it is possible to replace the unoriginal material by rendering it using other words.

As is often the case, writers tend to mix three basic notions that you come across while dealing with writing. These are summarizing, quoting and rephrase. To avoid mixing everything up, you have to understand each of these terms precisely. Summarizing is technique enabling an author to render the main idea in a few words. It is usually far from the source text, however easy for the understanding of the target reader. It is the most straightforward technique, as there are no standards established and a writer can merely render his thoughts.

Quoting is the method that is more complicated. It presupposes usage of the narrow segment of the source text. It has to correspond to the original exactly. Moreover, an author needs to put the quotation marks and mention the source of the quote in the reference list.

Finally, rephrasing demand from a writer application of the creativity and a rich vocabulary stock. An author has to render the main idea and use the approximately same number of synonymic words. A paraphrased passage is as a rule shorter than the original.

What is paraphrasing?

Rewording is a handy and simple way to render the sense of a favorite quote or saying by using other words. The main point here is to preserve the original sense of the source phrase. A paraphrase enables the writer to color and enhances the text applying the thoughts of other famous people. Rewording can serve as a proof that the writer understands the context of a phrase or famous proverb. He renders the sense of it or explains it deeper applying paraphrasing.

The paraphrase should be relatively close to the original. However, it is crucial to the feeling which words can change the phrase, save the coloring and render the sense. It is significant to preserve the original charm of the quote, however, avoid plagiarizing it. Of course, it is possible merely to copy the original phrase without making any corrections. However, it can badly influence the overall quality of the paper.

Writers are endeavoring to enforce the primary idea they aim to render use rephrasing. What is more, it gives an ability to enhance the assignment with the plenty of relevant examples. In cases, when authors feel the lack of inspiration or are unable to formulate their thoughts correctly, paraphrasing may serve as a lifesaving boat. Paraphrasing assists in reducing the plagiarism rate of the writing and enables the writer to raise the quality of the paper. It also helps to expand the depth of the assignment. The sense, author, endeavored to render becomes deeper and more powerful.

Paraphrasing examples

The best way to illustrate the points mentioned above is, undoubtedly, providing paraphrasing examples.

Original: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” ― Bernard M. Baruch.

Paraphrase: Be yourself and tell about your emotions, as people, who do not care, will not be bothered and those, who do care will accept you anyway.

Original: “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Paraphrase: If you have a desire to measure the dignity of men, look on how he behaves with people who have a lower status that he does, not with those, who are better than he is.

Original: “Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.”

Paraphrase: You do not have to care about what ones tell about other people. You have to formulate your thoughts about people and things by yourself.

Original: “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

Paraphrase: A ruler is a person knows the direction, follows it and shows it to others.

Original: “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

Paraphrase: Intelligent person speaks, as there is a thought to render, an ignorant person talks for the sake of the act only.

Original: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” ― Robert Frost

Paraphrase: Using three words I can summarize the lesson I have learned about life – it passes by.

MLA paraphrase

Paraphrasing assists in writer enhancing the credibility of the thoughts that author is trying to render. This method helps to strengthen the main idea. Paraphrasing may become a tricky issue. It presupposes a total change of the original passage with the intention to avoid plagiarism. If a writer did not manage to master the paraphrasing technique, he takes a risk to implement plagiarized material in his work. To prevent unpleasant issues that may negatively influence the quality of the work, one needs to be aware of the main principles.

To avoid usage of unoriginal material one needs to follow several rules. Rephrasing means rendering the source text using another wording. It may seem difficult; however, an author not only needs to change several parts of the passage. He has to rephrase it entirely. According to the MLA formatting standards, if the author decides to use an exact sequence of words as it was in the original, he is obliged to put the quotation marks. What is more, you have to mention all the sources used in the reference list.

How to paraphrase a quote

Paraphrasing quotes or famous saying, one needs to be aware of the basic rules and principles of paraphrasing. Start with the reading of the passage you are going to paraphrase. Try to grasp the main idea. You are not going to render the phrase. That is why, it is essential to be selective and choose the main sense blocks, which you are going to render. Think over, how it is possible to express the meaning of the given passage, using the other words.

Basic handy techniques are helping to paraphrase successfully. The first method presupposes the following steps. You need to read the quote once or twice and try to get the sense. Then, you need to put the original aside, and a render the meaning by your words. Another technique presupposes usage of the dictionary. Try to take notes and then paraphrase using the synonymic expressions.

As is often the case, text, which is supposed to undergo paraphrasing is not so easy. The difficulty may lie in their volume as well as in the complexity of terminology applied. Here are some hints enabling even the inexperienced writers to master the art of paraphrasing. Primarily, change the structure of the source text. You may change the order of sentences and their size. Focus on the sense and try to replace the words from the original work by your phrases. A good strategy is to break up the complicated sentences and rewrite them using shorter ones. Be careful to preserve the focus of the original.

Applying the dictionary, the art of paraphrase will seem as easy as pie. Due to the variety of dictionaries existing in a printed version and on the web, it is easy to find the number of synonyms necessary to rewrite even full abstracts. Do not forget to re-read and revise your version several times. To polish it maximally and deliver the most successful result.