Essay Analysis Template Overview

Essay Template Breakdown

• This template provides a framework for analyzing an excerpt and evaluating its effectiveness in conveying its main idea.
• The template is divided into sections focusing on the writer's purpose, organisational strategies, language techniques, tone, and source reliability.
• The template emphasizes clarity and conciseness, with clear instructions for identifying and explaining the chosen elements.
• The template encourages students to consider the audience and the appropriateness of the writer's tone.
• The template provides a conclusion section for summarizing the writer's effectiveness.
• The template promotes critical thinking by encouraging students to analyze the organizational strategies, language techniques, and tone to assess how they contribute to the overall message of the excerpt.

Purpose & Structure

• The main purpose of this essay is to analyze how a writer effectively communicates their main idea, likely through the use of organizational strategies and language techniques.
• The essay focuses on examining how the writer achieves their purpose by using various techniques.
• This analysis assesses the effectiveness of the writer's strategies, considering elements like tone and source reliability.

Analyzing Strategies & Techniques

• Students are guided to identify and discuss the specific strategies used by the writer to achieve the desired impact.
• Organizational strategies: This includes how the writer structures the text, including the use of paragraphs, headings, and transitions.
• Language techniques: This involves analyzing the specific words and phrases the writer uses, such as metaphors, similes, and rhetorical devices.

Evaluating the Writer's Tone

• The template encourages students to analyze and describe the writer's tone, including whether it is formal or informal, critical or neutral, and so on.
• Students are supposed to determine if the chosen tone is appropriate for the subject matter and intended audience.

Assessing Source Reliability

• The template includes a section for discussing the reliability of the source.
• This involves examining the source's credibility and whether it provides valid information.

Conclusion

• The essay template concludes with a summarizing statement, emphasizing the writer's effectiveness in achieving their purpose through the use of the identified organizational strategies, language techniques, and overall tone.

Essay Structure

• The essay should include five to seven paragraphs.
• Introduction should be engaging and clearly state the essay's purpose.
• Body paragraphs should develop one idea each, using clear transitional devices between paragraphs.
• Conclusion should restate the thesis statement, summarize sub-points, and indicate whether the writer's purpose was achieved.
• Thematic cohesion means each paragraph should focus on developing a single idea.

Linking Structures and Transitional Devices

• Linking structures and transitional devices ensure internal cohesion and cohesiveness between paragraphs.

The N-I-E Principle

• When discussing techniques or strategies, follow the N-I-E principle:
  • Name the technique or strategy used.
  • Illustrate the technique/strategy with examples from the extract.
  • Explain how the technique or strategy contributed to the writer's purpose.

Conclusion

• Restate the main idea of the essay, focusing on the writer's purpose and how language techniques, organizational strategies, and tone contribute to it.
• Summarize the sub-points highlighting the specific techniques and strategies used.
• State an opinion on whether the writer's purpose was achieved, supporting your conclusion with evidence.

Additional Points

• Do not organize your essay based on the extract's paragraphs; discuss how techniques and strategies are used throughout the entire extract.
• Discuss one technique or strategy per body paragraph. Aim for three techniques/strategies if no specific instructions are given.
• State what you will discuss in the introduction (e.g., "Three language techniques used in the extract are rhetorical questions, historical data, and reference to authority").
• Focus on explaining how and why the techniques/strategies are used rather than defining them.

This quiz focuses on understanding an essay template designed for analyzing excerpts. It covers the key elements such as writer's purpose, organizational strategies, language techniques, tone, and source reliability. Students will learn to critically evaluate how these elements contribute to the effectiveness of the main idea conveyed by the writer.