So, for this college English language course I'm taking, we write timed essays on renowned essays, short stories, or passages. We are asked to analyze stuff like diction, tone, metaphors, nature-of-argument, etc. Basically anything that's 'language' related. I can usually get a good analysis/argument made, but I have a hard time structuring it into an essay. Any suggestions/links/comments?

Generally you want to close with your strongest argument, as that is what whoever is evaluating the essay remembers most clearly. You want to begin with a somewhat stronger argument as well, let your weaker arguments fill up the middle. I'm not sure how much style your professor is looking for, but your introduction should introduce the point you're arguing fairly quickly. One key to arguments are concessions, as that will make those opposed to your viewpoint more amenable, but it seems you are more concerned with rhetorical analysis.

Mainly, we'll be analyzing the rhetorical strategies an author uses to present an argument, develop their position, or reveal their views. She's pretty lenient on the style of the writing, in fact, a little bit of creative stylistic elements are encouraged.

Usually I develop my introduction quite a bit, and then the preceding paragraphs simply talk about a couple of the main defining points of the selected passage. I was wondering whether I should have my intro be more concise. Also, maybe go through the passage line by line, rather than selecting the main points. e.g. The introduction to the passage illustrates the debates between __ and __. The author gradually narrows his focus to the underlying key of their argument...

Should I include how the passage affects the readers as part of the rhetorical strategies too? Would that take away from the focus, or add value to the essay?

Those aren't real essays.

That said, for papers like this, icu has the right idea. For generating ideas, I recommend jotting them down and doing some basic organizing before you start writing. I found that taking 10-20% of the writing time to brainstorm and organize helped immensely. You don't need to fully develop your main points before you start writing, but you should already have some support for them. More ideas will come to you as you write.

Since it's timed, you may want to find ways to speed up your writing. Try to avoid lengthy quotes. If your instructor will let you, citing by page and/or line number may be faster. Use active voice; it's shorter and more convincing. If your handwriting is legible enough, cursive is faster than printing.


I've had instructors on each side of this, so your best bet is to ask yours this. My opinion, though, is that your opinions of their effect belong in it.