Dr.KerryWalk<kwalk@princeton.

edu>

AskinganAnalyticalQuestion
Animportantstepinwritingacademicessaysistoaskagoodanalyticalquestion,onethatposes
achallengingwaytoaddressthecentraltext(s)youwillwriteabout.Establishingthatquestion
wontbeyourfirststepyoullneedtodosomeobservingandannotating,andevensome
interpreting,asawayofdevelopingthequestionitself.Butfocusingonwhatthatquestion
mightbeearlyinyouranalysishelpsyouapproachyouressaywithsomethingtoexplore,anidea
todiscover(thatwillinformyourthesis)forbothyouandyourreaders.
Thinkofthequestionassomethingyouretrulyinterestedinexploringasyouread,an
explorationyouwanttoguideyourreaderthrough,sincenoteveryonereadingthetextwillcome
awaywiththesameimpressionsandinterpretationsyoudo.(Oneofthetruismsofwriting:if
yourenotdiscoveringsomethinginthewritingofyouressay,yourreadersprobablyarent
either.)
Agoodanalyticalquestion:

(1)speakstoagenuinedilemmainthetext.Inotherwords,thequestionfocusesona
realconfusion,ambiguityorgreyareaofthetext,aboutwhichreaderswillconceivably
havedifferentreactions,opinions,orinterpretations.
(2)yieldsananswerthatisnotobvious.InaquestionsuchasWhydidHamletleave
Denmark?theresnothingtoexplore;itstoospecificandcanbeansweredtooeasily.
(3)suggestsananswercomplexenoughtorequireawholeessaysworthofargument.If
thequestionistoovague,itwontsuggestalineofargument(e.g.,Whyarethereso
manyreferencestoactingintheplay?).Thequestionshouldelicitanalysisand
argumentratherthansummaryordescription.
(4)canbeansweredbythetext,ratherthanbygeneralizationsorbycopiousexternal
research(e.g.,WhydidShakespearedepictmadnessinthewaythathedid?).
Tipstokeepinmind:
Howandwhyquestionsgenerallyrequiremoreanalysisthanwho/
what/when/where.
Goodanalyticalquestionscanhighlightpatterns/connections,or
contradictions/dilemmas/problems.
Goodanalyticalquestionscanalsoaskaboutsomeimplicationsorconsequencesof
youranalysis.

Dr.KerryWalk<kwalk@princeton.edu>
Thusthequestionshouldbeanswerable,giventheavailableevidence,butnotimmediately,and
notinthesamewaybyallreaders.Yourthesisshouldgiveatleastaprovisionalanswertothe
question,ananswerthatneedstobedefendedanddeveloped.Yourgoalistohelpreaders
understandwhythisquestionisworthanswering,whythisfeatureofthetextisproblematic,and
tosendthembacktothetextwithanewperspectiveoradifferentfocus.