This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Are you wondering how to write a critical essay? What’s the difference between a research paper and a critical essay?
In How to Become a Straight-A Student, Cal Newport gives tips and tricks on acing your college courses. One thing many students struggle with is writing a critical analysis essay.
Keep reading to learn how to write a critical essay to get the best grade possible.
Writing Critical Analysis Essays
As Newport notes, in addition to long papers that require original research, many of your courses will require what he calls critical analysis essays. These papers are usually two to three pages and involve a specific prompt that asks you to analyze the arguments in your assigned texts, such as, “Compare and contrast what Authors X and Y say about Topic Z.” Below, we’ll discuss how to write a critical essay for your classes.
The step-by-step process for writing a critical analysis essay is basically a shorter version of the process for writing a paper that requires original research. Since you won’t need to select an area of interest, you’ll skip that step and instead start by finding your thesis, which involves reviewing the assigned reading and relevant lecture notes to determine how you’ll answer the prompt. Then, skip straight to step five, creating an outline.
The following step—reviewing your outline with others—is optional and depends on how important your paper is: You don’t need to discuss a weekly one-page assignment with anybody else, but a 10-page essay might warrant review with a few people. Just be careful: Some classes may forbid you from discussing your essay with anybody else.
After that, the steps are the same: Write and edit your essay just as you would one that requires original research. With this system, you’ll be able to churn out your essays with ease—and get good grades doing it, claims Newport.
An Alternative Method for Writing a Critical Analysis Essay
Academic experts generally agree that a “critical analysis essay” refers to a piece of writing that evaluates the argument of a text; however, they disagree with Newport on how to write one. While most experts agree that you need first to understand the material (like by reviewing your reading and lecture notes) and then create a thesis statement based on it, several of them don’t recommend writing an outline or reviewing it with others. Instead, they suggest diving straight into the writing process.
To do so, start by crafting an engaging introduction that highlights your thesis, then follow it up with paragraphs that support your thesis. Some experts suggest using the following structure: After writing your introduction, first briefly summarize the author’s argument, then present your own analysis of it. Finally, add a conclusion that reiterates your original thesis.
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- How to ace your college courses with just a few hours of studying each day
- How to combat procrastination and write better papers
- Study methods to prepare for different types of exams
