Writing Analytically

What It Means To Have An Idea

• Get ideas by thinking, not reporting/reacting

• Don’t need to be entirely original

• Generally less grand than expected

Ideas vs Opinions

• Ideas need support from evidence

• Opinions are just assertions/preferences

What ideas do and where they are found

• Answers a question, explains something

• Usually begins with puzzling observations

• Can be the discovery of a question where there wasn’t previously one

• Can explore the meaning of implicit concepts, stating them explicitly

• Connects elements of a subject, explains the significance of that connection

• Often accounts for things that don’t fit together (dissonance)

• Provides direction, shows what needs to be done next

Notice and Focus (Ranking)

• Guides you to analyze data longer before making assumptions

The steps of Notice and Focus

• The question “What do you notice?” helps begin to look at data (step 1)

• Ranking, or creating an order of importance uses the question “Which details are most important?” (step 2)

• Explaining the ranking answers the question “why?” (step 3)

What a Strong Thesis Does

• A thesis is an idea about the subject that explains what some features of the subject mean

• Strong thesis comes form carefully examining the subject and arriving at a meaning that is not immediately obvious

• Weak thesis makes no claim or makes a claim that doesn't need to be proven, like an opinion

• Strong thesis should evolve

• They should gain complexity as they evolve