Analysis

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• Analysis is about EXPLAINING
• Analysis is about MEANING
• Writers get used to just SHOWING the reader what happened
• Or TELLING the reader what it is supposed to mean
• Analysis moves beyond simple Show and Tell
  

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• People want to see the world as dichotomous
• Right/Wrong, good/bad, is/isn’t, yes/no
• But the real world is more complex
• The real world is shades of grey
• Analysis helps show how and why you see complexities in situations/arguments, not dichotomies
  

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• Telling us what it felt like to have a heart attack is a narrative
• Telling us exactly WHAT happened to your circulatory system is analysis
• Explaining WHY you had the heart attack is analytical
• Showing HOW your life is different because of the heart attack is analytical
  

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• People assume that analysis is about tearing things apart – being nit-picky
• It’s really about trying to understand more completely
• It’s a more sophisticated understanding
• Sometimes it raises our appreciation
• Sometimes it lowers our view
• But it always makes it more complete
  

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• Analysis often breaks subjects into steps or parts or arguments
• The whole point is to move beyond the general idea or argument
• We have to understand HOW the individual parts/elements/arguments fit together to truly understand the whole
  

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• Mechanic can’t just look at a car and know what’s wrong
• Has to ask questions
• Has to analyze the parts
• Has to find what works as well as what doesn’t
• Then, the whole can work as it’s supposed to
  

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