Professor Diaz

ENGL 002-12

10/06/2010

By:

Damaris Skelton

Rachel Dawson

Jennifer Smalls

James Hicks II

Megan Simmons

Table of ContentsHow Does the Process Analysis Work?Types of Process AnalysisWriting a Process Analysis Essay: The Writer’s EyeWriting a Process Analysis Essay: The Reader’s EyeSample Essay: Black Music in Our Hands by Bernice

Reagon (Revelations 71)Review Questions for a Process Analysis Essay (1-7)Work Cited

How Does Process Analysis Work?Ever wanted to learn how to do something?Ever wanted to learn why something works the way it does?

One looks at a process analysis when trying to answer the questions above.

Process Analysis is a clear list of a set of steps for a reader; can appear in a variety of contexts with a variety of purposes

Types of Process AnalysisInstructional: step by step process that

explains, “how-to” Self help; product directions

The Anxiety Work Book Children of the Self Absorbed

Informative: step by step process that explains how a significant process works

Attempts to inform or comment; has a broader focus Explaining Pearl harbor and what lead up to it

DifferencesInformational writing

Broader focus than instructional.

Instructional writingUsually broken down into steps.

Reading the Process Analysis Essay with a Writer’s Eye

Style StrategyYou must ask yourself questions

while writing the process anaylsis essay.

Intended Audience: Target Audience

Style and StrategyWhat is the thesis and where is it

located?If an essay lacks a thesis, it will most

likely lack the correct and necessary support needed to categorize an essay as process analysis.

The Reader’s EyeAudience:

Determine how much knowledge your audience has about the process you are analyzing Does my essay make sense to you?

Language Level:Avoid jargon

language individuals in that specific group/field will know

Excessive use of jargon is an indication the topic may be too specialized

Voice: Instructional: “you”- appropriate since writer is speaking directly

to the reader Informational: “you” should not be used since the writer is not

telling the reader how to do something

Choosing a Topic

Informative & Entertaining

1.Find a Topic that’s neither too narrow nor too broad.

2.Find a Topic that interests you

3.Will your topic require research?

Prewriting

Instructional or Informational

Generate plenty of material before organizing

essay

Free writing

Develop the preliminary thesis statement

OrganizingOutline

Sentence outline

Make sure outline doesn’t reveal any gaps in

the process

DraftingIntroduction

Body Paragraphs (I,II, III)

Conclusion

IntroductionBackground & ContextSets up the rest of the essayInformational Essay

The context and larger significance of the process is being analyzed.

Instructional EssayThe context and the importance of learning

how to master the process

BodyProvide the steps (specific & general) that

the reader should follow

ConclusionAsk yourself what needs to be stressed to the

reader at this point.

Stray away from summarizing the essay

Sample: Process Analysis Essay“Black Music in Our Hands” (Revelations: Reagon

71).

Example of an informational process analysis essay because:

Explains the writer’s own personal process of learning what music represented for other people

Explains the writer’s own personal process to understand what music represented to her

Review Questions for a Process Analysis Essay1. First few paragraphs give sufficient background and context

for the essay The reader is able to get a sense of who she is as a person before the author

actually begins the process analysis. Student at Albany State/interests include music and biology/choir

member/singer of three different types of black music (spirituals, R & B, & church music)/includes experiences that involve her singing

2. Thesis: “I knew that music as a part of a cultural expression that was

powerful enough to take people from their conscious selves to a place where the physical and intellectual being worked in harmony with the spirit” (Reagon 71).

The writer appreciates the influence that music can have over black people Music is a positive source of energy for black people; the writer enjoyed and

needed that experience

Review Questions for a Process Analysis Essay3. The writer includes steps that suggest her process:

Discovering what black music meant to her and others Examples given can be understood since they are all her

experiences that involved black music She continuously analyzed black music’s influence on people

4. In this type of essay, a reader cannot possibly say that a step or comment does not ring true because:

It is a personal essay with the writer’s opinions throughout it!

Review Questions for a Process Analysis Essay5. Topic Sentence was unclear

"The next level of awareness came while in jail."

6. Transitions were clear and placed where needed

7. There is an effective conclusionThe writer of the essay ties all of what she was talking about

together at the end to tell the reader that music is an important part of lives of black people.

Work CitedReagon, Bernice. "Black Music in Our

Hands." Revelations. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 71-73. Print.

"Process Essay." Writing Today: Contexts and Options for the Real World, Second Edition. N.p.: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2010. 241-71. Print.