Analytical writing begins with a question: To what extent does government surveillance of suspected terrorists affect the civil liberties of ordinary citizens? How will new environmental regulations affect plans to drill for oil near a state park? Why do animated films from Pixar Studios appeal to so many adults? The types of documents — or genres — writers create to share their answers are as varied as the questions they ask. And each document, in turn, reflects aspects of the writing situations in which writers find themselves: their purposes for analyzing a subject, the interests and expectations of their intended readers, the sources used to support the analysis, and the context in which the document will be read.

Analysis involves adopting the role of interpreter. Writers who adopt this role help readers understand the origins, qualities, significance, or potential impact of a subject. An interpreter might address the causes of a recent economic downturn, for example, while another might explore the cultural implications of a new album by Kanye West. Another writer might present a historical analysis of U.S. involvement in foreign wars, while yet another might try to help college students understand the impact of proposed legislation on the cost of attending college.

In many cases, interpreters are already knowledgeable about their subjects. More often, however, they spend time learning about a subject to ensure that they can offer a well-grounded interpretation. Whether they draw on the subject itself, interview experts, collect information from published sources, or use statistical evidence, effective interpreters provide even knowledgeable readers with enough information about a subject to explain the focus of their analyses and to ensure that their interpretations will make sense in the context in which they’re read.

Readers of analytical documents usually share the writer’s interest in the subject and want to understand it in greater depth, either because it affects them in some way or because they are curious about it. They expect a clear introduction to the subject, focused interpretation, thorough explanations of how the writer arrived at his or her conclusions, and reasonable support for those conclusions. Readers also tend to expect that an analytical document will use an interpretive framework that is appropriate to the subject and similar to those typically used by other writers in the field. For example, readers with a literary background would be surprised if an analysis of a major novel was based on the book’s sales history, rather than on some form of textual interpretation. Similarly, readers with a background in political science might find an article that focused on the aesthetic qualities of a speech by a presidential candidate less interesting than one that analyzed the political implications of the candidate’s arguments.

Interpreters’ choices about interpretive framework, sources, and perspective can and do lead to different — sometimes extremely different — conclusions about a subject. As a result, analytical documents not only serve as significant contributions to a conversation but also provide a foundation for further contributions to the conversation.