Long days and pleasant nights to you. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series tells the tale
of Roland Deschain's quest for what he believes to be the center of all creation, the nexus
of all worlds.
Roland is a Gunslinger, the last in a long and noble lineage of guardians of the peace.
Sort of like the Jedi Order in the Star Wars Universe.
Throughout the books, Roland gathers a group of wanderers, a posse, what he calls his ka-tet
(a group of people brought together by destiny), and traverses his and other worlds in search of the Tower.
Why are we telling you all these cool facts? Well, today we'll be talking about analytical
essays, and since this is not the most exciting of subjects,
we thought we'd frame this video within the confines of the Dark Tower books,
which many believe are Stephen King's crowning
achievement. In particular, we'll focus on the main character, Roland, whose passion
and motivation to find his own destiny largely drives the Dark Tower's story forward.
Hi guys, this is Mark from Essaypro.com, and today we're going to talk about analytical
essays. We'll first define what an analytical essay is, teach you how to structure your
essay, and finally, we'll give you a practical example of what an analytical essay might
look like, using the Dark Tower books as reference and framing background for this video. Now,
as always, remember that these are only suggestions. Your own work might look completely different,
and we're just fine with that. But we love to give you guys a helping hand anyway. So
after watching this video, you will be able to write an analytical essay like you've been
doing it all your life.
So join the Essaypro.com ka-tet and let's find our own destiny here. But before we begin,
remember that we publish content every week, so don't forget to subscribe to our channel,
AND click that bell button so you never miss any of the good stuff that Essaypro.com produces
just for you guys.
And by the way, you need not worry about spoilers, cause we wouldn't dream of spoiling the amazing
story that the Dark Tower is. So read on safely, wanderers.
So what's an analytical essay
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
These words open the epic Dark Tower series. The story is actually based on Childe Roland
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The story is actually based on Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came, a poem by English writer Robert Browning.
The title itself is a line from Shakespeare's King Lear.
In Browning’s poem, the character Roland traverses a nightmarish world in search of
a tower, experiencing many hardships along the way. Stephen King picked up on this motif
for his own career-defining work.
And this brings up right into today's topic: Analytical essays.
Defining an analytical essay is actually rather simple. You, the writer, find a concept you
wish to analyze, and present one or more arguments about it. The key here is to narrow down that
concept as much as you can, so you can focus your writing both for yourself and the reader
with pinpoint accuracy.
Now, generally speaking, we always recommend that you find a concept or topic that interests
you and you're passionate about. Choosing to write an analytical essay on the Egyptian
pharaohs, for example, when you've zero interest in it is likely to go nowhere fast. Always
pick something that you enjoy. Your writing will reflect this.
Within the Dark Tower lore, we could choose myriad concepts to write an analytical essay
about, for example. King's work is vast in terms of scope and depth, which in a way,
hinders our attempt to pick something to talk about, simply because there is so much content!
If you were to write an analytical essay about the Dark Tower universe as a whole, it wouldn't
work, because a) It's just too general, and b) Your essay would be diluted and unfocused.
Remember, we're talking about eight books here, with a page count of over 4,200).
King himself referred to the entire series as 'one long uber-novel'. So, don't forget the name
of your father and try to narrow down the search. Pick out themes, personality drivers,
the motivations of certain characters. Things that enable you to frame your essay accurately
and concisely.
Just to help you out, here are a few examples that you could choose to write an analytical
essay about, always within the framework of the Dark Tower lore.
Is Roland compelled by ka (destiny) to search for the Tower, or does he have a choice?
What does Black Thirteen represent? The relationship between Susan Delgado and
Roland. The symbolism of the field of roses that surrounds
the Dark Tower, and why they sing songs of life and death.
And so on. Remember: Narrow down your concept as much as you can.
The thesis statement
After carefully selecting what you want to write about, it's time to let the reader know
what you, the author, the writer of the essay, think about the issue in question. This is
called the Thesis Statement, and it serves as the starting shot of the piece. Your stance
on the chosen concept will determine the course of the piece (Or we can do it for you - just
go to our website and use the promo-code).
A very important piece of information: Be truthful in your stance. Don't write something
to 'fit in' with an overall trend or line of thought at school, for example. Write your
mind. Your writing will be more solid and respected.
The Thesis Statement is the central argument of the essay, and as such, it must be meaningful
and present your stance fairly and clearly that will tell the reader what to expect from
this piece of work. Use the rest of the essay to present additional arguments that support
this initial thesis.
Go on then. There are other worlds than these.
A practical example of a Thesis Statement
Let's get into the nitty-gritty of today's topic. We know what analytical essays are,
or at least what they're supposed to be. Early on we decided that our example would be Roland
Deschain's passion and motivations to find the Dark Tower.
The questions to ask ourselves here are: Why does Roland want to find the Tower so badly?
Where did this desire come from? What does this quest mean for him? Only when we can
answer this set of questions ourselves can we begin writing our own stance on the concept.
Assuming that you have read the Dark Tower books, or at least some of them incidentally,
do ignore that awful movie with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey,
well don't cry Matthew, everything will be fine, as it has as much to do with the true Dark Tower lore as Ben
and Holly's Little Kingdom, you can postulate you own stance on Roland's motivation for
his epic quest.
Thus:
Roland Deschain, son of Steven, is a complex and troubled man. And he's got a one-track
mind that focuses on one thing, and one thing only: To reach the Dark Tower, no matter the
cost.
Roland's sole motivation throughout the story is to simply find this mythical place, irrespective
of the cost to himself and others. This dogged determination comes from a desire that is
deeply-ingrained in Roland's psyche. The last gunslinger is determined to fulfill the role
that destiny has prepared for him by finding the edifice that stands in the center of all
worlds. And while doing so might cost him his life, or worse, Roland will not stop for
anything or anyone until he enters the Tower and finds out what's at the top.
This quote perfectly illustrates this notion:
The road and the tale have both been long, would you not say so? The trip has been long
and the cost has been high... but no great thing was ever attained easily. A long tale,
like a tall Tower, must be built a stone at a time.
Quick recap
Here at Essaypro.com, we like to help you in any way we can. We give you hints, tips,
and any background information you need to do the best you can do in your work. And always
remember to check out our previous videos, where we talk about topics as diverse as writing
a book review, how to write an article review, or how to write a narrative essay.
At this point, we're going to do a quick recap about the DOs and DON'Ts of writing an analytical
essay. So here we go:
DO pick a topic that interests you. That way, you will want to write about
it, and expand on your own ideas. DO avoid topics that are too general or scattered.
Narrow down your selection, and pick out a topic with limited scope.
DO write a meaningful thesis statement DO be truthful in your stance. Write about
what you believe in. DON'T write rambling, overly long statements
that say a lot without really saying anything.
DON'T forget the face of your father while writing an analytical essay.
Supporting or additional arguments
Your Thesis Statement will have laid down the basic premise of your essay. But the reader
is going to need more. Just as the Dark Tower itself contains many floors that represent
different worlds (or Universes), your essay must contain additional information that supports
that stance.
Use quotes or facts that give credibility to your stance. In our example, find character's
reactions to Roland's unrelenting search. For example, when the Man in Black offers
Roland a choice: Let Jake fall off a cliff and die, or obtain answers about the Dark
Tower from myself. Roland's desperate desire to find the Tower makes him choose the latter,
and so Jake falls to his death, with some prophetic words: 'Go on then. There are other
worlds than these.'
This is a perfect example of a supporting argument for our own topic of choice, as Roland
would rather allow a child to die if it meant to find answers about his own personal quest.
Essay layout
Writing an analytical essay is only as complicated as you make it.
Now, we have talked about structure before. Remember our video on how to write an article
review? Remember how we discussed the importance of structured writing? Structured writing
is good writing. Always bear that in mind, regardless if you are just writing a text
message, an email, or a full essay. Framing your writing makes it look neat, elegant,
coherent, and easy to understand. Structure is your friend.
How you structure your own work is your business, but here at Essaypro.com we like to give you
practical tips about everything, to help you along the way.
Introduction - Introduce the concept in an imaginative manner that will hook the reader.
Look back at the beginning of this video for such an example.
Thesis Statement - The crux of the essay. Check back the Thesis Statement part of this
video for practical tips. Paragraph 1 & 2 - Use two (or more, if needed)
to introduce the supporting arguments for the Thesis statement.
Conclusion - Write a closing paragraph to tie everything nicely. Maybe refer to external
sources for further research.
And that's all for today. You now have the knowledge to develop A-class analytical essays.
Use it well. And if you haven't read the Dark Tower series, do yourself a favor. Long days,
and pleasant nights with Essaypro.com.