5The Disorganized Student
  
 


Process Analysis Essay Format

This essay format is very common especially in the sciences. Every lab report is essentially a process analysis essay. A process is a series of actions leading to a planned or expected outcome. The two types of process essays are

 
1. Directional--essays that tell how to do something.  
2. Informational--essays that explain or analyze a process.

In planning a process analysis essay, a writer needs to

  • be aware of the audience

  • order the steps chronologically

  • make sure that the process is complete

  • define new or unfamiliar terms

  • warn her reader of difficulties in the process

  • explain the purpose of a step when necessary

It is often useful to begin the essay with a description of a scene that establishes the need for a process explanation: this is called a dramatic entrance. 

Possible Topics:

Directional

1. How to do a particular job
2. What to do in case of an accident  
3. How to study for a particular course  
4. How something is made (not recipes, please!)  
5. How to repair a particular thing

Informational

6. How something works (automobile, jet engine, jet ski, etc.)  
7. The life cycle of an insect
8. What happens in a tornado (hurricane, earthquake, etc.)
9. Natural childbirth  
10. A lab report for a science class

 
 

 
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© 1999, 2000, 2002 Virginia Bower (Mars Hill College), Charlene Kiser (Milligan College), Kim McMurtry (Montreat College), Ellen Millsaps (Carson-Newman College), Katherine Vande Brake (King College). All rights reserved. This manual was made possible by a Culpeper grant from the Appalachian College Association; click here for information. If you encounter difficulties with these web pages, please notify kmcmurtry@montreat.edu.