'But Daddy, we have to, like, read a book and write about the characters and the symbolism! Oh, I shall die!' She clapped the back of her dainty hand against her furrowed brow and threw herself down on the sofa. Essays are the bread and butter of formal academic writing. Analytical essays-where we need to dig deep into a text and then transmute those ideas to an essay form-are tricky. No one likes them. Not teachers, definitely not students. But a few simple strategies will enable even the most reluctant writer of analytical essays to rise to the challenge.