ABSTRACT
This chapter defines what analysis is, arguing that it is first a mental operation and then a text based on that operation. To analyze is to characterize something (a text, image, theory, concept, etc.). In logical terms, the characterization produces a proposition. A proposition (e.g., “the Earth is flat”) is made up of a predicate (“is flat”), which represents the feature that is possessed by a subject (“the Earth”). A work of analysis (that is, a particular application) uses, at least implicitly, a method, and the method relies, at least implicitly, on a theory. The art of analysis consists not only in producing a characterization that is accurate and relevant, but also in convincing the reader that this is the case. All these subjects are developed further in the book.
