THINGS TO AVOID/WHAT CAN GO WRONG:

Always clarify with adjectives—for example, do not write “the author uses diction,” write “the author uses understated diction,” or “industrial imagery,” or “chronological organization,” etc. If you write that the author uses diction, this is just stating the obvious. If diction is word choice, then everything ever written--ever!--uses diction. No piece of writing can exist without choosing words to use. You must clarify WHAT KIND of word choice the author has used, which is the whole point of analyzing the piece of writing. The word choice often determines a clue to the meaning of the piece.
Always, always explain with specific examples from the text.
Do not use specific examples until your have made a general assertion, usually in a topic sentence of a body paragraph. For example, write: The author establishes the unsettling tone of this passage with detailed description. Then, provide the examples.
Do not praise the author or personally comment on the quality or validity of the content of the piece. In other words, never use these kinds of words: great, excellent, etc.
Do not use first or second person. Stay in the formal third person point of view. (At least in academic writing for this course as you are learning to write in an objective, academic way at the college level).
Try to avoid stale or inaccurate verbs. Do not use “this shows,” or “this tells the reader…” Use active verbs, such as “connotes,” “emphasizes,” and “relates.”
Avoid using "the reader" as a crutch (unless specifically addressing audience as a style element).
Do not be overly general in any part of the essay. The more specific, the better is a great rule of thumb for all writing.
No overly general "funnel" introductions (always be as specific as possible in an introduction--get straight to the point or you are just using filler), or preachy conclusions (always use facts and appeal to logos in academic writing).
Do not use truisms (Down through history, there have always been the poor), quotes as openers, or “hooks.” Simply state your point in a straightforward way. When in doubt, start with the thesis statement. Or, you can start with introducing the author and the context of the work, but do not waste more than a paragraph on summary or background--and do this only if needed. In most cases, you should assume that the person reading your analysis has actually read the piece you are analyzing. (At least for now as you are learning to write college-level, academic analysis.)
Do not merely paraphrase or summarize passages; you must analyze the use of stylistic devices in a passage. You may need to include enough details so that what you are writing makes sense, but assume that the person reading your analysis did read the piece of writing that you are analyzing. (Again, at least in the context of this course as you are learning college-level, academic writing.)