What is text-dependent analysis?

• A. Analyzing a passage based on personal opinions.
• B. Analyzing a text using evidence from the passage to support conclusions.
• C. Paraphrasing the passage without evidence.
• D. Citing outside sources.

Answer: (B)

Text-dependent analysis means your conclusions come directly from the text itself. You pick a specific question about the passage and then rely on exact evidence from the text—quotes, details, and concrete examples—to support your reasoning. The goal is to show how those pieces of evidence justify your claim about meaning, purpose, a character’s motivation, or the overall theme.

To do this well, you explain how the evidence you cite supports your interpretation and how it connects to the question you’re answering. This often involves looking closely at word choice, important details, and the way the text is structured or crafted to convey a point, and then tying those observations back to what the text shows.

Outside of the passage or personal opinions don’t belong in a text-dependent analysis, and paraphrasing without evidence isn’t enough. So the emphasis is on using the text itself to build a well-supported conclusion.