 Writing Introductions and Conclusions Ideas gather from Mrs. Meghann McFadden

The Introduction  Begins with a lead.  Continues with a bridge.  Concludes with a thesis statement (claim).

A Lead  The purpose of a lead is to get your audience’s attention and lead them into reading your essay.  The lead needs to make your audience WANT to read your essay. It needs to do so in a creative way.

Here are some suggested ways to write a lead :  1. An interesting fact from the text you read  2. A metaphor  3. Onomatopoeia words on the subject of the text  4. Description- describe the subject of the text in interesting language

Leads should NOT  1. Be a question. When you use a question to open an essay, you run the risk of your reader answering the questions negatively. If you say, “Have you ever wondered about Harriett Tubman?” my answer could be, “No.” I don’t want to keep reading.  2. Be boring, your essay needs to catch my attention. A boring lead gives me no reason to keep reading.  3. Start with “I’m going to tell you about…” Do not use I in this essay. Keep yourself distanced from the writing. Don’t tell me that you’re going to tell me something- just tell me.

The Bridge  The purpose of a bridge is to link your lead to your claim.  Your bridge should do the following:  Mention the name of the text you read  Mention the author OR authors who wrote the text  Should mention what the prompt has asked you to do

The Claim  Your claim is your position on the prompt. We’ve talked about this before. You will form some sort of opinion and state that as your claim on the subject.  This is your thesis statement. It informs the reader of your essay of what your essay is going to be about.

Example of an Introduction  Harriet Tubman led around 75, 000 slaves to freedom by way of the Underground Railroad. In “The Woman Called Moses,” Walter Olesky and Meg Mims focus on the central idea of Harriet Tubman’s leadership role in bringing so many slaves to freedom. Olesky and Mims convey this central idea through personal stories of Tubman’s past, told in her own words, that influenced her decision to become an important part of the Underground Railroad.

Why the Introduction is Effective  In the above example, the lead opens with an interesting fact taken straight from the text. Leading 75, 000 slaves to freedom WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT is impressive.  The Bridge mentions the text title, authors, and refers back to what the prompts asks, “determine one central idea from the text.” In our notes on analyzing the rubric, this is considered using ELA language.  The claim takes an opinion from the prompt, “how is the central idea conveyed.” It is conveyed through her own personal stories.

Some more ideas for leads  A metaphor: Harriet Tubman was the Moses of her people.  Onomatopoeia words on the subject of the text: Creak, crack, snap- carefully moving through the trees, rivers, and fields, 75,00 slaves journeyed, careful not to make a sound.  Description- describe the subject of the text in interesting language: Looking up and watching the twinkling stars as a road map to freedom, a simple woman with nothing

Effective Conclusions  Restate the claim/  Answer the question “So what?  Lead Out

Restate the claim  Don’t copy the claim word for word.  Offer up your claim in a new way.

So What?  Why is this important?  By “this” you either refer to one of two things: why is the prompt topic important or why is the subject of your essay important.  You can use the sentence stem “This is important, because…”

Lead Out  Mirror your lead here.  f you start with a metaphor, end with a metaphor. If you start with a description, end with a description.  You can either use the same one, and offer something new about it, OR you can do a new one.  You will impress your reader if you remember to do this.

An Example of a Conclusion  Harriet Tubman’s leadership is conveyed to the reader through her own personal stories. This is important, because telling your own personal stories keeps them alive. Not only was she a slave, but she was a woman who finally stood up and led those 75, 000 during a time when that was the unthinkable