1. How to write an introduction & conclusion
Literary Analysis
How to write an introduction & conclusion
WOWing your Reader
PRESENTATION SERIES
Emphasize the importance of a good introduction. Relate the introduction of an essay to first impressions at an interview! First impressions are important.

2. PURPOSE The purpose of an introduction
is to prepare the reader for the
body of writing that comes
after it.
The conclusion is the writer's final opportunity
to emphasize the essay's purpose. A good
concluding paragraph leaves the reader with a
final thought or challenge.

3. A Note on Your Introduction:
You know what you are
writing about and why.
But unless you inform
your readers of this in an
introduction, they will
feel lost and judge your
essay to be an unclear
piece of work!

4. A good Introduction grabs the reader’s attention
indicates the topic that the essay is about (restating the question topic)
includes the name of the literary work and the author
provides the reader with enough background information to make your essay understood
explains the point of writing the essay (the thesis statement).
Explain how an introduction functions – discuss the roles that an introduction plays. You can take suggestions from the audience and discuss them.

5. THESIS – Include POINT (opinion)
HOW TO CREATE AN INTRO:
Write a sentence explaining the use of lit. element / topic in all literature.
THESIS – Include POINT (opinion)
2 sentences that include the title of the work, the author’s name and further detail on the topic / lit. element.

6. Example Suppose you had to write a five paragraph
essay about Elie Wiesel’s use of setting in
Night to show the effects of dehumanization
on prisoners of death camps.
Prepare the audience for an example of a good but predictable introduction: set the scenario of a student who has completed the body of the essay and now has to write an introduction. If the audience asks why the student did not write the introduction first, say that there is a good reasons for this but you will come to that later.

7. THESIS – Include POINT (opinion)
CREATE THE INTRO:
Write a sentence explaining the use of lit. element / topic in all literature.
THESIS – Include POINT (opinion)
2 sentences includes the title of the work, the author’s name and further detail on the topic / lit. element.
Through countless works of literature, contemporary
society has learned of the brutal tactics Nazi
soldiers used to dehumanize Holocaust
victims.
In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel sheds light on the crimes of Holocaust perpetrators to teach the world the truth of the tragedy. Wiesel uncovers how Nazi soldiers would stop at nothing short of making their victims less than sub-human through unbelievable torture.
By pointing to the ironies of the mental and physical setting victims endured, Wiesel creates a masterpiece that teaches the current generation Holocaust lessons in a way that other authors cannot parallel.

8. Example Here would be the complete intro:
Through countless works of literature, contemporary society has learned of the brutal tactics Nazi soldiers used to dehumanize Holocaust victims. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel sheds light on the crimes of Holocaust perpetrators to teach the world the truth of the tragedy. Wiesel uncovers how Nazi soldiers would stop at nothing short of making their victims less than sub-human through unbelievable torture. By pointing to the ironies of the mental and physical setting victims endured, Wiesel creates a masterpiece that teaches the current generation Holocaust lessons in a way that other authors cannot parallel.
Prepare the audience for an example of a good but predictable introduction: set the scenario of a student who has completed the body of the essay and now has to write an introduction. If the audience asks why the student did not write the introduction first, say that there is a good reasons for this but you will come to that later.

9. What NOT to do: Here is how someone new to
academic essays may write the
introduction:
This essay is about the use of setting in Night. First, a look at the irony of the physical setting of the memoir is examined. Second, I discuss a look at characterization. It is shown that Wiesel uses a lot of literary elements to prove his point. Therefore, the thesis of this essay is that Elie Wiesel properly uses literary elements to show the dehumanization of Holocaust victims.
Give an example of a good but predictable introduction – one that uses words like ‘essay’ and ‘thesis’. Make sure that everyone is aware of the three components: topic, organization, and thesis.

10. What’s wrong?
Don’t refer to the paper: “In this paper…” “First, I will discuss…”
Don’t use “I” or “you” in a formal paper.
Don’t structure using “First”, “Second”, or “third”. Utilize transition thoughts and words.
4. This has a WEAK thesis
(simply give a bold, factual
sentence that expresses
your position on
the issue).
Explain that there is nothing wrong with this introduction, but that there are ways in which it could be improved. Take suggestions from the audience about how to improve it. Prepare the audience for the next three slides, where you will discuss each of the three components (topic, organization, thesis) of this introduction.

11. The Conclusion Once you write the introduction, the
conclusion is easy:
This . . .
Becomes This . . .
Intro
So, you take your introduction and FLIP it…and then reword it….
The 1st sentence of your intro
The 3rd sentence of your intro
The 4th sentence of your intro
The 2nd sentence of your intro
becomes a rough
2nd sentence of your conclusion
4th sentence of your conclusion
3rd sentence of your conclusion
1st sentence of your conclusion

12. The Conclusion
Intro Sentence 4: By pointing to the ironies of the mental and physical setting victims endured, Wiesel creates a masterpiece that teaches the current generation Holocaust lessons in a way that other authors cannot parallel.
Rewrite it for the Conclusion
Conclusion Sentence 1: Wiesel’s keen use of irony and setting make real for the world what would otherwise seem like an unbelievable fictional story of brutality, torture and death.

13. The Conclusion
Intro Sentence 3: Wiesel uncovers how Nazi soldiers would stop at nothing short of making their victims less than sub-human through unbelievable torture.
Rewrite it for the Conclusion
Conclusion Sentence 2: Tens of millions of innocent victims are memorialized through the painstaking attention to detail provided in Night.

14. The Conclusion
Intro Sentence 2: In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel sheds light on the crimes of Holocaust perpetrators to teach the world the truth of the tragedy.
Rewrite it for the Conclusion
Conclusion Sentence 3: The memoir serves as a grim reminder of humanity’s ability to hate and kill in hopes that events of the Holocaust will never repeat themselves.

15. The Conclusion
Intro Sentence 1: Through countless works of literature, contemporary society has learned of the brutal tactics Nazi soldiers used to dehumanize Holocaust victims.
Rewrite it for the Conclusion
Conclusion Sentence 4: If humanity fails to learn the lessons left behind by Wiesel and countless authors who have worked to uncover the realities of the Holocaust, people are doomed to repeat the bondage from which so many victims have tried to set the world free.

16. This is how the Conclusion would read
Wiesel’s keen use of irony and setting make real for the world what would otherwise seem like an unbelievable fictional story of brutality, torture and death. Tens of millions of innocent victims are memorialized through the painstaking attention to detail provided in Night. The memoir serves as a grim reminder of humanity’s ability to hate and kill in hopes that events of the Holocaust will never repeat themselves. If humanity fails to learn the lessons left behind by Wiesel and countless authors who have worked to uncover the realities of the Holocaust, people are doomed to repeat the bondage from which so many victims have tried to set the world free.

17. Up Next . . . Writing the body of your essay.
Turning your essay into a research piece.