Writing the Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs

1. Writing the Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs

2. Introduction Has three parts: • Hook • GDT • Thesis

3. Hook Hook: This should be a general statement that focuses on one of two facts: • 1) That ultimate power corrupts, AND/OR • 2) that ignorance breeds disaster. The hook should NOT be a question, nor should it contain the word “YOU”. In addition, it should not include the name of your character. Example: The old saying, “Question Authority” should ring true to those of us who have either witnessed or allowed ourselves to be duped by another person’s seeming all-knowing power.

4. GDT • The first sentence of the GDT should introduce the author and title and flow smoothly from the hook. • Example: This is especially true for George Orwell’s character, ______________, from his novella Animal Farm. Remember the prompt. Discussion in the GDT should focus on your character and how their actions/decisions/traits gradually contributed to the decline. This should contain AS MANY SENTENCES AS IS NECESSARY TO CLEARLY EXPLAIN YOUR CHARACTER (without over-explaining). You should write this to an audience who has NOT READ THE STORY.

5. Thesis • This is the MOST IMPORTANT sentence in your essay. The thesis has 3 parts: The subject, (your character); your opinion (how and why they contribute to the fall of Animal Farm); and the blueprint (The blueprint are the three traits you have you discussed in your three body paragraphs). A sample thesis sentence might be: Because Adolf Hitler was paranoid, power-hungry, and possessed an obsessive nature, he failed to see when his empire was crumbling and therefore, eventually lost the war. • Subject: Adolf Hitler • Opinion: He failed to see when his empire was crumbling and therefore, eventually lost the war • Blueprint: paranoid, power-hungry, obsessive nature

6. Concluding Paragraph Also has three parts: • Restatement of the thesis • A summary of your main points • A clincher

7. Restatement Thesis: Because Adolf Hitler was paranoid, power-hungry, and possessed an obsessive nature, he failed to see when his empire was crumbling and therefore, eventually lost the war. Restated: In the end, Hitler’s failures all stemmed from character weaknesses: His paranoid tendencies, his lust for power and his murderous obsession to kill anyone whom he deemed “imperfect” all contributed to his making irrational and, therefore, unwise decisions.

8. Summary of YOUR main points How is this different than a GDT? • Your GDT provided an overview of the plot and told what role your character plays in the downfall. • Your summary should focus on the main points that you made and proved in your essay. • Again, there is no magic number of sentences that I can give you.

9. Clincher • Go back to your hook. How can you restate that and leave your reader thinking? Hook: The old saying, “Question Authority” should ring true to those of us who have either witnessed or allowed ourselves to be duped by another person’s seeming all-knowing power. Clincher: Think about it: If we allow ourselves to remain ignorant and simply believe everything we are told without question, we are vulnerable to another person’s every whim, whether that whim is for good or evil—and we would not know the difference.