Writing Introductions For Literary Essays (Page 2 of 2) in pdf

Sample Introduction

In the following sample introduction, the three parts are labeled as follows:

 Hook  Transition  Thesis Statement

Essay question: Is our society similar to Panem, the fictional society in The Hunger Games?

Introductory paragraph:

 Throughout human history, violence—even murder—has always been a problem. 

Murder and violence are prominent in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, where children

are forced to fight to the death in an arena for entertainment.  While the cruel world of

Panem at first seems very different from our own society, it is actually frighteningly similar:

beauty, violence, and sacrifice exist in both societies.

Exercise: Identifying the Parts of an Introductory Paragraph

Directions: Identify the three parts in each of the sample introductions by doing the

following:

 Circle the hook (circle all sentences that are part of the hook)

 Put parenthesis around the transition sentence(s)

 Underline the thesis statement.

Essay question #1: Why did Evan Hunter use a third-person point-of-view in the story “On

the Sidewalk Bleeding”?

Sample Introduction:

Whenever a person joins a group, he inevitably must sacrifice part of himself in order to

conform with the group’s expectations. In Evan Hunter’s “On the Sidewalk Bleeding,” we

see the extreme case of a young man who loses his life because of his choice to join a gang.

Hunter uses the third-person point-of-view because being able to tell the reader that Andy

will die at the beginning of the story allows him to focus the reader’s attention on the

protagonist’s inner conflict.

Essay question #2: Is the testimony given by the informants in Monster reliable?

Sample Introduction:

Is it right for the U.S. justice system to give criminals reduced sentences in return for

evidence against other people? The trial in Monster by Walter Dean Myers dramatizes this

issue by portraying a trial that relies heavily on the use of testimony of men who are

admitted criminals. A close analysis of the inaccuracies, omissions, and deceptions in the

testimony of Bobo Evans and Osvaldo Cruz makes it clear that they are not reliable

witnesses.

Writing Introductions For Literary Essays Page 2