There Are No Children Here

Literary Analysis

Introduction and Conclusion Paragraphs

Directions: Using the worksheet provided here, experiment with different hooking and concluding strategies. Once you’ve selected the strategies that work best, include them in your actual introductory and concluding paragraphs. You must include these revised paragraphs, as well as any revisions you made during Monday’s class, in a second, printed rough draft due Wednesday, January 12th.

Hooks

Experiment with different hooking techniques and then choose one that works for you AND your thesis statement. No matter what, your hook should not be written using first person and should be developed using a minimum of 3-4 sentences.

1. Metaphor or Simile Hook: Begin with a metaphor or simile for TANCH and/or the characters. Come up with your own metaphor or simile instead of one Kotlowitz used. Be sure to explain the meaning of your metaphor/simile and that it ties to your thesis.

2. Startling Fact or Statistic Hook: Begin your introduction with a startling fact or statistic from TANCH.

3. Quotation Hook: Begin your intro with an attention-getting quote from TANCH. Be careful, though, that the quote doesn’t become your whole introduction. Your introduction of your essay should be longer than the quote in your introduction. Be sure to cite the page number where you got the quote in the introduction (in-text citation).

4. Bizarre Image Hook: Use descriptive language and imagery to paint a picture for your reader.

5.Anecdote (short story) Hook: Introduce your thesis with a short story that exemplifies or illustrates your thesis.

6. Free Write Hook: Another idea is to free write for five minutes about your topic—sort of like journal writing—without regard to grammar, spelling, or word choice. Then, read over what you wrote and see if this might be an effective way to introduce your essay once you have edited it for grammar, spelling, and word choice. You would be surprised at how effective this technique is.

7. Begin With a Question Hook: You could begin your introduction with an attention-getting or thought-provoking question. And then show how the question connects to your thesis.

8. Create a List Hook: Beginning your introduction with a list of something relatable to your subject helps give it a real world connection and adds emphasis.

Practice: First, pick two different hooking strategies. Second, experiment writing two different hooks. Third, choose the one that best fits your thesis statement and include it, and transition statement(s), in your revised rough draft due Wednesday, January 12th.

Hooking strategy number: ______

Hook:

Hooking strategy number: ______

Hook:

Conclusion paragraphs

Because the last paragraph plays such a key role in a paper, almost all writers struggle with writing conclusions. You should begin a conclusion by reminding the reader of your thesis and main points, but a conclusion is not a summary. A successful conclusion brings your argument to a logical close; it is where you justify your argument to the reader. Use your conclusion to describe the consequences of your argument, to answer the question "why is my argument important?"

Strategies:

1. Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study: You’ve discussed poverty, political inequalities, or equality. What now? What should be done? Who should do it? Why? Propose a solution to the problem you’ve discussed.

2. Include a detail or example from the introduction to bring the argument full circle. Did you begin your essay with a question? An anecdote or short story? A definition of “commitment”? Revisit the way you began your essay in your conclusion to leave the reader with a feeling of having come full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.

3. Include a provocative insight or quotation: Consider what you want to leave your audience thinking about when he or she has finished reading your essay. What “food for thought” do you want them to mull over, contemplate, talk about at the dinner table, or lay in bed thinking about? This could be a hope for the future, a prediction, or a quote from the book that summarizes your essay’s argument.

4. Point to broader implications: For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists. What would an essay on the effects poverty and violence have on children say about their chances of survival or success as adults?

Practice: First, pick two different concluding strategies. Second, experiment writing two different conclusion paragraphs (remember to rephrase your thesis statement and main points first). Third, choose the conclusion paragraph that best fits your essay’s argument and include it in your revised rough draft due Wednesday, January 12th.

Concluding strategy number: ______