Introductions and Conclusions

Parts of the Introduction• The introduction should begin with an attention-getter:• A quote• A startling statement• A definitionWhy not try a quote from the play?Or Aristotle’s definition of tragedy?Or C.B. Lawson’s definition of tragedy?Or one of the quotes from your sources?***The introduction should NOT start with a vague sentence:

There are different heroes in different ages.

Next…• Tie the quotation to a sentence which leads to your topic. In

other words, what does that quote have to do with your topic?

• After you do that introduce the title and author of the pieces of literature you are analyzing.

• Finally, give the thesis statement which gives your opinion plus the three major points covered in the paper.

A sample• “Tragedy, then is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a

certain magnitude, in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions” (Aristotle 10). Aristotle, in his famed Poetics, constructed this lofty definition of tragedy which some modern playwrights and critics feel is antiquated and not applicable to the modern theatre. They wonder if the events of the “common man” are fit for the tragic template. Arthur Miller is not one of these “naysayers.” Miller believes “that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were” (“Tragedy and the Common Man” 143). In Death of a Salesman, Miller satires the American dream using the genre of tragedy. His tragic hero Willy, Miller believes, evokes the tragic feeling in us because he “is ready to lay down his life…”to secure…his sense of personal dignity”(“Tragedy and the Common Man” 144). By looking at Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and particularly his defined characteristics of the tragic hero, it is clear that Willy Loman is a tragic hero because he has a hamartia, an enlightenment and a downfall.

Conclusion• The first sentence will restate your thesis using different

words.• Next, you might try to use a quotation from the literature

studied or from one of your sources to summarize the main idea of your paper.

• Try a cyclical return – going back to the introduction and picking up an idea from there which you finalize in the conclusion.