Category Archives: Introduction Exercise #1

Announcements, Introduction Exercise #1

INTRO. EXERCISE#1 Due Monday, October 19th @ Noon

INTRO. EXERCISE #1 Each group should complete the following 

  1. READ the ALL of the below directions for finishing your thesis and writing your introduction.
  2. FINISH crafting your thesis statement.
  3. WRITE an introduction for your thesis
  4. POST the introduction and CHECK “Introduction exercise #1” category.

YOUR INTRODUCTION SHOULD:

  1. Begin with a hook.  Look at the UNC do’s and don’ts. [1-3 sentences]
  2. Write a transition sentence that brings us from the provocative opening to your thesis. [1-2] sentences]
  3. State your thesis clearly. [1-3 sentences]
  4. Give me a roadmap or a general overview of how your essay will illustrate that thesis.  (i.e.  In order to illustrate this claim, this essay will look first at x, then at y, and then discuss how x and y create z. [2-4 sentences]

NOTE: There is no formula for how many sentences you should use.  My suggestions have this paragraph ranging from 5-12 sentences, but you need to use your own judgement.

FINISHING YOUR THESIS:

  1. Make sure you have an “it”:  Do you have a specific textual moment  (a line or a word or a paragraph) that you are looking at?
  2. Pick a Theme:  What about the “it” interests you?  (i.e. Are you interested in what it says about freedom or what it makes me think about gender or personhood?)   NOTE:  A theme is not just a topic.  A topic = slavery.  A theme = The prevalence of familial separation in a slave society.  AGAIN A topic = happiness.  A theme = the problem of happiness in The South Park generation.  (The latter is not a thesis, but it narrows into a discussion and you can imagine questions and specific areas and issues a thesis in this theme might get at.)
  3. Look for Relevant Textual Evidence:  Are there other moments that fit with your theme other than your it?  AND/OR Are there other parts around your “it” that help you to interrogate that theme?
  4. Make a claim:    Make a claim about how your”it” speaks to (or helps us understand) your theme.   (i.e. How does your theme manifests in your “it”? And how does the way it manifests [challenge, confirm, or complicate some part of] your theme?)
  5. Articulate a “SO WHAT.”  A “so what” is essentially a claim about how this small part matters to the whole.   This paper is very focused, so your “so what” should be specifically about how this small thing you’re talking about might help us to see the whole text (essay) in a clearer, different, or more particular light. Ask yourself how does this claim about this particular “it” and this particular theme relate to the whole text?  Does it change t he way I read the main point of the text?  If so, how?  The answer to these questions is your “so what.” Your claim matters because it helps us to see X about the whole work or it changes our view about Y in the text.