1. Introductions & Conclusions Good Beginnings and Strong Endings in your Character Analysis Essay

2. The Structure of the Introduction Like an upside-down triangle, the intro starts big (general) and works its way to a specific point (thesis). Hook General Story Info Thesis

3. How to start Gather essential information about your story Title Author Date Published (if available) Names of major characters Very general plot information

4. Thinking about Hooks A hook sentence is the FIRST sentence of your whole essay. It gets the reader’s attention by making a broad statement about the topic(s) you’ll be addressing in your paper In general, try to avoid asking the reader a question.

5. Then What?: Introduce the Story The middle portion of the intro does just that: it literally introduces the reader to the topic of your story. Things to cover here: Qualify characters (Rainsford, the protagonist…) Author, title Summarize the plot in one or two sentences End with your thesis

6. Examples: Many adults do not give kids enough credit for their intelligence or their ability to solve a problem when faced with it. However, kids can be clever, especially when it comes to something that is important to them. The story Hansel and Gretel, adapted by Jane Jerrard, is an example of this. In the story, the protagonists, Hansel and Gretel, find a house made of candy in the woods, become threatened by a witch, and finally run away. They are two intelligent characters who are able to overcome the problems they come across.

7. Putting it into Practice: Take 10 minutes and write the introduction to your own essay, keeping in mind the following parts: Hook sentence Author, title Character names, qualifications (protagonist, etc.) Thesis statement

8. Conclusions: Ending Strong The structure of a conclusion is like an upside down introduction. You want to start specifically (restate thesis) then end with a broad, general statement. Restated Thesis Restate Topic Sentences Leave Reader Thinking

9. Conclusions: Where to Start? Begin the conclusion with a final transition: after all, all in all, all things considered, by and large, in any event, in conclusion, on the whole, in summary, in the long run, on balance, to sum up, etc. Then, restate your thesis using different language

10. Conclusions: Then What? Restate the three points you bring up in each of your topic sentences Hint: Simply go back and look at the first sentence of each of your three body paragraphs. You can even combine these three points into one sentence here.

11. Conclusions: Last Sentence! Leave the reader thinking: Before you finish, think of a sentence that sums up everything you’ve talked about, but looks at the BIG PICTURE (not simply the story). This should generally NOT be a question.

12. Conclusions: Example In summary, Hansel and Gretel are two intelligent characters who overcome the problems that come their way. (1)They are smart by dropping the pebbles to make a trail, (2) by saving themselves from being eaten by the witch, and (3) by freeing themselves from the witch’s house. They knew that saving their lives was extremely important and they rose to the task to do it. This story just goes to show that people should really give kids a lot more credit than they get.

13. Putting it into Practice: Take 10 minutes are write your own conclusion for your analysis essay. If you don’t have the idea for your third body paragraph yet, simply underline that portion of the sentence and leave it blank for later. Keep in mind the following parts: Begin with a summarizing transition Restate thesis in different words Cover all 3 points made in your body paragraph’s topic sentences End by leaving the reader thinking (but not with a question!)