English 1A Tutorial Week 5 – Essay Writing: Introductions
(Revised)
In this week’s tutorial, you will learn how to write an introduction. To prepare for
this tutorial, you Must have read “Relatives” by Chris van Wyk. This short story is
available on Moodle under Mr Radebe.
Constructing an Introduction
The introduction is a crucial part of your essay because it establishes the
foundation of your essay. It introduces the argument and provides an
outline of what the essay will discuss in order to prove the argument.
An introduction is one paragraph and must always include the
following:
1. General statement/Background information is the first part of your
introduction it can be a maximum of three sentences: It
includes the (a) title of the text (short fiction typed in quotation
marks and long fiction in italics). (b)Who wrote the text (name of
the author) Do not go into details about where the author was born
or studied unless it is important when discussing the text. (c)
Context (When and where was the text written (provide the year.
You can (it is not mandatory) provide a summary of the historical
events occurring at the time the text was written only if it relates to
the text’s central themes. (d) Summary of the text (What is/are
the central/overall theme(s) presented by the text). Do not
retell the narrative/story. Ask yourself instead, what themes
or concerns is the narrative attempting to present or argue
using the text.
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2. A Thesis statement: (It must be one clear sentence and it comes
after the background information). (This is where you present your
main argument and it responds to the essay question. (b)You
are allowed to rephrase the question as the thesis
statement.
(c) It begins with the phrase: This essay argues/discusses…
(main argument) or In this essay, I will argue/discuss… (main
argument)
3. An Essay plan: Maximum of three sentences and comes after the
thesis statement.
(a) This is where you provide a detailed outline of how elements
of fiction e.g. themes, characterization, setting, narrative, plot,
etc. will be used to unpack or develop your overall
argument/thesis statement.
Do not use phrases such as firstly, secondly, and thirdly.
Rather use phrases such as, I will show/ or illustrate how a short
story/ novel uses characterization to explore (mention idea),
narrative point of view to indicate (mention idea), and setting to
show …( idea) as to present the ..(overall argument). You can
also use one element of fiction depending on the type of
question you receive.
All must be in one single introductory paragraph.
Examples of introductions:
Example 1:
(Background)Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, written in 1948, is a story
about the ritual of a community in a small village in which a person is
arbitrarily selected via a lottery to be killed by the other villagers. It is a
story that deals with the dangers of tradition and how it can generate
ritualised violence. (Thesis) In this essay, I will discuss the ways in which
Jackson uses an objective third-person narrator, an apparently calm
setting, and a matter-of-fact style to create ambiguity and tension. (Essay
2
plan) In the process, I illustrate how this story questions the blind
adherence to tradion.
Example:2
(Background information) Can Themba’s, short story, “The Suit”(1963),
tells the story of the protagonist, Philemon’s discovery of and reaction to
his wife, Matilda’s infidelity. The short story is set in Sophiatown in the
1960s and is told from Philemon’s point of view. (Thesis statement) This
essay discusses how the short story explores the character development
of Philemon and Matlida after and before the discovery of the infidelity.
(Essay plan) To this end, I will illustrate how the short story makes use of
the characterization of Philemon and Matilda to explore the changing
moods and attitudes of the characters, the narrative point of view to
indicate the reaction of each character to the infidelity, and the setting to
explore attitude and social expectations that govern both Philemon and
Matilda’s attitude towards marriage.
Important Notes:
#No headings in the essay.
#Tense: The introduction is always typed in the present tense unless you
are providing the text’s historical information.
#Remember the number of lines does not equate to the number of
sentences. One sentence can be two lines long.
#Lastly, do not panic about the length of the introduction as long as it
indicates your approach to the question it is sufficient. But it should not
be a page long.
Tutorial activity
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5
Using the extracts above, as your starting point, write only an
introduction discussing how, in the short story, “Relatives”, Chris van
Wyk makes use of elements of fiction:
I. Narrative point of view
II. Characterisation
III. and setting
to explore the role of storytelling.
The end….
