Giver vs. Pleasantville Essay Introduction and Conclusion Paragraph Checklists
Introductory Paragraph (in this order)!:
___ Attention-getter/hook (Draw your audience in! Could be a powerful quotation, a question posed for
thought, etc. CAN be more than 1 sentence long!!!)
___ Background information (you’ll want to orient the reader very generally about The Giver and
Pleasantville.)
___ Clear, concise thesis statement at the end of the introduction. (Your thesis statement must mention the
main point of each body paragraph, which SHOULD ALREADY BE CLEARLY WRITTEN IN EACH
PARAGRAPH’S TOPIC SENTENCE. Use your topic sentences to help you formulate a good thesis
statement.)
A Step-by-Step Approach to Creating a Thesis Statement:
Pretend that these are my topic sentences for the 3 body paragraphs in my essay:
Body Paragraph 1’s Topic Sentence: When studying utopian societies in literature and film, one often finds that
there are unintended consequences to these attempts at perfection.
Body Paragraph 2’s Topic Sentence: Both The Giver and “Pleasantville” were rich in symbolism.
Body Paragraph 3’s Topic Sentence: The writers of The Giver and “Pleasantville” both used the literary device
of allusion, drawing upon the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.
So, to create your thesis statement, you have a simple formula to follow:
Main Point of BP 1 + Main Point of BP 2 + Main Point of BP 3 = Thesis Statement (1 SENTENCE
LONG).
Example of a Thesis Statement:
The Giver and “Pleasantville” had many similarities, including fact that they both featured utopian societies that
had unintended dystopian consequences, were both rich in symbolism, and drew upon the biblical story of
Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.
Body Paragraphs:
In an ideal essay, these paragraphs would feature transitions to help the essay flow, but we are skipping that step
at this point.
Conclusion Paragraph (in this order)!:
___ Thesis statement again, but reworded slightly to avoid repetition.
___ Brief summary of main points
___ Refer back to the attention getter/hook to add relevancy (this helps allow the reader to see how they’ve
come full circle with their reading).
___ End with a powerful, definitive statement (could contain writer’s insights, encourage the reader to action,
emphasize the importance of one of the points, provide solutions to problems described earlier, or create
a solid sense of finality)
Entire Essay:
___ Avoids use of first person (I, me, my, etc.) and second person (you, your, etc)