Introductions
The Beginning
Begin with a quotation

Although this approach can be overused, it can
be very effective when you have an appropriate
quotation. That quotation may relate directly to
the subject or it may be only indirectly related
(and thus require further explanation). Do not
force a quotation into this spot; if an appropriate
quotation is not available, select another
method.
Quotation Examples

"The novel Lolita," the critic Charles Blight said in 1959,
"is proof that American civilization is on the verge of
total moral collapse" (45). The judgment of critics and
readers in subsequent years, however, has proclaimed
Lolita to be one of the great love stories of all time and
one of the best proofs that American civilization is still
vibrant and alive.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul"
(11). These opening lines of Lolita reveal the essence of
Humbert Humbert's complexity and compulsion, his
saving grace and his damning passion.
Quotation opening example

"Two cheers for democracy" was E. M. Forster's not-quite-wholehearted
judgment. Most Americans would not agree. To them, our democracy is
one of the glories of civilization. To one American in particular, E. B. White,
democracy is "the hole in the stuffed shirt through which the sawdust
slowly trickles . . . the dent in the high hat . . . the recurrent suspicion that
more than half of the people are right more than half of the time" (915).
American democracy is based on the oldest continuously operating written
constitution in the world - a most impressive fact and a testament to the
farsightedness of the founding fathers. But just how farsighted can mere
humans be? In Future Shock, Alvin Toffler quotes economist Kenneth
Boulding on the incredible acceleration of social change in our time: "The
world of today . . . is as different from the world in which I was born as that
world was from Julius Caesar's" (13). As we move toward the twenty-first
century, it seems legitimate to question the continued effectiveness of a
governmental system that was devised in the eighteenth century; and it
seems equally legitimate to consider alternatives.
Begin with a Paradox

In 1959 Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita
had been banned in several cities as
pornographic. Today it is required reading
not only in literature courses but also in
philosophy courses that explore the
nature of love. Since its publication, the
novel's subject has been recognized to be
love, not lust; art, not perversion.
Begin with a short anecdote or
narrative

When the original movie version of Lolita
was released in the early 1960s, Sue
Lyon, the young actress who starred as
the provocative "nymphet" of the title, was
judged too young to be allowed to see the
movie in the theater.
Begin with an interesting fact or
statistic

Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Nabokov --two acknowledged masters of English
prose -- were not even native speakers of
English. Conrad's native tongue was
Polish; Nabokov's, Russian.
Begin with a question or several
questions

How could a book now acknowledged as
a masterpiece not only of fiction but also
of English prose have been banned when
it was published? How could a novel that
dealt with love and art be thought of as
pornographic? Why would a society so
mindful of free speech as America ban
any book in the first place?
Question opening example

Are gender roles learned or inherited? Scientific
research has established the existence of biological
differences between the sexes, but the effect of
biology's influence on gender roles cannot be
distinguished from society's influence. According to
Michael Lewis of the Institute for the Study of
Exceptional children, "As early as you can show me a
sex difference, I can show you the culture at work."
Social processes, as well as biological differences, are
responsible for the separate roles of men and women
Begin with relevant background
material

Background material should be presented
concisely and should be clearly related to
your thesis. A rambling discussion of
material only remotely related to your
main point will confuse and bore your
readers.
Background opening example

Although he was born in Russia and lived for
many years in England, Germany, and France
before coming to America in 1941, Vladimir
Nabokov is now considered one of the great
American novelists of the 20th century. This
opinion, however, is not based solely on his
mastery of English prose. His novel Lolita has
been said to have captured the essence of
American life in the 1950s better than any novel
written by a writer born in this country.
Background opening example

Sex and violence on the screen are not new issues. In the Roaring Twenties there
was increasing pressure from civic and religious groups to ban depictions of
"immorality" from the screen. Faced with the threat of federal censorship, the film
producers decided to clean their own house. In 1930, the Motion Picture Producers
and Distributors of America established the Production Code. At first, adherence to
the Code was voluntary; but in 1934 Joseph Breen, newly appointed head of the
MPPDA, gave the Code teeth. Henceforth all newly produced films had to be
submitted for approval to the Production Code Administration which had the power
to award or withhold the Code seal. Without a Code seal, it was virtually impossible
for a film to be shown anywhere in the United States, since exhibitors would not
accept it. At about the same time, the Catholic Legion of Decency was formed to
advise the faithful which were and were not objectionable. For several decades the
Production Code Administration exercised powerful control over what was portrayed
in American theatrical films. By the 1960s, however, changing standards of morality
had considerably weakened the Code's grip. In 1968, the Production Code was
replaced with a rating system designed to keep younger audiences away from films
with high levels of sex or violence. Despite its imperfections, this rating system has
proved more beneficial to American films than did the old censorship system.
Begin by stating a long-term effect or effects
without immediately stating the cause

It caused howls of protest from the
guardians of public morality in the 1950s.
Indirectly it helped bring about both
artistic and personal freedom in the
1960s. Today it is a recognized classic of
art and thought -- Vladimir Nabokov's
Lolita.
Begin with an analogy

Like a hurricane that brings fear and panic
along with its powerful winds, uprooting trees
and disrupting belief in an all-merciful God, so
the novel Lolita swept across America in the
1950s, bringing fear and panic that pedophilia
would be loosed on the land. Instead, the novel,
like a hurricane, blew over trees of thought that
were not deeply rooted in American experience,
exposing their gnarled premises while helping
to clear the way for the artistic freedom of the
1960s.
Begin by defining a term that is
important to your piece

Avoid simple dictionary definitions. Create
an expanded definition that explains how
the term applies to your topic and essay.
Definition opening example

Every few years the ugly charge of "pornography" is aimed at some
novel or movie. Never was the term more inappropriately used than
in the case of Lolita, yet the taint of that word still lingers in the
minds of many when they hear the book's title. What exactly is
"pornography" that it should stir such feelings and be so hated?
The problem, of course, is that no one can agree on what
pornography actually is. That it has something to do with sex
seems clear; beyond that, there is a chaos of opinion. When the
small-minded or special-interest definitions are pushed aside,
however, we are left with D.H. Lawrence's provocative definition:
pornography is anything that "does dirt on sex." By that definition,
Lolita is the opposite of pornography -- it is a celebration of sex and
love.
General subject to specific
subject opening

Though we prefer to think of man as basically good and reluctant to
do evil, such is not the case. Many of the crimes inflicted on
humankind can be dismissed as being committed by the
degenerates of society at the prompting of the abnormal mind. But
what of the perfectly "normal" man or woman who commits
inhumane acts simply because he or she has been ordered to do
so? It cannot be denied that such acts have occurred, either in
everyday life or in war-time situations. Unfortunately, even normal,
well-adjusted people can become cruel, inhumane, and destructive
if placed in the hands of unscrupulous authority. Such was the case
in the village of My Lai, Vietnam, on March 16, 1968, when a
platoon of American soldiers commanded by Lt. William Calley
massacred more than 100 civilians, including women and children.
Specific subject to general
subject opening

In late 1971 astronomer Carl Sagan and his colleagues were studying data
transmitted from the planet Mars to the earth by the Mariner 9 spacecraft.
Struck by the effects of the Martian dust storms on the temperature and on
the amount of light reaching the surface, the scientists wondered about the
effects on earth of the dust storms that would be created by nuclear
explosions. Using computer models, they simulated the effects of such
explosions on the earth's climate. The results astounded them. Apart from
the known effects of nuclear blasts (fires and radiation), the earth, they
discovered, would become enshrouded in a "nuclear winter." Following a
nuclear exchange, plummeting temperatures and pervading darkness
would destroy most of the Northern Hemisphere's crops and farm animals
and would eventually render much of the planet's surface uninhabitable.
The effects of nuclear war, apparently, would be more catastrophic than
had previously been imagined. It has therefore become more urgent than
ever for the nations of the world to take dramatic steps to reduce the threat
of nuclear war.
Conclusions
This is the end.
Conclusion
Your conclusion needs to summarize your
thesis statement, but it must not be
merely a summary of what you have
already said.
 Do not simply restate your thesis.
 A strong conclusion will often return to the
introductory strategy.

Conclusions
For instance, if you began with a narrative
opening, return to that narrative in your
closing.
 In general, many of the same strategies
we used as openings also work in closing
a paper.

Conclusions
If you began with a question, end with
answers to the question.
 Or, having answered the question in the
body of the paper, push your reader to
consider new questions.

Question closing example

How do we surmount the reaction that threatens to
destroy the very gains we thought we had already won
in the first stage of the women's movement? How do we
surmount our own reaction, which shadows our
feminism and our femininity (we blush even to use that
word now)? How do we transcend the polarization
between women and women and between women and
men to achieve the new human wholeness that is the
promise of feminism, and get on with solving the
concrete, practical, everyday problems of living, working
and loving as equal persons? This is the personal and
political business of the second stage.
Conclusions
Quotations can also be effective in closing
your paper–find a quote that fits your
thesis.
 Always consider the source when
including a quote: Is this someone you
want associated with your argument?

Quotation closing example

There is no doubt that machines will get smarter and smarter, even
designing their own software and making new and better chips for
new generations of computers.... More and more of their power will
be devoted to making them easier to use - "friendly," in industry
parlance - even for those not trained in computer science. And
computer scientists expect that public ingenuity will come up with
applications the most visionary researchers have not even
considered. One day, a global network of smart machines will be
exchanging rapid-fire bursts of information at unimaginable speeds.
If they are used wisely, they could help mankind to educate its
masses and crack new scientific frontiers. "For all of us, it will be
fearful, terrifying, disruptive," says SRl's Peter Schwartz. In the end
there will be those whose lives will be diminished. But for the vast
majority, their lives will be greatly enhanced." In any event, there is
no turning back: if the smart machines have not taken over, they
are fast making themselves indispensable - and in the end, that
may amount to very much the same thing
Quotation closing example

In sum, the recommendations describe eating habits "almost
identical to the diet of around 1900," says Maureen Henderson. "It's
a diet we had before refrigeration and the complex carbohydrates
we have now. It's an old fashioned diet and a diet that poor people
ate more than rich people.” Some cancer researchers wonder
whether people will be willing to change their diets or take pills on
the chance of preventing cancer, when one-third of the people in
the country won't even stop smoking. Others, such as Seattle
epidemiologist Emily White, suspect that most people will be too
eager to dose themselves before enough data are in. "We're not
here to convince the public to take anything," she says. "The public
is too eager already. What we're saying is, 'Let us see if some of
these things work.' We want to convince ourselves before we
convince the public.''
Conclusions
Often a writer will propose a solution or
make a recommendation as the closing.
 Sometimes this is required–a problemsolution piece needs to end with a
proposed solution/recommendation.

Solution/Recommendation
Example


Minimally, scholarships in revenue-producing sports should be designed to
extend until graduation, rather than covering only four years of athletic
eligibility, and should include guarantees of tutoring, counseling, and proper
medical care. At institutions where the profits are particularly large (such as
Texas A &M, which can afford to pay its football coach $280,000 a year),
scholarships should also provide salaries that extend beyond room, board, and
tuition. The important thing is that the athlete be remunerated fairly and have
the opportunity to gain skills from a university environment without undue
competition from a physically and psychologically demanding full-time job. This
may well require that scholarships be extended over five or six years, including
summers.
Such a proposal, I suspect, will not be easy to implement. The current
amateur system, despite its moral and educational flaws, enables universities
to hire their athletic labor at minimal cost. But solving the fiscal crisis of the
universities on the backs of America's poor and minorities is not, in the long
run, a tenable solution. With the support of concerned educators, parents, and
civil rights leaders, and with the help from organized labor, the college athlete,
truly a sleeping giant, will someday speak out and demand what is rightly his and hers - a fair share of the revenue created by their hard work.