Lit Crit Research Paper Intro Examples and Thesis Statements
Intro Paragraph Tips:
1. Provide relevant background information on your novel (time period/era, author, thematically relevant info, etc.) that relates and leads down to your
argument/thesis. Intro paragraph for this paper should be at least 5 sentences.
2. Avoid introducing your novel in the first two sentences of your intro. Introduce after the first few sentences, perhaps even towards the latter half of your intro
paragraph.
3. Your AG/Hook should say something broad about the time period/author/theme of your novel, but not state something that is obvious.
4. The Thesis explains (how– the stylistic devices) help to illuminate the (what–theme, overall purpose of your novel)
Intro Example #1 with a One Sentence Thesis:
While the gunshots of the Revolutionary War were still reverberating throughout the world, an entirely different type of revolution was taking place on
American soil – not with muskets and bayonets, but with poetry and literature. The philosophical influences of transcendentalism and individualism worked an
enormous change on the American literary spectrum; writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau began to explore the feelings evoked by the
magnificent American landscape and to praise the American individual’s seemingly limitless capacity to explore and discover. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick,
written in 1851 during the Transcendentalist era, is not as optimistic as the works of Thoreau and Emerson; its pages, depicting an epic whaling voyage, pay
homage to the merciless power of nature and the often fatally flawed reasoning of the individual. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick explores the themes of
nature’s power and racial tension through the carefully constructed personas of Ishmael and Ahab and by using point of view and disparaging diction.
Intro Example #2 with a One Sentence Thesis:
A history of self-motivated and intellectual individuals laid the foundation for an American society defined by freedom, and a society seen as the pioneer
for the future of the human race. Today, it is a nation no longer led by self-motivation or independence, rather it is a starved society left to crave Apple or
Samsung’s next revolutionary device. The individual is nothing more than a sponge awaiting the information that is provided to him or her with ease. The social
pollution of technology was a fear anticipated by many writers in the mid-20th century, for the conclusion of World War II gave way to a flourish of technology
with the invention of the television at its frontlines. Among those in fear was Ray Bradbury, whose writings criticized the major controversies of American culture
during the 1950s. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury disparages this growing dependence on technology and the deterioration of an ignorant society using
symbolism and contrasting the characters Guy Montag and his wife Mildred to further emphasize the destructive nature of machinery and human
insatiability.
Intro Example #3 with a Two Sentence Thesis: The first sentence identifies the subject (Enders Game by Orson Scott Card) as well as the main theme (Orson
Scott Card argues that technology provides a replacement for reality). The second sentence introduces the devices that Card uses to elucidate the theme (by
implementing varying points of view including Ender Wiggins’ darkening views and the metaphor of the Battle Room in its relation to reality)
The struggles of war lead humanity into both its downfall and advancement. During the Cold War, tensions between the United States and the Soviet
Union were agonizing, and each side endeavored to overcome the other through the use of superior technology. This arms race resulted in many of the modern
technologies that people take for granted today, such as modern airplanes, microwaves and new forms of entertainment. Orson Scott Card witnessed these
innovations, and wondered if television and video games might desensitize those into perceiving an unrealistic view of the world, and thus perform inhumane and
despicable acts. In particular, Card worried about the future of children who would lose their innocence and transform into amoral automatons whose sole purpose
would be to perform an endless array of mindless tasks. In Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card argues that technology provides a replacement for reality.
Card comments on the true nature of the world by implementing varying points of view including Ender Wiggins’ darkening views and the metaphor of
the Battle Room in its relation to reality.
Intro Example #4 with a Two Sentence Thesis:
In 19th century America, the role of women underwent a significant change. Previous to the radical reformation that took place during this time, the
American housewife was modest, submissive to her husband, religious, and domestic. Purity was an essential characteristic to maintain an image of a 'frugal
housewife'. Submissiveness required women to accept their place in life obediently and eagerly, thus confirming God had appointed them to this role. Women
began to demand a first-rate education as well as equal rights; including the right to vote. Still, women were expected to maintain their dignity and innocence. The
innocent and naive, socially inept, and tragically flirtatious character Daisy Miller in Henry James' play Daisy Miller exemplifies the danger that this
nuanced, stereotypical “ideal” woman of the 19th century represents. Furthermore, James uses setting, symbolism, and the theme of innocence to display
the Jamesian feminism present in European and American society during the 19th century.