What's the best way to start an essay?

Question

I'm writing an essay for my English class. What's the best way to start the essay when it's about the theme and the issues in Tom Sawyer? Should I introduce the book? And if so, how should I introduce it?

No I'm not asking for someone to write it out for me, I'm doing my own work, but I would like it if someone could give me a good idea to get me out of my writers block :)

Answer 1

Oh Lord. Please don't summarize the book in the introductory paragraph as some have suggested.

The standard way to start an English question is called a "funnel introduction." You may have heard this get thrown around. A funnel, you know, is one of those things you use to pour liquid into a narrow-necked bottle. Well, your introduction should follow the same "shape," starting out broadly and then getting more and more specific until you get to your thesis, usually the last sentence of your introduction.

What this means for you as a writer is that you have to work backwards. First, pick your thesis: choose one theme in the book (maybe authenticity vs. appearances) and then decide what Twain has to say about it. Write out that in a sentence. That's your thesis.

Then get more and more general as you work backwards toward the beginning of your essay. So if Twain uses Aunt Polly as an example of the hypocrisy of most of America (don't use this, I can't remember the book that well, and don't think that's right), then you can become more general, and say Twain's ironic perspective allows him to look critically at American society.

For reference, you should have one sentence in the introduction somewhere that includes the name and author of the book, e.g. "In _The Adventures of Tom Saywer_, by Mark Twain, characters like Injun Joe and Aunt Polly seem to be at opposite poles of the moral spectrum." etc etc.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Before you start writing, I suggest outlining or brainstorming. Do you have a thesis? Do you have your main arguments in order? Do you know how you'll transition between these arguments?

If beginnings tend to pose a problem to you, I recommend starting with your main points and later working on the intro and conclusion (those are always the hardest).

As for introducing the book, you should simply say, "In Mark Twain's novel, Tom Sawyer, many characters..." and immediately cut to the chase; don't try to summarize the story in the beginning.

Or, if your teacher loves interesting introductions, you can put some type of exclamatory sentence or generalization at the beginning, after which you'll connect it to the novel. Example: "Human nature is selfish. Take the example of character so-and-so, in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer."

Whatever you do, don't get bogged down by the introduction! The development is equally as important. Hope it helps!

Answer 3

Introduce Tom Sawyer;

Introduce the book;

Introduce the Issues;

Introduce the Theme

Reflect back on the theme, and how it relates to the issues. Give your overall view of the book.

Answer 4

If the essay's focused on the theme, I'd write my first paragraph like this:

Tom Sawyer is a (adj) novel written by Mark Twain. It tells the story of (summary of several sentences).

At this point, I'd take a look at how many themes you had to discuss. If one:

Tom Sawyer is a (adj) novel written by Mark Twain. It tells the story of (summary of several sentences). _____ is a theme presented throughout the book.

I'd view each paragraph as a supporting statement for the theme.

If two or more:

Tom Sawyer is a (adj) novel written by Mark Twain. It tells the story of (summary of several sentences). Several (adj) themes are presented throughout the book.

And then go on to describe each with supporting statements in their own paragraphs.

Hope my advice helped; good luck!

Answer 5

I think you're on the right track. I'd say you should start off by introducing the book. There's an old saying about essays. Tell them what you're going to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you just told them. So start with an introduction about the book. Then in a few sentences, describe what you will say (in detail) in the main part of the essay. Then, at the end, re-cap what you said in the main body.

Answer 6

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

http://www.redbirdstudio.com/E_Books/Sawyer/chap_1.html

I have found 5 summaries for you to look at, click the link below to take you to a summary of the book.

http://www.antistudy.com/search.php?title=The+Adventures+of+Tom+Sawyer

http://litsum.com/adventures-of-tom-sawyer/

Analysis of Major Characters

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tomsawyer/canalysis.html

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

by Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/sawyr-table.html

http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/tomsawye/tomhompg.html

How to Write a Book Report (Upper Elementary School level)

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/wsbookreportelem.html

How to Write a Book Report (Middle and High School level.)

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/wsbookreporths.html

Book Reports and Summaries

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/writingabookreport/a/report.htm

Compose a Thesis Statement

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/thesis.html

Basic Structure

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/

Literary Terms

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

How to write an "A" paper with minimal effort.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=788978&lastnode_id=0

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 7

Well, first of all you have to prepare ur mind 2 write the essay. Think about the the topic and begin writing. It is better to add a quote in the beginning to add strength to the essay. The essay should be spontaneous & reading it should bring pleasure to one's mind. Work carefully with the words you place. Be a reader yourself & and then think how better can you furnish the essay. continue this way and u get a wonderful essay.

Answer 8

I would address the issues that stand out the most. I would briefly introduce them in the first paragraph. Something like..

Several issues were introduced in the story of Tom Sawyer. The story of Tom Sawyer... (discuss theme here). One particular issue that stood out from the story was... Tom felt that....
He showed this by.... . ????? was another issue... Tom showed that he .... by...

Answer 9

Yes you should introuduce the book for example~ Tom Sawyer wrote the intresting book called __________ .tom was born on _________.The charters in the book felt______ tom wanted to teach peope that______.He wanted people to know that_______. I thought that this book was _______ .Tom swayer wrote more great books like_________.The charters in this story were___________. The setting took place in ______________ rember to elborate .This book made me feel like i should______________ tom sawyer is a great auther who wrote the book __________ yiu should also try elobrating and brain storming think for 5 minutes and brain storm for 10 and write for 40 minutes try using a time line to elborate diffrent points in your asay and also try using snap shots setting snap shot or charter snap shot withch will stop all the action in the story and describe the charter or setting make sure that your asay is not to long then everybody ill get tired of you reading try dressing like one of the charters in the story and include that in your asay it might score you an extra five pints rember for the ending DONT say the end you have to come up with a stronger eding for the very end say i think____ was a great book you should read it you should also
Introduce Tom Sawyer;

Introduce the book;

Introduce the Issues;

Introduce the Theme

in the beging what ever works for you

Answer 10

Well, I'd do an introduction that kind of goes into what you're going to talk about. Then your first body paragraph should be about the theme, I think, and the subsequent ones can be the issues. Here's a suggestion, though. Just get something written down. Anything that fits with your topic, anything. Just get it down, and then you can go back and edit afterwards, and have something to work from. That always helps.