Introductions of Essays

A lot goes into the introduction of any essay; it is the entire basis and foundation of your essay so you have a lot riding on it. So make sure it's good. There are two main things you need to do when writing the introduction of any lit essay, you need to:

1. Provide the relevant context
   here you need to give a little background into the books you're doing. You need to state the name of the book and who wrote it. You may wanna talk about the setting and maybe the literary period the book was written in. Whatever you do here don't go too in depth, just give enough context for your essay to make sense. For example if you have to do a drama essay about women in society then you may just wanna mention how society treated women then. Was it a patriarchal society? Was feminism a thing? Don't go in depth here, that's what the body of the essay is for just mention enough to justify your answer or thesis.
2. Answer the question/state your thesis.
   well obviously this would be the other part. I like to put it at the end of the intro so it'll be justified. Here you answer the question they're asking you or give your opinion if it's an argumentative essay (try to always make it an arguementative essay - you get points for analysis). It's basically your essay in one sentence - the topic sentence.

  

Here's how my intros typically look; the green part is context and the yellow part is my thesis.                                                                  

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Remember we NEVER use examples  and start discussion in the intro. If you wanna be fancy you can use a relevant quote from some third party or maybe even the person themselves relating the question. Just don't start discussing here, you'll have plently of time for that in the body. 

Some Helpful Hints for Poetry

For me poetry is the hardest module. I get confused and overwhelmed by the amount of crap required of me. My brain shuts down and I write like a mentally deranged squirrel. Not my best module at all. Here are some tips to prevent you from losing it while analysing poetry or writing poetry essays.


   1. Know your poet!
 Poets tend to have recurring themes in their poetry. Once you do a few poems by ANY poet you'll realize that they're obsessed with death/nature/relationships/society. Make a list of some recurring themes in your poetry because most likely you'll be encountering them all the time.
 For example Les Murray is completely obsessed with:

• The Human Condition
• Urbanization
• Consumerism
• God-conciousness
• Loss of Humanity
• Displacement of Aboriginal People

   2. Study Smart!

In your exam they always ask you to refer to at least THREE poems by your poet. I'm not telling you to learn only three, but if you have two days to study for the exam it really doesn't make sense trying to learn all by heart. Learn the main ones, the ones you believe portray the themes the best and have the most to write on. 

  3. Don't narrate!

I bet you've heard this enough already for prose and poetry. Don't retell the story! The examiners have read the novel, they know what happened. The same goes for poetry. Retelling each line of the poem isn't going to get you a one. Stick to the question they ask and use your information wisely. They look for analysis more than knowledge. SO FUCKING ANALYSE THAT SHIT! 

4. Prepare

I don't care if you have three days left and you haven't picked up a book. Prepare and organize your notes wisely. Go through each poem and comment on the techniques and devices used (more about that in a next post). And write it down!! I'm telling you won't remember it....Do this for at least five poems. on your 'study sheets' (yes that's what I'm calling them). It will be helpful to compare some poems here before hand so that it will just be a matter of recalling in the exam. 

5. Plan

I want essay plans! Both in and out of the exam. When doing past papers, plan before you write. It provides some framework for you to work with so that your essays will actually have structure and not be all over the place. You don't even need to actually write the past paper essays, just plan them out.