Katie's note: I wrote this up today for one of my students, who is struggling to write an introduction to an analysis of a series of poems by a South American author. I'm posting it today because really, anyone who puts pen to paper (or fingers to keys) could benefit from this advice.
For Carlo S.-
A good introduction contains three things: an attention grabber, necessary information, and a thesis statement (almost always written in that order). I’ll let you decide how you want to open the essay and state your thesis. The part I think you need help on is the necessary information section, so my instructions below pertain to that middle segment of your introduction.
First, in this introduction, as in most, assume that your audience knows nothing about your topic. It is helpful to answer the five “reporters’ questions” (who, what, when, where, and why?) when you are writing for such an audience. In your analysis essay, you have two things the audience will be unfamiliar with: the poet and poem you have chosen to write about. So after you have gotten their attention with the first line(s) of your introduction, tell your audience (briefly!) who you are writing about, what he is most known for, when he was alive, where he lived, and why he is important.
After introducing your chosen poet, you’ll need to write about the poem itself. It should be obvious to your audience by now who wrote the poem, but they will have other questions they will want answered before you can move on to your analysis. For example, what is the poem about? When and where was it written? Why did you choose to write about it? You can probably work in your thesis statement right after you answer this “why.” Here’s an example, using a different poet:
In “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” Emily Dickinson’s personification of Death as a kind, well-dressed gentleman was so unusual that it fascinated me. Therefore, I decided to analyze Dickinson’s descriptions of death in three of her poems: “I heard a fly buzz when I died,” “Because I could not stop for death,” and “Death sets a thing significant.”