The V Introduction/Conclusion

The Introduction

• starts with a general statement and gradually narrows down to a specific thesis
• includes the title of the work under consideration and its author
• looks like a V

Example:

     Throughout time, mankind has struggled to explain his world. The legends and myths of the ancient Greeks are one example of man’s attempt to create an order for his world. These stories formed a religion, a code of ethical behavior involving superhuman forces. The Anglo-Saxons who lived in Scandinavia and Britain between 450 and 1100 A.D. also attempted to explain their world through their religion. At first pagan, these people eventually converted to Christianity, and, as they did so, their myths and legends were imbued with Christian symbols, meanings and terminology. An example of this mingling of the pagan and the Christian is the epic poem Beowulf, a product of a time in which a people superimposed one view of life upon another in order to rationalize both their past history and their present world.

The Conclusion

• starts with the thesis and broadens to a general statement
• refers back to the introductory paragraph
• states the title and the author
• ideally leads the reader forward
• looks like a Λ

Example:

     The world of Beowulf reflects a world at a crossroads. Replete with monsters and men of superhuman strength as well as allusions to God, Christ, heaven and hell and redemption, the Anglo-Saxon epic presents a civilization with two, often conflicting, world views. Yet, for the audience sitting beside the fire in the mead hall, the merging of the contrary traditions actually demonstrated its efforts to cope with a changing world. People today are experiencing a similar challenge. The world as we know it is transforming every day; the world of tomorrow is both exciting and frightening. Perhaps this explains the proliferation of New Age religions such as Scientology or Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism. In our on-going struggle to make sense of an incomprehensible world, are our modern day superhero comic books and movies really that different from the folk epics of the past?