How to begin:

1) Articulate the thesis

2) Provide whatever basic information- about the text, the author, and/ or the
topic- readers will need in order to follow the argument
3) Create interest in the thesis by demonstrating that there is a problem or
question that needs to be resolved or answered.
Creating interest:
Some techniques:
1) The truth is not what one would expect or what it might appear to be on a
first reading
2) There is an interesting wrinkle in the text- a paradox, a contradiction, a
tension
3) A seemingly tangential or insignificant matter is actually important or
interesting.
How to end:

In regards to structure, conclusions are introductions in reverse, in the sense

that introductions bring readers into the essay and conclusions send them
away
Conclusions work to show readers why and how the experience was
worthwhile
Types of how to end:
1) Implications: things like what it is implied about the authors itself, what it
says about the writer
2) Evaluation: agree or disagree with the author
3) Areas of ambiguity : just be honest
4) Unresolved questions