Excluding scientific and technical writing (which often has pre-established formats), most other topics lend themselves to a variety of introductory gambits. Suppose the assignment is to write a literary analysis of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. Below are several different ways to start that essay. Please note that not all introductions would be appropriate for one particular thesis or approach. But having a repertoire of openings at our disposal often helps lead us to insights we didn’t know we had.
Begin with a quotation
Although this approach can be overused, it can be very effective when you have an appropriate quotation. That quotation may relate directly to the subject or it may be only indirectly related (and thus require further explanation). Do not force a quotation into this spot; if an appropriate quotation is not available, select another method.
- “The novel Lolita,” the critic Charles Blight said in 1959, “is proof that American civilization is on the verge of total moral collapse” (45). The judgment of critics and readers in subsequent years, however, has proclaimed Lolita to be one of the great love stories of all time and one of the best proofs that American civilization is still vibrant and alive.
- “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul” (11). These opening lines of Lolita reveal the essence of Humbert’s complexity and compulsion, his saving grace and his damning passion.
Begin with a concession
Start with a statement recognizing an opinion or approach different from the one you plan to take in your essay.
- Many critics have pointed to the unrelenting word games and puns throughout Lolita as proof that Vladimir Nabokov’s major concern has always been language and art. Although these subjects certainly loom in all his works, a close examination of Lolita reveals that morality — the way people treat each other — is just as major a concern for him as language and art.
Begin with a paradox
A paradox is a seeming self-contradiction.
- By 1959 Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita had been banned in several cities as pornographic. Today it is required reading not only in literature courses but also in philosophy courses that explore the nature of love. Since its publication, the novel’s subject has been recognized to be love, not lust; art, not perversion.
Begin with a short anecdote or narrative
- When the original movie version of Lolita was released in the early 1960s, Sue Lyon, the young actress who starred as the provocative “nymphet” of the title, was judged too young to be allowed to see the movie in the theater.
Begin with an interesting fact or statistic
- Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Nabokov — two acknowledged masters of English prose — were not even native speakers of English. Conrad’s native tongue was Polish; Nabokov’s, Russian.
Begin with a question or several questions that will be answered in the paper
- How could a book now acknowledged as a masterpiece not only of fiction but also of English prose have been banned when it was published? How could a novel that dealt with love and art be thought of as pornographic? Why would a society so mindful of free speech as America ban any book in the first place?
Begin with relevant background material
Background material should be presented concisely and should be clearly related to your thesis. A rambling discussion of material only remotely related to your main point will confuse and bore your readers.
- Although he was born in Russia and lived for many years in England, Germany, and France before coming to America in 1941, Vladimir Nabokov is now considered one of the great American novelists of the 20th century. This opinion, however, is not based solely on his mastery of English prose. His novel Lolita has been said to have captured the essence of American life in the 1950s better than any novel written by a writer born in this country.
Begin by stating a long-term effect or effects without immediately stating the cause
- It caused howls of protest from the guardians of public morality in the 1950s. Indirectly it helped bring about both artistic and personal freedom in the 1960s. Today it is a recognized classic of art and thought — Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.
Begin with an analogy
- Like a hurricane that brings fear and panic along with its powerful winds, uprooting trees and disrupting belief in an all-merciful God, so the novel Lolita swept across America in the 1950s, bringing fear and panic that pedophilia would be loosed on the land. Instead, the novel, like a hurricane, blew over trees of thought that were not deeply rooted in American experience, exposing their gnarled premises while helping to clear the way for the artistic freedom of the 1960s.
Begin with a definition of a term that is important to your essay
Avoid simple dictionary definitions. Create an expanded definition that explains how the term applies to your topic and essay.
- Every few years the ugly charge of “pornography” is aimed at some novel or movie. Never was the term more inappropriately used than in the case of Lolita, yet the taint of that word still lingers in the minds of many when they hear the book’s title. What exactly is “pornography” that it should stir such feelings and be so hated? The problem, of course, is that no one can agree on what pornography actually is. That it has something to do with sex seems clear; beyond that, there is a chaos of opinion. When the small-minded or special-interest definitions are pushed aside, however, we are left with D.H. Lawrence’s provocative definition: pornography is anything that “does dirt on sex.” By that definition, Lolita is the opposite of pornography — it is a celebration of sex and love.
Isipokuwa maandishi ya kisayansi na ya kiufundi (ambayo mara nyingi huwa na muundo uliotengenezwa mapema), mada zingine nyingi hujipatia mbinu mbalimbali za kuanzisha. Tuseme kazi ni kuandika uchambuzi wa fasihi wa riwaya ya Vladimir Nabokov Lolita. Chini ni njia kadhaa tofauti za kuanza insha hiyo. Tafadhali kumbuka kwamba si utangulizi wote itakuwa sahihi kwa ajili ya thesis moja maalum au mbinu. Lakini kuwa na repertoire ya kufungua katika disposal yetu mara nyingi husaidia kuongoza sisi kwa ufahamu hatukujua tulikuwa. Kuanza na nukuu Ingawa mbinu hii inaweza kutumika kupita kiasi, inaweza kuwa na ufanisi sana wakati una nukuu sahihi. Nukuu hiyo yaweza kuhusiana moja kwa moja na habari hiyo au huenda ikawahusu kwa njia isiyo ya moja kwa moja tu (na hivyo kuhitaji ufafanuzi zaidi). Je, si kulazimisha nukuu katika nafasi hii; kama nukuu sahihi haipatikani, kuchagua njia nyingine. "Katika mwaka wa 1959, mchambuzi Charles Blight alisema kwamba ""Lolita ni uthibitisho kwamba ustaarabu wa Marekani uko karibu kuanguka kabisa.""" Hata hivyo, maoni ya wachambuzi na wasomaji katika miaka iliyofuata, yamemtangaza Lolita kuwa mojawapo ya hadithi kubwa za upendo za wakati wote na mojawapo ya uthibitisho bora kwamba ustaarabu wa Marekani bado unaishi. - <unk>Lolita, mwanga wa maisha yangu, moto wa viuno vyangu. Dhambi yangu, nafsi yangu <unk> (11). Mistari hii ya ufunguzi wa Lolita inafunua kiini cha utata na kulazimishwa kwa Humbert, neema yake ya kuokoa na shauku yake ya kuangamiza. Anza na taarifa ya kukubali maoni au mbinu tofauti na ile unayoipanga kuchukua katika insha yako. - Wakosoaji wengi wameonyesha michezo ya maneno isiyo na mwisho na puns katika Lolita kama uthibitisho kwamba wasiwasi mkubwa wa Vladimir Nabokov daima umekuwa lugha na sanaa. Ingawa mambo hayo yanaonekana katika kazi zake zote, uchunguzi wa karibu wa Lolita unafunua kwamba maadili - jinsi watu wanavyotendeana - ni jambo linalomhangaikia sana kama vile lugha na sanaa. Anza na utata Utata ni utata unaoonekana kuwa unajitetea. "Mwaka wa 1959 Vladimir Nabokov alitangaza kitabu chake ""Lolita"" ambacho kilikuwa kimepigwa marufuku kwa sababu ya kuonesha picha za ngono." Leo ni lazima kusoma si tu katika kozi za fasihi bali pia katika kozi za falsafa ambazo huchunguza asili ya upendo. Tangu kuchapishwa kwake, mada ya riwaya hiyo imetambuliwa kuwa upendo, si tamaa; sanaa, si upotovu. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika filamu ya kwanza ya ""Lolita"" ya miaka ya 1960, Sue Lyon, mwigizaji mchanga ambaye alicheza kama ""nymph"" ya kichwa, alihukumiwa kuwa mdogo sana kupewa ruhusa ya kuona filamu hiyo kwenye ukumbi wa michezo." Anza na ukweli wa kuvutia au takwimu - Joseph Conrad na Vladimir Nabokov - mabwana wawili waliotambuliwa wa mashairi ya Kiingereza - hawakuwa hata wasemaji wa asili wa Kiingereza. Lugha ya asili ya Conrad ilikuwa Kipolishi; ya Nabokov, Kirusi. "Kwanza na swali au maswali kadhaa ambayo yatayatibiwa katika karatasi - ""Ni vipi kitabu ambacho sasa kinatambuliwa kama kazi bora sio tu ya hadithi tu bali pia ya maandishi ya Kiingereza kilipigwa marufuku wakati ilichapishwa?""" Riwaya inayohusu upendo na sanaa ingewezaje kuonwa kuwa ya ponografia? Kwa nini jamii inayoheshimu sana uhuru wa kujieleza kama Marekani ipige marufuku kitabu chochote? Kuanza na nyenzo muhimu ya msingi nyenzo ya msingi inapaswa kuwasilishwa kwa ufupi na inapaswa kuhusiana wazi na thesis yako. Mazungumzo ya mambo yasiyo na maana yanayohusiana kidogo na jambo lako kuu yatawachanganya na kuwachosha wasomaji wako. Ingawa alizaliwa Urusi na aliishi miaka mingi nchini Uingereza, Ujerumani na Ufaransa kabla ya kuja Marekani mwaka 1941, Vladimir Nabokov sasa anajulikana kama mmoja wa waandishi wakuu wa Marekani wa karne ya 20. Hata hivyo, maoni hayo hayategemei tu ustadi wake wa kuandika kwa Kiingereza. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Lolita"" ni kitabu ambacho kinaonyesha maisha ya watu wa Amerika katika miaka ya 1950 na zaidi kuliko riwaya yoyote iliyoandikwa na mwandishi aliyezaliwa nchini Marekani." "Kuanzisha kwa kutaja athari ya muda mrefu au athari bila kutaja mara moja sababu - ilisababisha ""mwito wa maandamano"" kutoka kwa walinzi wa maadili ya umma katika miaka ya 1950." Kwa njia isiyo ya moja kwa moja, ilisaidia kuleta uhuru wa kisanii na wa kibinafsi katika miaka ya 1960. Leo ni classic kutambuliwa ya sanaa na mawazo <unk> Vladimir Nabokov <unk>s Lolita. "Kama tu kimbunga kinacholeta hofu na hofu pamoja na upepo wake wenye nguvu, kukatika miti na kuvuruga imani katika Mungu mwenye rehema, hivyo ndivyo riwaya ya ""Lolita"" ilivyopiga Amerika katika miaka ya 1950, ikileta hofu na hofu kwamba upendaji wa watoto ungeachwa huru." Badala yake, kama kimbunga, riwaya hiyo ilivunja miti ya mawazo ambayo haikuwa imezika mizizi sana katika uzoefu wa Marekani, ikifunua msingi wao wa gnarled wakati ikisaidia kufuta njia kwa uhuru wa kisanii wa miaka ya 1960. Anza na ufafanuzi wa neno ambalo ni muhimu kwa insha yako Kuepuka ufafanuzi rahisi wa kamusi. Kuunda ufafanuzi kupanuliwa kwamba anaelezea jinsi neno inatumika kwa mada yako na insha. - Kila baada ya miaka michache mashtaka mabaya ya "pornografia" huelekezwa kwa riwaya au filamu fulani. "Hakuna wakati ambapo neno hilo lilitumiwa vibaya kama lilivyotumiwa katika kitabu cha Lolita, lakini bado watu wengi wanakumbuka jina hilo wanaposikia jina la kitabu hicho.""" Ni nini hasa "pornografia" ambayo inapaswa kuamsha hisia kama hizo na kuchukiwa hivyo? Tatizo, bila shaka, ni kwamba hakuna mtu anayeweza kukubaliana juu ya kile ambacho ponografia kwa kweli ni. Kwamba ina uhusiano wowote na ngono yaonekana kuwa wazi; zaidi ya hilo, kuna machafuko ya maoni. "Lolita ni ""mchanganyiko wa ngono na upendo"" na ""mchanganyiko wa ngono na upendo"" na ""mchanganyiko wa ngono na upendo"" na ""mchanganyiko wa ngono na upendo."""