I need help starting a introduction paragraph

I need essay help starting a introduction paragraph. I have to write a MLA format critical analysis about The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. I cannot get started on it. I am having trouble figuring out a thesis and a topic sentence.

Linda responds: Writing an introduction paragraph and formatting the paper according to MLA style are way down the list of things you need to do right away.

I recommend you begin nonfiction writing by figuring out a working thesis statement. The thesis is your guess about what you think your research and analysis will show. The working thesis should be stated bluntly. You want the working thesis clear and simple so that you can easily tell whether your supporting points really support it.

You know, I hope, that a critical analysis of a short story should focus on some literary feature, such as the characterization or the setting. You can brainstorm for potential thesis statements by using the thesis builder strategy and putting literary features in the topic column. Some topics to help you get started are:

• Foreshadowing in "The Lottery"
• The setting of "The Lottery"
• The point of view in "The Lottery"

Add an assertion to each of those as shown on the thesis builder page and you will have a clumsy, but potentially useable, working thesis.

You will need to generate at least a dozen potential working thesis statements fast to get your brain focused on your writing assignment. I recommend you do a dozen on a single topic within 15 minutes. If you don't come up with anything useful, go do something else for an hour or so, then try again. Your brain will keep working on the problem if you fueled it by concentrating hard on finding some ideas.

Once you find a thesis statement that looks like it will work, you can turn your attention to finding topic sentences to support it. For that, a writing skeleton™ works well.

You may want to look at this student's question about a literary analysis essay here in the essay help forum.

Also check this page about a writing skeleton for a paper about the novel Pride and Prejudice.

When you finish figuring out everything that goes into the body of your essay, you will be ready to think about writing an introduction to that material.

I hope your essay turns out well.