Learning about the introduction on an essay...

by Barbara Hanrahan
(Ocala, Florida )

I need essay help to visualize where the thesis comes, at the beginning or at the end of the introduction. I have a problem when reading about essays in my beginning chapters in my text. I can't seem to get what they are saying because it's like they are trying to hurry and wrap up everything and talk about the paragraphs.

I thought the thesis came at the beginning because it is serving as the point of the rest of the paragraph. If it's at the end, then I'm really confused.

I guess that would make an introduction statement build up to making sentences and then a ending argument which the would be the thesis? I can't see this for some reason.

The body of the essay I can visualize because of the outline and the diagramming in the process.

I'm have problems with the conclusion too because of the same process. Oh! I'm not a teacher, but I'm a student again. It's been twenty-six years! I have a passion to returning to make something of myself. I graduated, but I have forgotten a lot.

I always tell my kids that the answer is in the problem: once the problem is figured out, you will always get your answer if you know how to work the problem. I'm going to school to become a teacher and I have a long road ahead.

The subject is Composition I, but I have found that I learn things even from fifth grade because it is generally all from the same basic principles. Thank you for answering.

Linda responds

Many people have difficulty understanding where the thesis goes. Perhaps an analogy might help.

The body paragraphs of an essay are like a house. The introduction is like the front porch and the conclusion is like the back porch of the house. The thesis is like a threshold. The threshold marks the boundary between the house proper and the porch. To go in the house or come out of the house, you pass over the threshold.

To start an essay introduction with a thesis statement would be like opening the front door of a house from the street: it could be done, but it wouldn't be comfortable for anyone coming to the house, would it?

The introduction marks out the territory that the thesis is going to cover in much the same way that a front porch points people to the front door. The ending does the same thing in reverse; it says, "Here's where we just came from and now we're going out into the wider world again."

Your texts push you into the discussion about body paragraphs for a good reason. Just as the porches are only a small fraction of the typical house's square footage, your introduction and ending paragraph are a tiny part of your essay. Together they probably account for no more than 20% of your essay length. You will figure out what to include in them after you figure out what goes into the body paragraphs.

I hope that's helpful, Barbara. Feel free to add additional comments if something is not clear.