Top tips for introductions and conclusions

1. Answer the question (be very clear on what the question is actually asking you – you may even need to re-write it in your own words). Use key words for the question to show that you are continually focusing on it.

2. Bring in the other poems specifically – don’t be vague (but also don’t go off topic)

3. No big quotes in the intro or conclusion (but a one or two word quotes can look slick)

4. Get big ideas into both – what is the writer doing here and then, in the conclusion, were they effective?

5. Consider the author’s purpose in the whole collection6. Plan everything – nothing is superfluous (unnecessary)7. Not too many sub-clauses or words in parenthesis (pairs of commas) as it

makes the argument very hard to follow8. No analysis in the intro or conclusion9. Clumsy connectives – (and and and which and when all in one sentence!)10. Don’t use words that you don’t know (you look like a wally)11. Have a strong ending – link back to the intro12. Careful when using a lot of different names and pronouns – is it clear

who you are writing about…13. Avoid repeating words. 14. Keep is fairly brief – are you saying what you’re going to be writing

about and do you show an understanding of the poem (and big ideas). In the concl – do you sum up what you’ve said (key ideas in your argument) and evaluate on what the writer was doing in the poem.