Writing an introduction
An introduction needs to do three things:
- Give important information
about your text: title, author/director, year, and what it’s about. You
can prepare this sentence before the exam.
Eg. “Peter Weir’s 1998 film The
Truman Show is about a man named Truman Burbank, who without knowing it, is
the start of a reality TV show.”
- Answer the question.
Eg. “During the film, Truman changes
from being an obedient and content man to being dissatisfied and rebellious.
This helped me understand the idea that people need to be free in order to be truly
happy.”
- Give a sneak preview
of the three points that are coming up in your essay.
Eg. “In this essay, I will show how
costuming, dialogue and camera shot types were used to show the change in
Truman.”
So
here’s an example of a completed
introduction:
“Peter
Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show is about a man named Truman Burbank,
who without knowing it, is the start of a reality TV show. During the film,
Truman changes from being an obedient and content man to being dissatisfied and
rebellious. This helped me understand the idea that people need to be free in
order to be truly happy. In this essay, I will show how costuming, dialogue and
camera shot types were used to show the change in Truman.” (82
words)
Writing a body paragraph (you need to write three of these)
The body paragraphs are the paragraphs
between your introduction and your conclusion. You need to write three of
these. Body paragraphs need to follow a pattern:
-
Topic sentence – this should relate back
to the essay question.
Eg. Peter Weir has used costuming to show
the change in Truman.
-
Explanation – more detail about your
topic sentence
Eg. Truman’s costuming at the start of
the film is like a child’s clothing, but by the end of the film, he is dressing
like an adult.
-
Example – A specific detail from the
text that supports what you have just said
Eg. For example, when Meryl finds
Truman working in the garden, he is wearing a stripey shirt, bright red shorts,
and sandals and socks.
-
Analysis of the example – here you
explain how this example helps to answer the question
Eg. Truman’s clothing is like the clothing
that a doll or soft toy would wear. This suggests that his wife Meryl may dress
him. This makes us realise that he does not have much control over his life,
but that he does what other people tell him to do.
-
Another example
At the end of the film, when Truman is
escaping, he is wearing a dark sweater, trousers, and a sailor’s hat.
-
Analysis of the example
These clothes are more adult-like. They
suggest that Truman has grown up since the start of the film. He is no longer
being controlled, but is in control of his own destiny. The sailor’s hat is
like the hat a captain of a ship would wear. Truman has now become his own
captain.
When we put this all together, it looks
like this:
Peter Weir has used costuming to show
the change in Truman. Truman’s costuming at the start of the film is like a
child’s clothing, but by the end of the film, he is dressing like an adult. For
example, when Meryl finds Truman working in the garden, he is wearing a stripey
shirt, bright red shorts, and sandals and socks. Truman’s clothing is like the clothing
that a doll or soft toy would wear. This suggests that his wife Meryl may dress
him. This makes us realise that he does not have much control over his life,
but that he does what other people tell him to do. At the end of the
film, when Truman is escaping, he is wearing a dark sweater, trousers, and a
sailor’s hat. These
clothes are more adult-like. They suggest that Truman has grown up since the
start of the film. He is no longer being controlled, but is in control of his
own destiny. The sailor’s hat is like the hat a captain of a ship would wear.
Truman has now become his own captain. (182
words)
The shaded parts of the paragraph are the analysis parts
– you can see that the analysis should make up about half of each of your body
paragraphs.
Writing a conclusion
Your conclusion needs to do three things
-
refer to the real world
-
refer to your text and your answer to
the question
-
refer to yourself
