Beginning and Ending

Today I will be reading on how to begin and end a story. A helpful tip the book shares is that an introduction should entice its readers to keep reading by connecting to the text through their interests such as shared experiences, anecdotes, or another attention grabbing device. When beginning a story I learned that I need to point out what I will be talking about in the introduction so my readers will have an idea of what the rest of the story will be like. This is called a thesis statement, and all beginnings should contain one. Do not assume that just because the reader knows the key points means he/she will know about the whole topic so providing background information will make for a solid story. Also defining the key concepts will assert the way you feel about your topic. You could start with an anecdote that relates to your story or ask a question to get the reader thinking at the very beginning, this will also grab their attention. Finally we reach the end of the story in which we will restate the main point, discuss the implications of the argument, refer to the beginning, end with an anecdote or propose some action. Another important aspect of a story is its title. Here are some examples from the book of different titles; sometimes titles simply announce the subject of the text: "Black Men and Public Space". Some titles provoke readers, "Thank God for the Atom Bomb". While others add a subtitle, "Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood". The book explains the strategy to ease into a thesis statement. First they say to state your topic as a question, then turn you question into a position, and then narrow your thesis. A topic sentence states the subject and focus of the paragraph and is usually at the beginning of a paragraph.