Without knowing what you are going to analyze in The Crucible, I can only give you some general tips for how to start your essay. As an English teacher, I tell my students to avoid the old standard ways of starting an essay with a definition, quote, or question. Now, this is my personal opinion. They are such overused ways to start an essay that they become ineffective clichés. So, that is the first advice. Sometimes people start essays with an anecdote or “short story” or an interesting fact that will grab the reader’s attention. Those facts must “wow” your reader, or they, too, are ineffective. Think about these ideas as you write your “hook”:
- Who is your audience? Make sure your hook is formal, like this essay probably is, and focus on what idea you want to get across to your reader. Set up your credibility as a writer with the hook.
- How do you want your audience to feel about what your essay is about? Think about how your hook will set up the mood and the tone of the essay.
- Think about writing your hook last. Have a strong thesis to guide your paper, and after writing the essay, return to the hook and background information needed in your introductory paragraph.
- Use descriptive writing and figures of speech to set the scene or get across an idea.
Ideas for The Crucible hooks? Again, this depends on the topics you are writing about.
- Why did Miller title the play, The Crucible? What is a crucible?
- Why did he write this play? What connections are there to the McCarthy hearings and his experiences with the Red Scare?
- Think psychological—What motivates people? How is the play symbolic of the human condition?
I hope this helps!!
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