Most IGCSE Literature students write introductions that either restate the question, summarise the plot, or make vague general statements about the text. None of these approaches scores well. The introduction is the first impression you make on the examiner — and the place where top-band responses announce themselves immediately.
Here’s exactly how to write an introduction that works.
What an Introduction Must Do
A strong IGCSE Literature introduction does three things:
- Engages directly with the question — not a paraphrase of it, but a response to it
- Establishes your overall argument (what you’re going to argue across the whole essay)
- Introduces the method or angle you’ll use to explore the question
Notice what’s not on that list: plot summary, biographical information about the author, dictionary definitions, or anything that begins “In this essay I will…”.
The Formula (to Learn and Then Break)
A useful starting structure for students who are developing their introductions:
[Author] uses [text] to explore [theme/idea from question] through [method/character/structural choice], suggesting that [your overall argument].
For example, for the question “How does Shakespeare present the theme of ambition in Macbeth?”:
Shakespeare uses Macbeth to explore ambition as a fundamentally corrupting force — not merely a character flaw but a kind of psychological unravelling, accelerated by external temptation and internal weakness. Through the play’s dramatic structure, in which Macbeth’s ascent and catastrophic decline are compressed into five acts, Shakespeare presents ambition as inseparable from destruction.
This introduction: engages with “how” (through structure, characterisation), establishes an argument (ambition as corrupting, leading to destruction), and signals analytical rather than narrative thinking.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- “In this essay I will explore…” — Never. This wastes a sentence and signals mechanical thinking.
- “Shakespeare was born in 1564…” — The examiner knows. Biographical context belongs only if it’s directly relevant to the question, and even then, briefly.
- Restating the question: “This essay will discuss the theme of ambition in Macbeth” — this says nothing about what you actually think.
- Starting with a definition: “Ambition is defined as a strong desire to achieve something…” — always weak.
The Opening Sentence
The best openings make a confident, arguable claim — something a reader could disagree with, which means it’s actually saying something. Compare:
Weak: “In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck writes about loneliness.”
Strong: “Steinbeck presents loneliness in Of Mice and Men not merely as an emotional state but as the defining condition of American working-class life in the 1930s — a structural feature of a society that offers the dream of belonging while systematically denying it.”
The strong version makes an argument. It takes a position. The examiner wants to read on.
Writing strong analytical essays — including introductions that signal top-band thinking immediately — is exactly what Thorogood English specialises in. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.
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