The Prompt: In the essay Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson attacks conformity, urging each person to accept himself, to come to terms with who he truly is.  Often in literature and life, individuals reject consistency; refuse the path of convention for the sake of principle.  Chose a character from a recognized work of literary merit or a person from life and discuss the way in which he exemplifies Emerson’s statement that “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”

The example for each kind of introduction will be Marc Antony from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

1.        Open with a question

Is nonconformity foolish or courageous?  When marc Antony publicly challenges the men who killed his friend, is his action simply uncontrolled anger or daring masculine loyalty? A true non-conformist, Marc Antony exemplifies the strength of character and valor necessary to be an “honorable” man.

2.        Tell an appropriate anecdote

Joey was not a popular guy.  Oh, he had a small group of friends—for or five boys –but he was so different from every one.  He didn’t play sports, he wasn’t in band, he didn’t make great grades; nobody ever knew what to expect from him.  The only thing we knew to count on was that he wore purple—every day!  He called it his signature color; everybody just thought he was weird—and a wimp!  So who would have guessed the Joey would pull five children from a burning house?  Like another non-conformist—Marc Antony—Joey disregarded danger and performed a heroic deed; both exhibit courage and strength of character.

(an anecdote may break the rule of two to four sentences in a n introduction.  Stories often require more elaboration than other introductory techniques)

3.        Create a vivid image (paint a memorable picture in the mind)

When Marc Antony finds Caesar’s gory body surrounded by the conspirators with hands still blood-stained, he reaches out to shake each hand, thus intentionally staining his own.  Antony pretends to accept the deed, thus gaining approval to speak at Caesar’s funeral.  There he manipulates the crowd into rejecting Brutus’ and the other conspirators’ excuses for murdering Caesar. Confronting the conspirators and the crowd that they have successfully courted, Marc Antony displays manly courage when he stands alone to reveal the truth about the hypocrisy behind Caesar’s murder.

4.      Begin with a startling statement

When Marc Antony shakes the conspirator’s bloody hands, he appears to become a butcher of his friend, the man he calls “the nobles man that ever lived…”  This “butcher’s” motive, however, is to “carve” a place in infamy for the true murderers.  Confronting the conspirators and the crowd that they have successfully courted, Marc Antony displays manly courage when he stands alone to reveal the truth about the hypocrisy behind Caesar’s murder.

5.       Start with a quotation

Standing alone over Caesar’s body, Marc Antony implores, “O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, that I am meek and gentle with these butchers!”  Antony pretends to condone the murderers’ actions in a ruse to expose their treachery.  Later as he confronts the conspirators and the crowd that they have successfully courted, Marc Antony displays manly courage when he stands alone to reveal the truth about the hypocrisy behind Caesar’s murder.

6.       Begin with a definition

“Non-conformist” as defined in Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, is “A person who does not conform to [follow] a generally accepted pattern of thought or action.”  A non-conformist, Marc Antony confronts the conspirators and the crowd that they have successfully courted, displaying manly courage when he stands alone to reveal the truth about the hypocrisy behind Caesar’s murder.

7.       Begin with an Analogy

Friends in literature are sometimes forced to take a courageous stand for one another.  Even though Huckleberry Finn believes that he will “go to hell” for doing so, he bravely supports his friend Jim.  Similarly, Marc antonym risks his own life by speaking publicly against the conspirators of his murdered friend.  As he confronts the conspirators and the crowd that they have successfully courted, displaying manly courage when he stands alone to reveal the truth about the hypocrisy behind Caesar’s murder.

Note: “Do” Rule #5 states to mention the author and title of the work.  There are two reasons why these introductions are sufficient without the work and author mentioned:

1.        The prompt asks for a character or person from real life.  Since the work will not be discussed, mentioning it will not be necessary. 

2.        The character and his story are extremely well known—to the point of general knowledge.  Another example of a character so well-know that mentioning the title would be redundant is Hamlet.