Writing S t r o n g Intros

Of all those arts in which the wise excel, nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well

British statesman & poetJohn Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire

W R I TE a G O O DIntro

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How to create powerful introductory paragraphs • ADVICE & TIPS ON ADDING

PUNCH• The INTRO’s usually the 1st paragraph• 1st sentence of the first paragraph is all-important in setting the tone of the essay

• Make a GOOD impression

A Good IntroductionGOALS: similar to those of the whole essay Spark interest & make a convincing argument for your point of view Specifically though, the introduction has some particular goals.

What are they?

A Good Introduction• Grab the reader's attention.• State thesis clearly & concisely.• Provide any necessary background info.• Establish an appropriate tone & register

ATTENTION GETTER strategies:

At ten t i on Get te rStart with a SHOCKING statement • College education in America is a bad joke. • The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system is that it

is a race-based institution where African-Americans are directly targeted and punished in a much more aggressive way than white people.

• In 50 years, there will be no more polar bears on the planet.• Facebook acquired one new user in the U.S. every second

for three years. Sample Paragraph:

At ten t i on Get te rSHOCKING statement • If you say the “wrong thing” in America today, you could be

penalized, fired or even taken to court. Political correctness is running rampant, and it is absolutely destroying this nation. In his novel 1984, George Orwell imagined a future world where speech was greatly restricted. He called that the language that the totalitarian state in his novel created “Newspeak”, and it bears a striking resemblance to the political correctness that we see in America right now.

At ten t i on Get te rAsk a STARTLING QUESTION• Was the desegregation of American schools in the 1960’s a

bad idea then and is it still today?• Are you willing to watch a polar bear die of starvation?Note that this question combines 2 strategies: It provides a challenge to the reader & simultaneously shocks with its implicit suggestion that starving polar bears might exist. It’s stronger than "Is global warming harming polar bears?”, which is a perfectly legitimate opening question, but not particularly strong.RELEVANT

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• "In a shrinking ice environment, the ability of polar bears to find food, to reproduce, and to survive will all be reduced," said Scott Schliebe, Alaskan polar bear project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Finding strong quotations for introductory statements can be difficult, but it pays off. Keep a record of quotations you like / find pertinent to common topics.

It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law. Thomas Hobbes

Quote an Authority

When introducing quotes with a full sentence, put a colon at the end of the introductory sentence. When introducing a quote with an incomplete sentence, a comma usually comes after the introductory phrase. Though it has become grammatically acceptable to use a colon rather than a comma:

• Arendt writes: "we must turn to Roman antiquity to find the first justification of war . . .”

Do not use any punctuation at all with the conjunction that:• Arendt writes that "we must turn to Roman antiquity to find

the first justification of war . . ."

PUNCTUATION for QUOTES

It is the responsibility of every citizen to question authority.

Benjamin Franklin

Acknowledge Assert Admit Agree Allege Argue Assume Believe Claim Conclude Consider Deny Determine Discover Doubt Emphasize Explain Hypothesize Imply Indicate Infer Note Object Observe Point out Prove Reveal

Each verb has its own nuance. Make sure that the nuance matches your specific aims in introducing the

quotation.

In the words of X, . . .According to X, . . .

In X's view, . . .

There are other ways to begin quotations.

The appendix has more INFO on verbs referring to sources.

Shall we move on to the next attention grabber, or hook?

At ten t i on Get te rDescribe an imaginary scenario.

• Think of what the world would be like if there were no more polar bears, no more ice pack, no more Arctic Circle at all.

Be careful when you construct an imaginary scenario; you have to create a believable, if extreme, situation, or your reader will dismiss you immediately as an illogical thinker about to make a ridiculous argument.

At ten t i on Get te rStart with an ANECDOTE, personal or not.

• Research scientists in the Canadian Wildlife Service are reporting dramatic declines in the polar bear population. Eyewitness accounts by field workers describe the bears as growing visibly skinnier because they can't find enough food.

It takes a bit longer to begin with an anecdote, but they can be very vivid. Newspaper and magazine writers frequently use this strategy to set the scene for the article that is to follow.

At ten t i on Ge t te rANECDOTE

• The young man with the hammer hoisted himself onto the top of the wall. All around him on the wall and on the ground, people chanted & cheered. The young man knelt down, with his hammer & began to chip at the cold, gray concrete. Little by little, the wall began to crumble. As I watched in amazement, it was hard to comprehend the fact that I was watching the Berlin Wall coming down.

Last sentence – thes is statement

Attention GetterANECDOTE

• In Lake Wobegone Days, humorist Garrison Keillor tells of a retired dentist in a small Minnesota town. He sits in a fishing boat. “Open wide,” Dr. Nute says to the fish. “This may sting a little. Now bite down.” Unfortunately, not all retirees are able to continue their once interesting professions in some way as he has. In fact, the death rate is high among recent retirees, apparently because of boredom, and psychologists suggest 3 ways to prevent it.

Penultimate sent/transition. Last– thesis statement

At ten t i on Ge t te rSet the scene with interesting background info

Global warming may be a difficult subject for the individual to grasp, but field workers in the Canadian Wildlife Service are finding the global problem reduced to a very local level as they conduct their annual demographic count of polar bears in the western coastal area of Manitoba.

At ten t i on Ge t te rSet the scene with interesting background info

In defiance of an 1832 Supreme Court ruling declaring the Indian Removal Act of 1830 unconstitutional, Federal and Georgian authorities proceeded to force the exodus of fifteen thousand members of the Cherokee Nation from their homes in Georgia to Oklahoma, hundreds of miles to the west. Because of their suffering, the Cherokee people called the path they were forced to follow to Oklahoma “The Trail of Tears.”

At ten t i on Ge t te r• To be concerned about global

warming, or not: That is the question facing every person in the world right now, and it's probably the single most important question we face.

Adapt a familiar quote / phrase

At ten t i on Ge t te r

Adapt a familiar quote / phrase

This twist on Hamlet's famous speech about the moral choices he faces is good use of a famous quotation

The seriousness of the problem about to be discussed is associated with Hamlet’s difficult choices.

The trick is to find the right quotation or phrase to suit your subject

Wr i t e a G o o d I n t ro & Yo u ’ re H a l fw a y T h e re

But if you get stuck, have no idea what to write, try free writing or concept maps to gain focus.