Generally a quote from someone famous that your audienc

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Introductory Paragraphs

• Things to Think About

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Arousing Interest

• There are a number of ways you can do this. The
  first is open with an unusual fact or statistic.
• In the course of a hundred days in 1994 the
  Hutu government of Rwanda and its extremist
  allies very nearly succeeded in exterminating the
  countrys Tutsi minority. Using firearms,
  machetes, and a variety of garden implements,
  Hutu militiamen, soldiers, and ordinary citizens
  murdered some 800,000 Tutsi and politically
  moderate Hutu. It was the fastest, most
  efficient killing spree of the twentieth century.

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Arousing Interest

• You can also open with a question you will answer
  in your essay.
• You ask me what is poverty? Listen to me.
  Here I am, dirty, smelly, and with no proper
  underwear on and with the stench of my rotting
  teeth near you. I will tell you. Listen to me.
  Listen without pity. I cannot use your pity.
  Listen with understanding. Put yourself in my
  dirty, worn-out, ill-fitting shoes, and hear me.
  Poverty is not just a reflection of a mans will
  to work it is the result of a number of
  influences and factors, most of which were beyond
  my control.

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Arousing Interest

• You can also open with an interesting quote.
  Generally a quote from someone famous that your
  audience will be familiar with is best
• Biblical quotes, a President, Muhammed Ali,
  well-known comics, even quotes people are
  not-so-proud of
• You can also open by giving general information
  or background about your topic. A definition
  that will be useful later is a good idea.
• Another alternative is to open with an anecdote
  or story that your audience can relate to.

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Analogy

• An analogy is a story that helps you demonstrate
  the meaning of an abstract idea. For example,
  maturity and death are two abstract, difficult
  ideas to define. However, it is easy to come up
  with a story that demonstrates the meaning of
  each. An analogy is not necessarily a personal
  experience, but perhaps one that did have an
  influence on your life.

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For example

• When I was seven, my favorite thing in the
  world to do was follow my sister and her friends
  around because they were grown ups. I thought
  about how nice it would be to be like them, make
  my own decisions, wear whatever I wanted, and
  have a boyfriend. They were mature and I wasnt.
  As years passed, I realized that I was getting
  older, but I still didnt feel mature I still
  felt like a kid compared to her. She lived at
  home, slept in all the time, didnt have to go to
  school, and worked part-time. The closer I got
  to graduating high school, the more I realized
  that I actually didnt want to be like my sister
  she was no where close to being a mature adult.
  I realized that I wanted to have
  responsibilities I wanted to go to college and
  support myself. The older I got, the more I
  realized that maturity had nothing to do age and
  everything to do with taking responsibility for
  yourself.

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Worthy of Being Read

• Your intro should not only grab your audiences
  attention, but convey to your audience that both
  your topic and you the writer are worthy of their
  time and the effort it will take to read the
  paper through to the end.
• Avoid broad generalizations, judgments, creating
  or propagating stereotypes, or making statements
  the reader knows to be false.
• Try to set yourself up as someone the audience
  can trust, someone who they see as very similar
  to themselves.

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Intros also Establish the Topic and Tone

• Youre going to do this through a thesis
  statement. It will establish both the topic and
  the tone of the essay. More on that later.