Personal Narrative The Introduction

1
Personal NarrativeThe Introduction

• Tuesday, August 22nd

2
Brainstorm What is the purpose of an
introduction?
3
The Introductions Purpose

• Should familiarize the reader with the ideas your
  essay will discuss
• Should introduce the main point or theme of your
  essay
• Should indicate the direction your essay will take

4
Brainstorm What makes a good introduction?
5
An Amazing Introduction

• Attention / Grabber Opening Statement DRAW IN
  YOUR READER
• Presents the theme of your essay in an
  interesting way.

6
Grabbers Anecdotes

• One effective way to grab the reader's attention
  is to describe the action of your story.
• Start off with an anecdote which relates to the
  theme of your essay.

7
Grabbers Anecdote Ex.

• "'Breez in and breez out. Clear yor mind by
  zinking of somezing plasant.' For five minutes,
  all of us found ourselves sitting cross-legged on
  the floor with a soft, sleepy look on our faces
  as we subconsciously nodded to the soothing
  rhythmic voice of our French teacher. Our heads
  were still half wafting in the delicious swirls
  of dreamland, barely dwelling in the bittersweet
  shock of reality. Time whizzed by swiftly and we
  were forced to tend to the grueling task of
  untangling our aching frames, stiffened from
  prolonged straining positions."

8
Grabbers An original / creative statement.

• If you can make yourself stand out right from the
  first sentence, then you will have already
  contributed a great deal to your case for
  admission.
• Start of with an original or creative statement
  that describes you.

9
Grabbers An original / creative statement Ex.

• "When I was four years old, I decided to
  challenge conventional notions of the human limit
  by flying through a glass window.
• "I am an addict. I tell people I could stop
  anytime, but deep inside, I know I am lying. I
  need to listen to music, to write music, to play
  music every day.

10
Grabbers A Concrete Image or Description

• "While eating Cheerios, my eyes wandered from the
  yellow giant cardboard box to the white plastered
  ceiling, with shades of dawn in muted colors, and
  back to my bowl of cereal."

11
Grabbers The Element of Mystery

• "I had a mental image of them standing there,
  wearing ragged clothes, hot and depressed,
  looking upon us as intruders in their world. They
  would sneer at our audacity. We would invade
  their territory only to take pictures and observe
  them like tourists."

12
Your Introduction

• Your assignment is to create a grabber for your
  topic, using all four types you learned today
• 1. Anecdote
• 2. An original/creative statement
• 3. A concrete image or description
• 4. The element of mystery