Writing Effective Introductions

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Writing Effective Introductions
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Questions to Answer today

• What is the purpose of an introduction?
• How does an attention getter affect the
  direction of an essay?

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Questions to Answer Today

• What is the structure of an introduction?
• How does the thesis statement fit in?

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Where ?
Lets go!
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What does an Introduction DO?
Gets readers in the car attention getter
Narrows the readers focus toward the actual
destination
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What does an Introduction DO?
Tells readers where they are going part 1 of
thesis statement
Tells readers why they are going part 2 of
thesis statement
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Radio advertisements use effective attention
getters

• What attention getter did this ad use?

Howards Restaurant
Link to Phillip Morris
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Tricks for Attention Getters
Scenario or Analogy
Question
Quotation
Facts or Statistics
Definition
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We live in a society today where everyone plays
an important role to keep a stable society. As
citizens, we each live in a particular class.
A majority of people make up the middle class,
while fewer are considered to be lower or upper
class. The same classes and roles that are
presently seen in our society also exist in an
aquarium. The aggressive fish are the upper
class fish, the middle classes are the
non-aggressive fish, and the algae eaters fill
the lower class role. With one of the classes
absent from the aquarium, the entire environment
can become unstable.
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Do you watch television? Have you read any
magazines lately? How often do you flip through
the channels or pages and suddenly slow down at
the sight of a particularly attractive person?
From milk ads to Doritos commercials, the media
blitzes the public with sex appeal. That is
sexual advertising. And why are those tanned men
and women placed cover to cover in our magazines,
channel to channel across the networks? Because
it works. Sex sells American products to the
public.
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Pianist Arthur Rubenstein once said, There is
no formula for success except perhaps an
unconditional acceptance of life and what it
brings. That a man as accomplished as he could
approach life with acceptance of whatever hand he
was dealt amazes me. Like Rubenstein, I love
music and the piano. Like Rubenstein, I try to
love life and greet each day with joy. Although
life has dealt me my share of blows, I have found
Rubensteins philosophy to be true. Acceptance
of the good and bad moments in my life has led me
to some success and has helped me become the
independent and determined person that I am
today.
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2.6 million students graduated from U.S. high
schools in 2001. Their average ACT test score
was 21. Unfortunately, in large towns like Elgin,
Illinois, the average drop out rate was 6.5.
Most of those drop outs did not take the ACT
test. What happens to those high school drop
outs? Are they all flipping burgers at
McDonalds? Are they living homeless in the Windy
City? Perhaps some are -- drop outs, like the
homeless are hard to track. But not all high
school drop outs join the ranks of the unemployed
and disenfranchised. Some go on to lead happy
lives without further education. Some, like me,
seek second chances. . .
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines
anxiety as a state or cause of uneasiness and
apprehension worry. I define anxiety as
teenagers giving my teens the freedom to make
decisions. Many of my nights are sleepless, yet
my days are buoyed by the hope of being a good
enough mom. Sometime I wonder if am am going to
survive parenthood at all. I feel I am drowning
in a sea of anxiety. After all, family life is
not what is used to be. I find that our current
American culture creates an alarming atmosphere
in which to raise teens.
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Surprise
But be sure the paper DELIVERS what the intro
promises
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Practice Writing Attention Getters
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Introduction Structure
Start out BROAD To get audience in the car!
Narrow focus toward thesis
Thesis statement gives the topic and point of
paper
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Writing the Thesis
A thesis statement is just a BIG umbrella
statement
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Two Parts of a Generalization
The topic

Part One
Writers point about the topic

Part two
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Generalization as Thesis Statement

Part One
The topic
Thats you -- or your experiences, or your
qualifications!
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Generalization as Thesis Statement

Part two
Writers point about the topic
Your experiences make you the BEST scholarship
candidate!
Include major points from body
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Review
Get the readers in the car with you
Narrow from attention getter to thesis
Thesis tells readers where they are going and WHY
Be sure that THESIS reflects content of body