Introductions

1. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions An introduction should capture a reader’s interest and tell what the writing will be about.

2. Why is the second introduction more successful than the first? Click on the i-icons to find out. Four and a half billion years ago, there were lots of volcanoes that were erupting all the time. The heat and gases from the volcanoes created huge clouds and lightning storms as well. Everywhere, over the entire earth, volcanoes constantly spewed gases into the sky. As heat and gas rose into the atmosphere, massive clouds formed, blotting out the stars. From one end of the globe to the other, lightning storms cracked and flashed. This is what the earth was like four and a half billion years ago. i i Next PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions An introduction should capture a reader’s interest and tell what the writing will be about.

3. i i i MENU EXIT Introductions An introduction should capture a reader’s interest and tell what the writing will be about. Why is the second introduction more successful than the first? Click on the i-icons to find out. Four and a half billion years ago, there were lots of volcanoes that were erupting all the time. The heat and gases from the volcanoes created huge clouds and lightning storms as well. Everywhere, over the entire earth, volcanoes constantly spewed gases into the sky. As heat and gas rose into the atmosphere, massive clouds formed, blotting out the stars. From one end of the globe to the other, lightning storms cracked and flashed. This is what the earth was like four and a half billion years ago. i CLOSE This introduction paints a picture of what earth was like. It creates excitement and helps readers imagine an earth completely different from what they see around them.

4. i i MENU EXIT Introductions An introduction should capture a reader’s interest and tell what the writing will be about. Why is the second introduction more successful than the first? Click on the i-icons to find out. i CLOSE Four and a half billion years ago, there were lots of volcanoes that were erupting all the time. The heat and gases from the volcanoes created huge clouds and lightning storms as well. This introduction is flat and uninteresting. It gives information, but it doesn’t capture the reader’s imagination or draw readers into the essay. Everywhere, over the entire earth, volcanoes constantly spewed gases into the sky. As heat and gas rose into the atmosphere, massive clouds formed, blotting out the stars. From one end of the globe to the other, lightning storms cracked and flashed. This is what the earth was like four and a half billion years ago.

5. Next PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions A successful introduction • captures the reader’s interest • communicates the topic and purpose

6. MENU EXIT Introductions You can use a variety of strategies to catch your reader’s attention. Click on the strategy you want to explore. MENU • Lively Description • Surprising Statements • Quotations • Questions • Direct Address • Strong Opinions • Anecdote

7. Next MENU EXIT Introductions Lively Description Sensory details and figurative language can add energy and interest to an introduction. Description can engage readers by painting a picture and establishing a mood.

8. How could description be used to improve this introduction? Winter came upon us suddenly. It seemed like overnight that we went from autumn leaves to early-morning frost. Click to see a revision PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Lively Descriptions

9. The writer uses details to paint a vivid picture of fall turning into winter. Winter came upon us like the sudden opening of a tomb. Almost overnight it seemed that the last multicolored banners of autumn leaves had been wrenched from the trees by the wind. . . . Then came the early-morning frost that turned the long grass white and crisp as biscuit. —Gerald Durrell, A Bevy of Beasts Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Lively Descriptions

10. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements Grab a reader’s attention by beginning with a surprising statement or a startling fact.

11. Next PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements Grab a reader’s attention by beginning with a surprising statement or a startling fact. Here are some examples: • Three years after they’re introduced, about 75 percent of all consumer goods are no longer on the market. • The city of Vernon, California, has a daytime population of about 44,000 people, but only 93 people actually live there. • Six thousand languages are spoken in the world today. At the current rate of extinction, we may be down to 200 at the end of the century.

12. Continue… PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements A surprising statement or a startling fact can make your reader want to keep reading.

13. How does the first sentence grab your attention? Every year in the Danish town of Silkeborg, thousands of visitors file past the face of a murder victim. No one will ever know his name. It is enough to know that 2,000 years ago he was as human as ourselves. —Maurice Shadbolt, “Who Killed the Bog Men of Denmark? And Why?” Click to see the answer PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements A surprising statement or a startling fact can make your reader want to keep reading.

14. i Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements A surprising statement or a startling fact can make your reader want to keep reading. How does the first sentence grab your attention? Every year in the Danish town of Silkeborg, thousands of visitors file past the face of a murder victim. No one will ever know his name. It is enough to know that 2,000 years ago he was as human as ourselves. —Maurice Shadbolt, “Who Killed the Bog Men of Denmark? And Why?”

15. i MENU EXIT Introductions Surprising Statements A surprising statement or a startling fact can make your reader want to keep reading. How does the first sentence grab your attention? i Every year in the Danish town of Silkeborg, thousands of visitors file past the face of a murder victim. No one will ever know his name. It is enough to know that 2,000 years ago he was as human as ourselves. —Maurice Shadbolt, “Who Killed the Bog Men of Denmark? And Why?” CLOSE It grabs your attention because you don’t expect that thousands of people will gather every year to look at a dead person.

16. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Quotations Beginning with a quotation can lend impact and authority to an introduction.

17. How would a quotation give this idea more impact? You have only to take a look at Lorin Adkins to know he believes in taking care of his health. His trim, muscular, 79-year-old body is in great shape. Click to see a revision PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Quotations Beginning with a quotation can lend impact and authority to an introduction.

18. The quotation gives the introduction more credibility—it is not just what the writer thinks, it is what the subject believes. You have only to take one look at Lorin Adkins to know why he says things like: “No wealth is greater than your health.” His trim, muscular, 79-year-old body tells the rest of the story. —Jan Elerman, “World Class at 79” Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Quotations Beginning with a quotation can lend impact and authority to an introduction.

19. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Questions Starting with an engaging question involves the reader immediately by requiring at least a mental answer.

20. Next PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Questions Starting with an engaging question involves the reader immediately by requiring at least a mental answer. Here are some examples: • Should English be our only national language? • What does a space heater have to do with our local diner? • Why are government hunters shooting bison that leave Yellowstone National Park?

21. How does this question make you want to keep reading? How many of your friends suffer from stress? Stress is defined as a state of extreme difficulty or pressure that causes mental or physical tension. A recent study shows that teenagers experience stress as often as adults. According to the study, the most common stressors include divorce of parents, death of a loved one, loneliness, and having difficulty in a social environment. Click to see an answer PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Questions

22. Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Questions This personal question makes you think about your friends and maybe even yourself. You want to find the answer, so you keep reading. How many of your friends suffer from stress? Stress is defined as a state of extreme difficulty or pressure that causes mental or physical tension. A recent study shows that teenagers experience stress as often as adults. According to the study, the most common stressors include divorce of parents, death of a loved one, loneliness, and having difficulty in a social environment.

23. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Direct Address Address readers directly to immediately involve them in what you have written.

24. How does this introduction involve readers? Fellow students, school is a key part of our lives. Why don’t we have a voice in how it works? It is because we don’t have a student sitting on the school board. I plan to change that. I plan to run for the vacant seat on the board in the upcoming election. With your help, we can make a difference in how our school is run. Click to see an answer PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Direct Address Address readers directly to immediately involve them in what you have written.

25. Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Direct Address Address readers directly to immediately involve them in what you have written. Speaking directly to the reader and using “we” and “your” helps readers feel involved in the situation. Fellow students, school is a key part of our lives. Why don’t we have a voice in how it works? It is because we don’t have a student sitting on the school board. I plan to change that. I plan to run for the vacant seat on the board in the upcoming election. With your help, we can make a difference in how our school is run.

26. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Strong Opinions Beginning with a strong opinion is likely to get your readers’ attention because it might challenge their beliefs.

27. How could this introduction to a persuasive essay be made more compelling? Many people think that there is life on other planets. Click to see a revision PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Strong Opinions Beginning with a strong opinion is likely to get your readers’ attention because it might challenge their beliefs.

28. In this revised introduction, the writer starts with a strong statement of opinion and then elaborates on the experience. There is life on other planets.Communications from extraterrestrials have come to us in many forms. Midwestern farmers, southern blue-collar workers, Massachusetts bankers—even the government—have seen evidence of the existence of other life forms in the universe. Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Strong Opinions Beginning with a strong opinion is likely to get your readers’ attention because it might challenge their beliefs.

29. Continue… MENU EXIT Introductions Anecdote An anecdote is an interesting or amusing brief story, often about a person.

30. What kind of anecdote could make this introduction more interesting? Al Capone was one of the most famous gangsters of the 1920s. He was a powerful figure who also seemed mysterious. Click to see a revision PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Anecdote An anecdoteis an interesting or amusing brief story, often about a person.

31. This brief story hooks readers at the beginning of an essay about gangsters in the 1920s. The man, in an immaculate suit with broad lapels, narrowed his eyes against the sun as he stepped from the shadowy doorway. Pulling his hat down, he tossed a dime to the dazed, grubby boy standing before him. “Go get me a couple Cokes, willya?—and step on it kid!” So it was that my grandfather met Al Capone. Menu PREVIOUS MENU EXIT Introductions Anecdote An anecdote is an interesting or amusing brief story, often about a person.