Introductions

1. Introductions Follow ANT!

2. Makes you want to read more … Do you remember what book starts with the following ATTENTION getter? “Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. Answer: Charlotte’s Webb by E.B. White

3. Makes you want to read more … Do you remember what book starts with the following ATTENTION getter? There is no camp at Camp Green Lake. Answer: Holes by Louis Sachar

4. Makes you want to read more … Do you remember what book starts with the following ATTENTION getter? If you were going to give a medal to the least delightful person on Earth, you would have to give that medal to a person named Carmelita Spats, and if you didn’t give it to her, Carmelita Spats was the sort of person who would snatch it from your hands anyway. Answer: The Austere Academy (Series of Unfortunate Events – Book 5) by Lemony Snicket

5. What if you had to write an attention getter for the following prompt … • Select a job you can do and write an essay that persuades an adult to hire you. • You could start with … • I want to be a baby sitter. • If you need a baby sitter, hire me. • Baby sitting is a fun job.

6. But that would be so

7. What did you come up with? • Take down that “Help Wanted” sign because you just found your new waitress.

8. What did you come up with? • It’s Friday night, and you and your husband want to go out for the evening. However, you can’t just trust anyone to watch your child.

9. What did you come up with? • As a teen, not many careers are yet available to me. However, as companies begin targeting teens more with their products, they will need a teen’s thoughtful perspective, which is something I can provide.

10. Now you are asked to write an attention getter for your IBP … • You could start with … • Dogsong by Gary Paulsen is an adventure book. • I chose Dogsong for my Independent Book Project.

11. But that would be so boring and wrong!

12. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Relevant quote from an outside source • Relevant quote from the story • Fact or Statistic • Description of initial response to the work • Shocking or amusing generalization

13. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Relevant quote from an outside source The miracle or the power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit.These words spoken by Mark Twain capture the spirit of Russell Susskit, the protagonist in Gary Paulsen’s adventure novel Dogsong.

14. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Relevant quote from the story “it is time to leave,” Oogruk said simply. It is my time. But there is a thing you must do now to become a man. You must not go home.”With those words, fourteen-year-old Russel Susskit, the main character in Gary Paulsen’s realistic fiction book Dogsong, begins his journey.

15. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Fact or Statistic In 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 1.0 percent of the U.S. population was of Eskimo or Alaska Native descent. A glimpse into the life of an Eskimo is depicted in Gary Paulsen’s adventure novel Dogsong.

16. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Description of initial response to the work Upon turning the final page of Gary Paulsen’s adventure novel Dogsong, readers will cheer this moving and beautifully portrayed rite of passage.

17. Attention Getter • Get the reader’s attention by using … • Shocking or amusing generalization Imagine enduring the possibility of frostbite, starvation and hypothermia on a daily basis. These are the conditions that Russell Susskit, the main character in Gary Paulsen’s realistic fiction book Dogsong, has to deal with every day.

18. Necessary Information • Author’s full name (Gary Paulsen) • Title of Story (Dogsong) • Setting (small Eskimo village) • Brief plot summary – 2-5 sentences!

19. Necessary Information • After your Attention Getter, add the Necessary Information. You could do this… The author of Dogsong is Gary Paulsen. The setting is an Eskimo village. The story is about a boy and how he wants to write his song.

20. But that would be so boring and wrong!

21. Necessary Information • Important tip: Answer the questions but do so in an interesting way!! • Combine short, choppy sentences for better flow!

22. Necessary Information • Revised … • Here’s our attention getter, which includes some of the Necessary Information (author, book title, name of main character). Imagine enduring the possibility of frostbite, starvation and hypothermia on a daily basis. These are the conditions that Russell Susskit, the main character in Gary Paulsen’s realistic fiction book Dogsong, has to deal with every day.

23. Necessary Information • Revised …We could add the following … Russell lives in a small Eskimo village by the coast where hunting is a way of life. Russell lives with Oogruk, a wise advisor, who teaches Russell how to hunt and to lead a dogsled team. Oogruk also teaches Russell about a person’s song, which is the defining moments of a person’s life constructed into a poem. In Russell’s culture, it is customary to go on a northern journey to prove that you that you can survive by yourself. Therefore, Russell leaves his hometown with the dogs and begins his quest to discover and to write his song.

24. Necessary Information • Important Tip: Use the present tense when summarizing your plot summary. Russell lives in a small Eskimo village by the coast where hunting is a way of life. Russell lives with Oogruk, a wise advisor, who teaches Russell how to hunt and to lead a dogsled team. Oogruk also teaches Russell about a person’s song, which is the defining moments of a person’s life constructed into a poem.

25. Thesis • Is your character Static or Dynamic? • This is your judgment of the character. • You could do this … Russell is a dynamic character.

26. But that would be so boring and wrong!

27. Thesis • Revised …. Based on his journey, Russell goes through a drastic metamorphosis throughout Dogsong where he evolves into an impressive young man.

28. Thesis • Important Tips: • Although you are trying to express your ideas in an interesting way, you should make certain that you clearly express the idea that your character either changed (dynamic) or stayed the same (static) over the course of the novel. • The thesis is the last sentence of your Introduction. It’s what you are trying to prove with your body paragraphs.

29. Done for now!!! • Any questions? This will be posted on my webpage. Please feel free to refer back to it as you begin to write your first draft of your essay!