Writing Introductions

1. Writing S t r o n g Intros
Of all those arts in which the wise excel, nature’s
chief masterpiece is writing well
British statesman & poet
John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire

2. E a
G O O D
Intro
&
How to create powerful
introductory paragraphs
• ADVICE & TIPS ON ADDING
PUNCH
• The INTRO’s usually the 1st
paragraph
• 1st sentence of the first paragraph is
all-important in setting the tone of
the essay
• Make a GOOD impression

3. A Good Introduction
GOALS: similar to those of the whole essay
Spark interest & make a convincing argument
for your point of view
Specifically though, the introduction has
some particular goals.
What are

4. A Good Introduction
• Grab the reader's attention.
• State thesis clearly & concisely.
• Provide any necessary background info.
• Establish an appropriate tone & register
ATTENTION

5. Attention Getter
Start with a SHOCKING statement
• College education in America is a bad joke.
• The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system is that
it is a race-based institution where African-Americans are
directly targeted and punished in a much more aggressive
way than white people.
• In 50 years, there will be no more polar bears on the
planet.
• Facebook acquired one new user in the U.S. every second
for three years.
Sample Paragrap

6. Attention Getter
SHOCKING statement
• If you say the “wrong thing” in America today, you could be
penalized, fired or even taken to court. Political
correctness is running rampant, and it is absolutely
destroying this nation. In his novel 1984, George Orwell
imagined a future world where speech was greatly
restricted. He called that the language that the totalitarian
state in his novel created “Newspeak”, and it bears a
striking resemblance to the political correctness that we
see in America right now.

7. Attention Getter
Ask a STARTLING QUESTION
• Was the desegregation of American schools in the 1960’s a
bad idea then and is it still today?
• Are you willing to watch a polar bear die of starvation?
Note that this question combines 2 strategies: It provides a
challenge to the reader & simultaneously shocks with its
implicit suggestion that starving polar bears might exist.
It’sstrongerthan "Is globalwarmingharming polarbears?”, which is
aperfectlylegitimateopening question, but notparticularlystrong.
RELEVANT

8. c
• "In a shrinking ice environment, the ability of polar bears to
find food, to reproduce, and to survive will all be reduced,"
said Scott Schliebe, Alaskan polar bear project leader for
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Finding strong quotations for introductory statements can be
difficult, but it pays off. Keep a record of quotations you like /
find pertinent to common topics.
It is not wisdom but Authority that
makes a law. Thomas Hobbes
Quote an Authority

9. When introducing quotes with a full sentence, put a colon at
the end of the introductory sentence.
When introducing a quote with an incomplete sentence, a
comma usually comes after the introductory phrase. Though
it has become grammatically acceptable to use a colon rather
than a comma:
• Arendt writes: "we must turn to Roman antiquity to
find the first justification of war . . .”
Do not use any punctuation at all with the conjunction that:
• Arendt writes that "we must turn to Roman antiquity
to find the first justification of war . . ."
PUNCTUATION for QUOTES

10. It is the responsibility
of every citizen to
question authority.
Benjamin Franklin
Acknowledge Assert Admit Agree Allege
Argue Assume Believe Claim Conclude Consider
Deny Determine Discover Doubt Emphasize
Explain Hypothesize Imply Indicate Infer Note
Object Observe Point out Prove Reveal
Each verb has its own nuance.
Make sure that the nuance matches
your specific aims in introducing the
quotation.

11. In the words of X, . . .
According to X, . . .
In X's view, . . .
There are other ways to
begin quotations.

12. The appendix has more INFO on
verbs referring to sources.
Shall we move on to the
next attention grabber,
or hook?

13. Attention Getter
Describe an imaginary scenario.
• Think of what the world would be like if there were
no more polar bears, no more ice pack, no more
Arctic Circle at all.
Be careful when you construct an imaginary scenario;
you have to create a believable, if extreme, situation,
or your reader will dismiss you immediately as an
illogical thinker about to make a ridiculous argument.

14. Attention Getter
Start with an ANECDOTE, personal or not.
• Research scientists in the Canadian Wildlife Service are
reporting dramatic declines in the polar bear population.
Eyewitness accounts by field workers describe the bears
as growing visibly skinnier because they can't find enough
food.
Ittakesabitlongertobeginwithananecdote,buttheycanbe
veryvivid.Newspaperandmagazinewritersfrequentlyusethis
strategytosetthesceneforthearticlethatistofollow.

15. A t t e n t i o n G e t t e r
ANECDOTE
• The young man with the hammer hoisted himself
onto the top of the wall. All around him on the wall
and on the ground, people chanted & cheered. The
young man knelt down, with his hammer & began to
chip at the cold, gray concrete. Little by little, the wall
began to crumble. As I watched in amazement, it was
hard to comprehend the fact that I was watching the
Berlin Wall coming down.
Last sentence – thesis statement

16. Attention Getter
ANECDOTE
• In Lake Wobegone Days, humorist Garrison Keillor
tells of a retired dentist in a small Minnesota town.
He sits in a fishing boat. “Open wide,” Dr. Nute says to
the fish. “This may sting a little. Now bite down.”
Unfortunately, not all retirees are able to continue
their once interesting professions in some way as he
has. In fact, the death rate is high among recent
retirees, apparently because of boredom, and
psychologists suggest 3 ways to prevent it.
Penultimatesent/transition.Last–thesisstatement

17. A t t e n t i o n G e t t e r
Set the scene with interesting background info
Global warming may be a difficult subject for the
individual to grasp, but field workers in the Canadian
Wildlife Service are finding the global problem reduced
to a very local level as they conduct their annual
demographic count of polar bears in the western
coastal area of Manitoba.

18. A t t e n t i o n G e t t e r
Set the scene with interesting background info
In defiance of an 1832 Supreme Court ruling declaring
the Indian Removal Act of 1830 unconstitutional,
Federal and Georgian authorities proceeded to force the
exodus of fifteen thousand members of the Cherokee
Nation from their homes in Georgia to Oklahoma,
hundreds of miles to the west. Because of their
suffering, the Cherokee people called the path they
were forced to follow to Oklahoma “The Trail of Tears.”

19. A t t e n t i o n G e t t e r
• To be concerned about global
warming, or not: That is the
question facing every person in
the world right now, and it's
probably the single most
important question we face.
Adapt a familiar quote / phrase

20. A t t e n t i o n G e t t e r
Adapt a familiar quote / phrase
ThistwistonHamlet's famous speech aboutthemoral
choices he faces is good use of a famous quotation
The seriousness of the problem about to be discussed is
associated with Hamlet’s difficult choices.
The trick is to find the right quotation or phrase to
suit your subject

21. Wr i t e a G o o d I n t r o & Yo u ’ r e
H a l f w a y T h e r e
But if you get
stuck, have no
idea what to
write, try free
writing or
concept maps
to gain focus.