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Essay Introductions:

Essay Introductions:. ATTENTION GRABBERS. Introduction Paragraph. 1- AG or Hook

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Essay Introductions:

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  1. Essay Introductions: ATTENTION GRABBERS

  2. Introduction Paragraph 1- AG or Hook 2- Background (BG): Introduce topic/text and why it is of importance. Make sure you give some background on the text (basically the issues in the text that relate to your topic), without resorting to unnecessary summary. 3- Thesis (T) *Intro Usually 4-5 sentences.

  3. AG: Hook • The opening sentence of your essay; refers to the topic/subject of what your paper will be about. Strategies: • Text-to-world connection about your topic • Dramatic fact • Simile/metaphor/analogy • Straw man (stating the opposite of what you will argue and a rebuttal) • Global opening statement (that relates to the topic of your essay) • Relevant background information about author/literature you are writing about (has to pertain to the topic of your essay and should not be plot summary!)

  4. Hook Examples…all from the human nature essay about Lord of the Flies • Even the most moral people occasionally feel the compulsion to do something they know is wrong. (dramatic fact) • Unsupervised children can be like a pack of rowdy animals. (simile/analogy) • Human nature is an abstract and widely debated concept. (global opening statement) • William Golding’s view of human nature was heavily inspired by the atrocities he encountered fighting in WWII. (relevant background info) • Thousands of children were evacuated from Britain in World War II during Operation Pied Piper. (a dramatic fact) • Some say the quality of being good or evil is instinctual. However, it can be proven through literature that environment is the main factor in shaping someone’s human nature. (straw man)

  5. Attention Grabber Do’s and Dont’s Do not be too general or state the obvious: “One should value what will happen once one leaves Earth.” Do not begin with a question: “Humans were given instincts, so why not follow them?” Do not use 2nd person “Imagine you were sentenced to death for burying a loved one.” Do start off with a global thematic linking statement: “The decisions people make daily can have life altering consequences.”

  6. ALWAYS: Lead the reader from your attention grabber to your THESIS STATEMENT. For an essay about a piece of literature, write 2 sentences about the literature. End your Essay Introduction with your THESIS STATEMENT. That’s a total of at least 4 sentences.

  7. THESIS STATEMENTS Give focus and structure to your essays and MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER 2 arguable prongs (one for each body paragraph) Characters and events in the literature are not considered arguable prongs.

  8. Things NOT to do in an introductory paragraph: 1. Announce your intentions Do not flatly announce what you are about to do in an essay. Get into the topic and let your reader perceive your purpose. Avoid phrases like the following: In this paper I will. . . The purpose of this essay is to…

  9. QUESTIONS?

  10. Antigone Vocabulary Application Advice • Use language you have been taught as part of your intro or sporadically place it throughout the essay to exhibit your knowledge concerning the topic. • How could you talk about hubris, tragic flaw, pathos, ethos, logos, etc.? Could you use any of these words in an AG? • Think back to the pre-reading discussions we had about Antigone and the word Honor. Does any of that relate to your topic and how could you incorporate it into an AG or Intro paragraph?

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