Attention-grabber Examples
I. Introduction
A. Attention-getting device—choose any one or any combination of the following:
1. Question
a. rhetorical
b. regular
2. Shocking facts or statistics
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a. Facts—that which is known to be true
b. Statistics—number facts
3. Anecdote—interesting little story
a. humorous
b. joke
c. inspirational
4. Quotation—
a. can be from book/play/poem
b. can be from another source on the same theme as topic
5. Definition (not from the dictionary)
a. own words
b. read two or three different ones before writing
6. Suspense builder—sets an interesting scene but does not finish the story
7. Descriptive example
8. Set up a situation
Greek proverbs:
“The liar and the thief rejoice in their first year only.”
“He who suffers much will know much”
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom”
“One minute of patience, ten years of peace”
“It is not what they profess but what they practice that makes them good”
As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to
repent.
Quotes from Socrates:
I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of
instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime
messages without knowing in the least what they mean.
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain
easily what others have labored hard for.
All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are immortal and divine.
Quotes from Plato:
Any man may easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another.
Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a
way around the laws.
He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it.
It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and
draws it from the things of this world to the other.
Have you ever experience the feeling of falling in love?
If you think soap operas have strange twisted plotlines, wait till you hear about the Greek
goddess, Hera.
From a kidnapped sister to a town made of serpents’ teeth to an evil necklace, the story of
Harmonia’s and Cadmus’ lives shows that the deities of Olympus must have taken special
interest in the couple.
Many people see Hercules as an amazing hero, but yet he had many flaws, evil flaws.
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it’s a lovely day then a chariot pulled by midnightblack horses speeds through a meadow and a beautiful goddess is swept away. Deep, deep,
down to the underworld, to be seated by the King of the Dead, Hades.
In harsh times, families must split and choose sides, one that leads to power and deception or one
that leads to humility and loyalty.
The ability to judge what is true or right based on lasting insight from learning through the ages.
Wisdom. The owl has been a symbol of wisdom throughout modern culture.
Today when typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis, or floods hit a piece of land, people often pray for it
to stop. However, the Greeks had another method: they would sacrifice horses by throwing them
into the sea to pacify Poseidon, the god of both horses and the sea.
In tales where male gods give birth, testy gods use humans for their enjoyment, and fathers
swallow their children whole, it is easy to get lost in the soap-opera-esque anecdotes.
From being swallowed by your father. To being born out of the sea. To being born out of your
father’s head.
Everyone needs divine intervention at some point in their life. In Greek mythology, the deities
with the high-profile job of providing artists with inspiration were know as the muses.