Good Beginnings
Title & Introduction Paragraph
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Catching the Readers’ Interest
The Importance of the Title
• Good titles attract attention and make
readers want to read
– Poor: My Goal to be an airplane pilot
– Better: Up, Up, and Away!
• Good titles announce the tone of the piece
– Poor: My Sad Birthday
– Better: Tears on my Birthday Cake
Do’s and Don’ts of
Title Writing
• Do write the title at the top center of the page
• Do capitalize the first and last words as well as all
important words [don’t capitalize a, an, and, the, etc…
unless they are the first or last word]
• Do not underline or put your title in quotation marks
• Do not put a period at the end of a title [you may use a
question mark or exclamation point if appropriate]
• Do keep your title short and to the point [Don’t write a
complete sentence]
• Don’t use a mere label or a boring, cliché title
• Do consider the tone of your essay [funny, sad, angry,
formal, informal, etc…]
Structure of the introduction
paragraph
Introduction
Attention Getter
Ideas that move from general
thoughts to more specific ones
Thesis Statement
Plan of Development
Attention Getters
• Quote or literary allusion
– “I was angry with my friend. I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I
was angry with my foe, I told it not, my wrath did grow.” William
Blake
• Relevant story, joke, anecdote
– A momma mouse and baby mouse were crossing the road when a
cat jumped in front of them. The clever momma mouse yelled,
“Ruff, Ruff!” The surprised cat ran away. The momma mouse said
to her baby, “Now you know the importance of speaking a foreign
language!”
• A Contrast
– Eat more and lose weight fast!
– Abraham Lincoln in 1832 - Ran for State Legislature and LOST as
well as losing his job that same year. In 1838 –he was defeated in
his attempt to become speaker of the state legislature and in 1843
he ran for Congress and LOST. In 1854 he ran for the Senate of the
United States and LOST. However, Despite all of these setbacks
Abraham Lincoln was still elected President of the United States in
1860.
• A Historical Approach
– Establish credibility
– Set the stage
Errors to avoid in lead-ins
• Make sure the attention getter matches the
thesis statement!
• Keep the lead in brief
• Don’t begin with an apology or complaint
• Don’t assume the audience knows the
subject
• Stay clear of boring, overused lead-ins
Connecting the attention getter to
the thesis statement
• The lead in should be followed by a general statement that
transitions from the lead in to the topic.
• The next few sentences get more and more specific and
provide information to the reader about the topic and your
opinion of the topic.
• The thesis and plan of development are the final sentences
in your introductory paragraph.
One good example
•
“I was angry with my friend. I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I
was angry with my foe, I told it not, my wrath did grow.” (William
Blake, A Poison Tree). Most people believe they can tell the difference
between friends and enemies. It seems simple. Friends are good to us,
and enemies are not. However, it has often happened that someone we
once considered a friend became an enemy. And what a deadly enemy
old friends can be! Old friends know all our secrets and private affairs.
They often share the same friends and can turn them against us with
their evil whisperings. Before trusting anyone with your most private
affairs, you need to make sure he or she is a true friend and not a friend
turned enemy.
Another good example
•
How do you do it? How do you get those good grades and have a life?” A friend
asked me, “Do you have a method that you can teach me?” “Yes,” I replied. “I do. And
everyone can learn it!” I have been going to school for many years, and I have learned
that there is more to getting good grades in college than simply attending classes and
taking tests. Students who understand the system and use it to their advantage get further
faster, and so can you. The “Teacher Suck-up Method” won’t get you an “A” if you get
an “F” on every assignment. However, the “Teacher Suck-Up Method” can help you get
bumped up a higher grade than your test scores indicate by getting your teachers to
know your name and care about you as a person. If you follow the steps for before,
during, and after class sessions, your teachers will find themselves giving you a higher
grade.