1. How to write an Introductory paragraph
“A drop of ink may make a million think.” Anonymous

2. When you write an introductory paragraph, keep in mind that:
Writing an introductory paragraph is like greeting someone. The paragraph should be short and to the point like saying, “Hello!”
Also, you don’t want to get into the meat of the essay. Simply give the audience a concise idea of your essay’s purpose.

3. Remember that the Introductory Paragraph:
Is the most important paragraph of the essay
Needs to do three things
Hook
Make your readers want to continue
Make your audience want to listen
Bridge
Transition from hook to thesis by introducing the significance of your topic
Thesis Statement
Topic and what will be proven about it

4. Let us consider different types of ways to prepare introductory paragraphs...
Bold statement
Anecdote
INTERESTING Fact or Statistic
Quotation
Analogy
There are other ways to begin an introductory paragraph, but these three ways will do for now.

5. Write Thesis Thesis statements are STATEMENTS
A thesis will NEVER be a question
A thesis is not an accepted fact or vague opinion
A thesis statement
is specific
shows the writer’s position on the topic
makes an assertion
should be written as one sentence and in parallel structure
belongs in introduction
A thesis statement answers two questions:
What is the topic?
What will be proven about the topic?
A thesis statement is written in 3rd person
NO “I believe,” “I think,” or “To me,…”

6. I need HELP!
Thesis Generator

7. Let’s Practice!
For each introduction below, answer the following on your own paper:
What type of attention grabber is being used?
What is the topic?
What is your opinion on the introduction?---either one compliment or one suggestion

8. Sample Introduction
Yesterday, seven year old Billy Barnes came home at 3:30 and let himself into his house with his key. After fixing himself a snack of five Oreo cookies and a glass of soda, Billy watched television (MTV) for two hours. When Billy telephoned his mother at work, she was in a meeting and couldn’t talk to him. Billy represents a growing number of children with working parents who feel neglected, don’t do their homework, and get in trouble when they get older; these effects can be minimalized with support programs and interventions.

9. Sample Introduction
Gang involvement is on the rise. According to reports published in Psychology Today, “gangs are present in every state in the US, where in 1970 they existed in less than half of all states. To date, there are approximately, 24,500 known youth gangs with about 772,500 youth members. That's about 7% of the US's teen population.” This number demands attention. Teenagers in many American cities have been involved in more gangs in the last five years than ever before. These gangs of teens have been committing a lot of violent crimes. The victims of these crimes are both gang members and people outside of gangs. Many people do not want to travel to areas in our cities because of the danger from this problem.  For this terrible situation to stop, it is going to take a combined effort on the part of many people. Excellent, supervised after-school programs, more jobs available for teens, and healthy family relationships will go a long way towards ending the gang crisis in our society.

10. Sample Introduction
During the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East there was much armed conflict between Christians and Muslims. Christians called these conflicts the Crusades because they were fighting under the sign of the cross to save the holy lands of the Bible from being desecrated by non-Christians. However, the true reason for fighting for these lands was less than holy; it was mainly a desire for economic gain that prompted the Christian leaders to send soldiers to fight in the Holy Land.

11. Lao Tzu once said, “Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage
Lao Tzu once said, “Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." So often, in books or movies, love transforms ordinary people into courageous heroes, just as Lao Tzu suggests. It happens throughout the world and throughout history, and it is only one of love’s many effects. Strangely, most people never stop to consider the fact that love has such incredible effects. If people did, perhaps they would strive to find love and fight to keep it. In fact, love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and it has many positive effects including bringing people happiness, making people selfless, and giving people courage.

12. Lao Tzu once said, “Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage
Lao Tzu once said, “Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." So often, in books or movies, love transforms ordinary people into courageous heroes, just as Lao Tzu suggests. It happens throughout the world and throughout history, and it is only one of love’s many effects. Strangely, most people never stop to consider the fact that love has such incredible effects. If people did, perhaps they would strive to find love and fight to keep it. In fact, love is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and it has many positive effects including (1) bringing people happiness, (2) making people selfless, and (3) giving people courage. (thesis) *Quote

13. Married men are half as likely to commit suicide as women and have a much lower likelihood of dying early than single men. Few people realize this shocking advantage of marriage and of love. People rarely stop to consider love as a strong emotion with the ability to actually save lives, despite the fact that every song on the radio and every movie in cinemas seem to be about love! In fact, love has many effects people often overlook, some of which are positive and some of which are negative. The most important effects of love include its incredible ability to help people become themselves, to motivate people to work hard for success, and to make people act kindly towards others.

14. Married men are half as likely to commit suicide as women and have a much lower likelihood of dying early than single men. Few people realize this shocking advantage of marriage and of love. People rarely stop to consider love as a strong emotion with the ability to actually save lives, despite the fact that every song on the radio and every movie in cinemas seem to be about love! In fact, love has many effects people often overlook, some of which are positive and some of which are negative. The most important effects of love include its incredible ability (1) to help people become themselves, (2) to motivate people to work hard for success, and (3) to make people act kindly towards others. (thesis) *Fact/Statistic---missing source

15. Formatting a Paper Heading and Title:
You do not need a title page in MLA format.
You DO need to include the following…
Your Name and ID # (# only on final draft)
Teacher ID (will be provided for final draft)
Date
Title (centered)
Betty Parris #
Mrs. Honeycutt
English III
April 2017
Becoming a Donor

16. Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Even if you paraphrase
or summarize,
YOU
STILL MUST
ACKNOWLEDGE
YOUR SOURCE!!

17. Signal Phrases in MLA Verbs in Signal Phrases: Model Signal Phrases:
acknowledges admits
agrees asserts
believes claims
comments confirms
contends declares
denies disputes
emphasizes endorses
grants illustrates
implies notes
observes points out
reasons refutes
suggests writes
Complete list: Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, p. 336.
Model Signal Phrases:
In the words of
researchers Long and
McKenzi, “ ……”
As Paul Rudnick has
noted, “….”
Melinda Stuart, mother
of a drunk driver, points
out, “….”
“…,” writes Michelle
Moore.

18. Parenthetical Citations or In-Text Citations
Author and Page Number
(Keeling 125)
Notice there is no “p” and no comma.
(Keeling, p 125)  INCORRECT!!!
The struggle for identity is common during puberty (Keeling 125).

19. Parenthetical Citations or In-Text Citations
Page Number Only
If you have already mentioned the author’s name, put the page number only.
Keeling states that Plath’s work stand in stark
contrast to other confessional poets (58).