1. Sample Intro for Ownership Essay – Rough Draft
Many prominent thinkers have pondered for centuries the relationship between ownership and the development of self-identity. What sort of impact do your possessions have on you as an individual, if any? Do they, as Plato thought, corrupt your character? Or do they, as Aristotle claimed, help to develop your moral character? Before Sartre could answer these questions, he felt it necessary to redefine ownership, claiming that it extended beyond tangible objects to include certain skills and knowledge as well. Although ownership—whether of tangible or intangible things—can help identify and differentiate you from others, too many possessions can cloud your character, making it difficult for you to know who you are as a person, distinct from your stuff.

2. Sample Intro for Ownership Essay – Final Draft
There’s a scene in the movie Fight Club, in which Brad Pitt’s character Tyler Durden, leader of an underground fighting club turned anarchist gang, admonishes his black-clad minions thus: “You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet.” And so forth. Despite his cocksure counsel, Tyler Durden (well, writer Chuck Palahniuk, really) touches on a much-discussed yet little-resolved debate. What influence our possessions have on us as individuals, if any, has been pondered by prominent (and not-so-prominent) thinkers for centuries. While Plato suggested that ownership of tangible goods has the power to corrupt a person’s character, Aristotle countered with the supposition that ownership might actually help to develop moral character. Almost two and a half millennia later, and we are still lost in Plato’s cave, groping for the light. The relationship between ownership and the development of self-identity is just as perplexing to us. And as much as I’d like to believe Tyler Durden’s proclamation that I am not my stuff, I’m afraid that, for better or worse, our ownership of tangible goods, or lack thereof, has a significant impact on how we perceive our self-identities.

3. Sample Intro for Ownership Essay – Final Draft
There’s a scene in the movie Fight Club, in which Brad Pitt’s character Tyler Durden, leader of an underground fighting club turned anarchist gang, admonishes his black-clad minions thus: “You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet.” And so forth. Despite his cocksure counsel, Tyler Durden (well, writer Chuck Palahniuk, really) touches on a much-discussed yet little-resolved debate. What influence our possessions have on us as individuals, if any, has been pondered by prominent (and not-so-prominent) thinkers for centuries. While Plato suggested that ownership of tangible goods has the power to corrupt a person’s character, Aristotle countered with the supposition that ownership might actually help to develop moral character. Almost two and a half millennia later, and we are still lost in Plato’s cave, groping for the light. The relationship between ownership and the development of self-identity is just as perplexing to us. And as much as I’d like to believe Tyler Durden’s proclamation that I am not my stuff, I’m afraid that, for better or worse, our ownership of tangible goods, or lack thereof, has a significant impact on how we perceive our self-identities.
Introduction—The Engaging Opener
Background—Contextualization of the topic
Thesis Statement