Introductions -on and off-line- have two important tasks: announce the topic under discussion and grab the reader's attention. The thesis statment performs the "announcement", the end of the paragraph creating a "general-to-specific" paragraph structure.
Some of the "attention grabbers" frequently and effectively deployed in introductory paragraphs are questions, ancedotes, statistics and opinions.
Below is an example of a strictly alphabetic
SET (Statistic, Explanation, Thesis) paragraph.
60, 000 women under the age of thirty died of breast cancer last year, according to a study by the American Cancer Society. Most of these deaths could have been avoided if the cancer had een detected by a mammogram. Medical practices need to institute cancer awarness programs and routine mammograms for all women, not just those over forty, to avoid those needless deaths.
This is the same paragraph prepared for the web:
60, 000 women under the age of thirty died of breast cancer last year, according to a study by the
American Cancer Society. Most of these deaths could have been avoided if the cancer had been detected by a
mammogram. Medical practices need to institute cancer awarness programs and routine mammograms for all women, not just those over forty, to avoid those needless deaths.
In your groups, prepare the following alphabetic introductory paragraphs for on-line environments. Post the paragraph on a web page and post it to each group members' blog.
Teacher's PetGET (General, Explanation, Thesis)You are being watched. Frightening as this may be, in the near future it could be true of every person living in the United States. Although it is important for the government to protext citizens against terrorism, new security measures are endangering citizens' privacy rights.
Super LlamasQBERT (Quotation, Background, Explanation, Relation, Thesis)"I prefer my women dead." While the typical Victorian gentleman did not explictly stat this, his thoughts and actions, like the majority of society's, implied it. In a period which one historian referred to as "the modern dark age for women," the ideal of feminity was embodied by passivity, physical weakness, and moral purity. This ideal was upheld by both scientific and religious thought, as well as by law. Ultimately, it led to the objectification of women, frequently symbolized in the literature of the time by dead or dying women.
Purple CobrasHERT (Human Example, Relation, Thesis)Mabel Worthers loves to garden. She loves the feel of the soil between her fingers and the sense of peace that comes with spending time outdoors among her flowers. However, Mabel has not been able to garden for the last two years due to her crippling arthritis, a condition which is not currently covered by Medicare. Arthritis affects nearly thirty percent of all adults over the age of sixty, and can greatly decrease a person's quality of living. It is imperative that Medicare reevaluate its position on this terrible condition.
Square Headed SpouseQET (Question, Explanation, Thesis)Why are Americans terrified of using nuclear power as a source of energy? People are misinformed, or not informed at all, about its benefits and safety. If Americans would take the time to learn about what nucelar power offers, their apprehension and fear might be transformed into hope.
