Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuuuuuuuuumblllllllllllllllllle (Introductions)

General Essay Introduction Structure: 

1. Hook: opening sentence(s) of essay that sets up your topic==>something thematically connected 

2. Put the hook in context for thesis subject matter: transition from topic to specific subject matter

• Provides bridge of needed background information on thesis subject(s)

• Name  subject matter and other basic qualities of them relevant to essay

• Contextualize the subject matter based on essay prompt's purpose & your own essay theme of ideas

• use synonymous language from prompt (instead of "hero," use definition techniques to define heroism as it relates to essay; instead of "antihero," use techniques to outline 

• Essay 1: What are you going to break down with regard to these characters (your subject people)?  What do you learn

3. If you don't use the context to lay out subtopics, then explicitly lay out the body of essay in a succinct way 

• The most effective writing can combine #2's behaviors with #3
• Rather than thinking you need to fully state all of your ideas in full sentences, try to make a 1-2 sentence outline of subtopics. How?  Key words.

4. Finish off with the thesis statement.  

• Your thesis is another place where some of you like to include the subtopics within them. If so, okay. 

• Remember: the key is to know that when you write the subtopics into the thesis itself, it iss a rhetorical strategy, an option, and not as a "requirement."

\          Hook          /  \    Context        /    \  Subtopics   /     |  Thesis        |    /     Point 1     \  /  Reasoning     \/  Example            \

Peer or Self-Workshop Questions for Essay 1 Intro: 

• Some of these are basic questions about basic form 
• Some of these are rhetorical questions about basic content
• Some of these are rhetorical questions about upping language of content
• And the final one's are quirky questions to get you to think about where form meets content meets language meets theme

Read these questions. Then, read the draft. Then re-read these questions and start answering the questions:

1. Does intro have the basics?: 1. hook, 2. contextual details on subject, 3. subtopic introductions, and 4. thesis? On the lefthand side of draft, bracket each part and label 1, 2, 3, or 4.

2. What more do you want out of the hook and its language? Does the hook closely connect to the subject person and the subject points?

3. What type of character traits does the writer show or tell? What type of heroic quality are they writing about with regard to the other person and/or his or her self? Circle some key character trait phrases, images, etc.

4. What language do they have that is unmicrowaveable--not cliche or formulaic or unsurprising? Praise them for creativity phrases. Ask questions about stale language.

5. Pitch this essay based on the introduction. What are its themes and characters, and what makes the essay stand out as a story worth telling? What section would you find this essay at on a bookshelf at Barnes & Nobles or your library?

6. What would be the theme music to this essay? Artist, song, and perhaps a key lyric.

7. What are your feelings about the type of hero is in the essay? If it is a famous person, discuss them specifically. If his or her hero is a family member, focus on that person as a symbol of the family member they are (like younger brother).