Personal Essays Lead Sentences

Personal Essays  You will need a powerful hook to get readers to pay attention. The lead is the doorway through which a writer welcomes and orients readers to the idea.

Lead Sentences  Try leading with: a question a question a quotation a quotation a strong statement a strong statement a metaphor a metaphor a description a description

Belief Statement  Laugh everyday! (“ The top 10 Lessons I Learned From Charlie Brown”, Jim Allen )

Lead Sentences  Question: “Why are so many people (you and I) so serious about so many things?

Lead Sentences  Quotation: (from someone famous or from someone significant in your life).  “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry/ weep and you cry/ weep alone.”  ( Ella Wheeler, 1883; poem Solitude)

Lead Sentences  Strong Statement: (that your essay will either support or dispute).  Not everything is funny to all people.

Lead Sentences  Metaphor: “Laughter is the best medicine”.  ( Perhaps the Bible:"A cheerful heart is good medicine" Proverbs 17:22; Readers’ Digest)

Lead Sentences  Description: I glanced sideways and there he was with his head flopped back and mouth opened. Then it happened. A loud snore rang out going its own way in the silent room. My shoulders began to shake. I shook until there were tears sliding down my cheeks. I pretended to cough, pretended to have a crumb stuck in my throat.

Your Turn!  Writing Time:  Choose one of the quotations that appealed or spoke to you for some reason and try writing it as a lead sentence.  Try it as a question, a quotation, a strong statement, a metaphor or description.

Tips To Add Audience Appeal Tips To Add Audience Appeal  1. Your essay should be about something you care strongly about.  2. Help your readers relate to what you are talking about even if they’ve never been there or done that. What universal truth can be found in your personal experience or belief?  3. Think of your essay as a camera lens. Start by describing a specific moment and then opening it up to a wider view.

Tips To Add Audience Appeal Tips To Add Audience Appeal  4. Use specific details to draw the reader in.  5. Use all the senses to convey your ideas to the reader. (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell).  6. Beyond everything else, make sure that the reader can summarize the MAIN IDEA that you BELIEVE.

Brainstorming Guide-Questions to Think About What is your personal belief statement?What is your personal belief statement? What does it do, cause, or make?What does it do, cause, or make? Does it influence anything? If yes, how?Does it influence anything? If yes, how? Who, if anyone, is involved with it?Who, if anyone, is involved with it? Is it helpful or harmful to people?Is it helpful or harmful to people? Where is it found?Where is it found? Where does it come from?Where does it come from? Does it depend on anything?Does it depend on anything?

Brainstorming Guide Brainstorming Guide  Does it occur at a certain time? When?  Why is this belief important?  What would you like to tell others about it?

Turn and Talk  Use your brainstorm and turn to a partner and share your ideas for writing.  The speaker shares.  The listener’s responsibility is to summarize what the speaker said: T- tell T- tell A- ask a question A- ask a question G- give a suggestion G- give a suggestion

Support/ Evidence  Question  Dialogue  Anecdote  Personal Experience  Example  Statistic

Source: 

Mentor Texts Mentor Texts  1.I had never been a believer in love at first sight.  2.The cool night wind pulls at my hair as I slide into the car.  3.I remember how Natasha hated looking in mirrors.

Mentor Texts Mentor Texts  4.I believe in man’s responsibility to care for the other residents of our planet.  5.Some months after Hurricane Katrina, my sister-in-law and I were discussing the clips of animal rescues.

Mentor Texts Mentor Texts  6.Have you ever heard the saying, “Hindsight is 20/20?”  7.Last summer I looked out the door of my 100-year-old house at my newly planted garden and my adopted dog.

Mentor Texts Mentor Texts  8.This is what happened to me after I snooped and discovered a letter under silky slips and scented soaps in my mother’s dresser drawer when I was twelve.

The Dash The Dash  A dash is used to set off information in a sentence with a dramatic flair.  AKA: interrupter  Mentor Text:

The Dash The Dash  DARKNESS- COLD- CHURNING WATER- roaring like a thousand lions- spinning around and around-bashing into rocks-arms wrapped around my face to protect it- tucking up my legs to make myself smaller, less on target.  Wash up against a clump of roots- grab hold- the wet roots feel like dead fingers clutching at me- a space between the water and the roof of the tunnel- I draw quick gasps of breath- current takes hold again-trying to fight it- roots break off in my hands- swept away. (p.5)- Darren Shan, Cirque Du Freak #6: The Vampire Prince

The Dash The Dash  Nothing ever seems interesting when it belongs to you- only when it doesn’t.  (p.7) Natalie Babbit, Tuck Everlasting