Bell Work Imagine that you were being required to write a narrative about your voyage from your previous class to English (passing period). How would you begin your narrative? Now that you’re finished brainstorming, write the introduction to this narrative. This should take 3-5 minutes.

Effective Beginnings! The beginning of your essay is vital to drawing your reader into your piece.

What writers do:  Good Writers  Capture the readers’ interest  Keep the readers’ interest  Use elements of a personal narrative:  F____ L____  D____  I_____ M____  S____ D_____  Bad Writers  Use boring verbs  Do not use helping verbs, adjectives, or adverbs  Do not use quotes  Do not use figurative language

The ANECDOTE  Most often used in narrative and persuasive writing.  To capture your reader’s interest, good writers could draw from:  current events  history  Personal experience

The ANECDOTE A couple of nights ago, someone offered me a cigarette at a party. I started to say no, but I had to reflect for a minute. Why don’t I smoke?

Analogy / Comparison  Gets readers to contemplate a topic they might otherwise reject as unfamiliar or uninteresting.  Pair seemingly unrelated concepts

Analogy / Comparison The Gods, they say, give breath, and they take it away. But the same could be said – could it not? – for the humble comma. Add it to the present clause and, all of a sudden, the mind is, quite literally, given pause to think; take it out if you wish or forget it and the mind is deprived of a resting place.

Facts & Statistics  Brief facts or stats to support the purpose of your essay.  Be careful: while shock is an effective attention-grabber, don’t lie!  Don’t be Fox News and exaggerate ad nauseum.

Facts & Statistics Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day – February 12, They are also linked in another curious way. Both must simultaneously play, and for similar reasons, the role of man and legend. Twenty thousand teens will die this year from AIDS. Twenty thousand thought it couldn’t happen to them.

Irony / Humor  Signals to the reader that your story will be entertaining to read.  Irony can indicate an unexpected approach to a topic.

Irony / Humor In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me. The desk is so untidy, the student thought. I must do laundry. Maybe I need to mow the lawn? He went downstairs and began talking with his mother, helping her put the groceries away. “Mom,” he said, smiling, “you want to watch Seventh Heaven with me?” Sounds like a great person, right? Considerate? Think again. This is the procrastinator extreme. He would rather help around the house than complete his homework!

AVOID IT!  Apology: I am a student who is not an expert…  COMPLAINT: I would rather write about something else…  DICTIONARY: The dictionary defines…  REFERENCE THE TITLE: As you can see by the title, my paper is going to be…

Review & Practice 1.Anecdote 2.Analogy 3.Irony / humor 4.Facts / statistics  Describe your voyage from your previous class to English (passing period) in an introduction paragraph (4-8 sentences).

Your Prompt  Reflect on a time you remember being responsible for yourself or for another person. What happened and what did you learn?