Introductions & Hooks

Purpose of an Introduction Get the reader’s attention Set the tone State your thesis

The prompt for our essay Write an essay explaining one possible theme in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

Vocabulary review A theme is a lesson about life (theme = life lesson) Your theme will be your thesis (your main point) (thesis = main point)

Types of hooks Musical hooks catch the listener’s attention (listen to the example) Literary hooks catch the reader’s attention We will examine four types of hooks

Types of hooks Question hook Descriptive story hook Statistics hook Quotation hook

Question hook Need a great book to read this summer? I just read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a great book by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter is a book about a teenage wizard who has to defeat an evil wizard named Voldemort. Everybody should read Harry Potter because it’s exciting, it’s funny, and its characters seem like they could be your friends.

Descriptive story hook Imagine that you are a teenage wizard, but you don’t even know it. Then, one day you receive a letter inviting you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A whole new world opens for you as you start to take magic classes, fight evil wizards, and play sports while flying on a broom. Well, that’s exactly what happens in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a great fantasy book by J.K. Rowling. Everyone should read Harry Potter because the story is good, the dialogue is funny, and the action is exciting.

Statistics hook Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has sold over 400 million copies and has been translated into 67 languages. It’s a great book written by J.K. Rowling, and it’s about a teenage wizard who has to face Lord Voldemort, an evil wizard who wants to conquer the world. Everybody should read Harry Potter because the plot is exciting, the writing is descriptive, and readers can become a part of a fantasy world.

Quotation hook “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” These are the opening lines to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a great fantasy book by J.K. Rowling. In the book, the Dursleys turn out to be anything but normal. In fact, they have a teenage wizard for a nephew, and he has to protect the world from the evil Lord Voldemort. Everybody should read Harry Potter because the characters are funny, the action is scary, and the ending is a great surprise.

Want to learn more? If you are interested in learning more about writing strong introductions, check out: www.uiltexas.org/files/academics/ready-writing-sample-lessons.pdf If you would like extra credit, bring in examples of three different types of hooks for the thesis you chose.

Graphic organizer (1) HOOK (2) TRANSITION (3) THESIS (1) HOOK

Writing task 1. Choose two types of hooks for the thesis you are going to use. Fill in step (1) of each graphic organizer. 2. Fill in step (3) of each graphic organizer with your thesis (the theme you chose from yesterday). 3. Fill in step (2) of each graphic organizer with a transition sentence.