Kim Mahoney 1

 What are the two parts of a topic sentence?  Topic  Controlling Idea 2

 What do you know about introduction paragraphs? What is the purpose of an introduction paragraph? What should it contain? 3

 Attention grabber (tell a related story, tell what prompted you to write about this topic, start with a surprising piece of information you read/discovered)  Topic Statement ◦ State the topic and provide background information/context  Purpose (Thesis Statement): Some of you might only hint at it in the introduction, but not actually state it until the conclusion (Not necessarily in this order) 4

 Purpose: to get your reader’s attention and keep his/her reading  Methods: ◦ Enliven the senses ◦ Create a “scene” ◦ Build Suspense ◦ Show you are human Let’s look at some of the different ways to start your paper. 5

 A brief story about something that happened recently, that prompted you to write about this topic. ◦ Example: This month, during my annual spring cleaning, I came across a small bunch of silk flowers-- orange Gerbera daisies and pink carnations with green plastic stems. As a child, I used to bring them home from my grandparents’ flower shop and design floral arrangements in our basement, carefully cutting the stems to different lengths and fitting them into the Styrofoam base, then stepping back to assess my progress. 6

 An observation related to your topic. ◦ Example: While loading groceries into my car last Saturday, I witnessed a bizarre scene. ◦ This one builds suspense. Don’t you agree? 7

 Describe something related to your topic. ◦ Example: The person who arrived to my house was dressed in baggy pants, an over-sized hoodie, and bright red shoes. I was immediately worried. 8

 Make a connection to something you saw or read.  Example: Last night I watched a new show called Teen Moms that was filed right here in Denver. 9

 What is a thesis?  Argument 10

 Let’s look at some examples on NPR. 11

 What is her purpose?  Based on her purpose, who is her audience? Who is not?  Is she reaching out to my readers in some way, by sharing an experience about which they might care? 12

Conclusion  Revisit your main points, but not by simply repeating them. Your conclusion should deliver the ultimate “so what?” of your paper.  Ideas for concluding: ◦ Reiterate the importance of the topic to readers. Why should they care? What should they do about it? ◦ Come full circle; bring up an idea from attention-grabber or introduction and add to the idea based on the contents of the paper. What does the reader now know about the topic? How has he/she been enlightened? ◦ Call to action! ◦ End with a “bang”: Give readers a last sentence that will keep them thinking about your topic hours, and even days after they have finished reading it. 13

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