ENGL 1101 / Dr. Balint / Summer 2021
Week 5 assignment
This week, we’ll begin drafting our final research papers. Since this is a shorter week due to the July 4 holiday, let’s focus only on drafting a good opening paragraph.
A few requirements for good introductions:
1. The first sentence of your introduction should identify your topic. Remember, your topic is an idea or concept, not a concrete thing or person. This first sentence should say something about the topic that gives your audience a reason to read.
2. The introduction should identify a problem related to your topic. What issue are you investigating, and why is it important?
3. This third point is something we haven’t talked about before, but it is an important element, particularly if your topic is potentially controversial or if you believe your audience to be potentially resistant or even hostile to your thesis: you must establish common ground with your readers. We establish common ground by getting our audience to agree with us on some point; this agreement gets your audience on your side – if they agree with you, even on one simply thing, then they will see you as trustworthy. For instance, if I were to writing about the need for restructuring the funding model for public schools around the country so that every school received the same level of funding, I could anticipate resistance since it would mean some taxes would go to poor schools elsewhere in the city, state, or country, and not just to the schools in each person’s school district. However, I can establish common ground by appealing to my readers’ understanding of the long term benefits of education for the entire populace. Even before I state my argument, I can say that education reduces crime, raises the standard of living for all people, and actually saves everyone money in the long run by decreasing spending on unemployment, incarceration, public health, etc. If I get my audience to agree with that, then they can’t in good faith disagree with the rest of my argument… It’s a simple rhetorical maneuver that, if done well, forces your audience to think beyond, or at least confront, their own prejudices.
4. Finally, your thesis. This is a clear statement of your argument that also provides some sense of the direction the essay will take to prove it.
The entire introduction for an essay of this length should be no more than five sentences.
By Friday, post a thoroughly revised draft of your introductory paragraph to the discussion board. By Sunday, comment on the introductions of two classmates.