Good introduction

[Jess]

I need to come up with a good introduction to my English essay, which is about a speech I have to make because I'm pretending to be a presidential candidate. my thesis is something about me being really helpful, and wanting the world to be a better place or whatever. anyone can give me some tips on starting that intro paragraph?

[Captor K]

It sounds like your essay is a persuasive essay, and I've found two helpful little formulas for writing those.

But first, one tip: try not to make sure your essay will sound like something someone else might say. Or worse, don't sound like a politician, because they love to say, "I'd do this, and I'd do that." You risk making yourself sound dull and losing your audience because, "we've all heard it before." Try to be a little fresh and surprising, a little outside the box. It's a quicker way to grab attention, and make sure you maintain it.

I am going to give you a few formulas and templates I've learned, and you can see if any work for you. The first one is the FEEDCATS.

Fact
Example
Exaggeration
Detail
Causes/Effects
Anecdote
Testimony/Quotation
Statistics

You don't have to use all of these, or even in that order, but it may help get you off the ground.

A second formula I learned to use was the "like a court case." Basically what you do is state what an opponent says (real or imaginary), and say "This is wrong BECAUSE...." This is more argumentative than anything, but if you do it well enough, it can be a hell of a technique. I use this one most when I am arguing.

Some templates you might use to introduce a lead are:

Facts: There are _______ Americans that _______.

Quotation: "People are stupid." ~John Doe. OR: "People are stupid," said John Doe, according to his article/t.v. show, etc.

You could also try appeals that are known as pathos (emotional), logos (logical), and ethos (ethical). For example:

Emotional: "Millions of children in America go without food, clean water, and a place to rest their heads at night. Millions more die on the streets every day, victims of the hard, cold cruelty of poverty.

Ethical: "We should save these children because blah, blah, blah... they are the future of our nation."

Logical: "This is how we are going to fix the problem."

Or, if none of the various ways are gonna work for you, you can always do what my journalism teacher made us do for article leads. Write down three different leads on paper and pick the one you like best. By the time you are ready to draft, you probably will be able to improve it even more, or even come up with a better one.

Hope this has helped you somewhat. Good luck!

[Jess]

thanks!

I learned about pathos, ethos, and logos. thanks again