Teacher Resources: Things That Work

THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
by Pat Cesarini

To Teachers:
This handout covers just about all I do with essay form in 100 and 101 (and, with some modifications, it's probably the most effective thing  I do with form in 201).  I present it on a revision day in the second or third paper cycle, and I accompany it with two sample drafts.  We read the drafts to see how well they fulfill their first paragraphs' "promises."  Then the students try in class to compose a better introduction for one or both of the sample drafts.  What we often discover is that a good intro. can't be written for a draft in its current state:  we discover that a paper doesn't have a clear thesis, that it hardly uses one of the three assigned readings, that it only makes one real connection, etc.  And so we use the writing of introductory paragraphs both as a way to assess the paper as a whole, to see just where it needs work, and as a concrete step towards revision.  Students see quickly that a good introduction usually can't be written until the paper has been drafted once;  and they see (through the strict lens that this formula imposes) that almost any paper needs to be drafted again.  Finally, I find that when students write intro's according to these guidelines, it's easier for us to discuss what they've done in the paper as a whole.  If a student's first paragraph, for example, claims that the paper will do A, B, and C, but the paper only does B and C (and in a different order: C and then B!), it's easy to point out a problem that is then fairly easily fixed.

To Students:

 Treat the paper's first paragraph as a contract with the reader.  The implicit promise made is that the purpose and contents announced in the introductory paragraph will in fact be what the rest of the paper delivers.  The exact contents of the introduction will depend on both the assignment and the student's preferences, but, as a rule of thumb, any introductory paragraph for a 4-7 page paper in the Writing Program should include (though not necessarily in this order):

1.  Mention of the full titles of the essays under discussion, and their authors' first and last names (After the first paragraph, an author can usually be referred to by last name only.)

2.  A thumbnail description of each essay's argument and/or purpose (E.g., "Pratt's essay, an argument for the ‘contact zone' model, and against the ‘game model'... ")

3.  A statement of purpose that is somehow a response to the assignment's main question, without being a restatement of it (E.g., not, "In this paper I will apply Pratt's terms to DuBois's writing," but "In this paper I evaluate Pratt's terms by trying them out on DuBois's writing.")

4.  A summary-list of the paper's primary steps or moves (I.e., Assuming the writer's case consists of three main connections, then here the writer would say briefly what the three are.)

5. An initial statement of the thesis, position, argument, findings, etc.  (E.g., "Pratt's terms are useful for describing certain practices of DuBois, but overall they are complicated and even challenged by DuBois.")

Note to Teachers: 
Many students write good intro's without following all of the above steps: #4 in particular seems artificial in short essays, but it does help the weaker students keep on track.