Hello student! Please turn to page 5, “Lyric Sheet” and read the opening lyrics to
Song 1, while listening to those lyrics here: http://youtu.be/NVT-BokwmWY. Listen
for the first 39 seconds (0:39 at the bottom of the video screen). Now, read the
opening lyrics to Song 2 while listening to the first 39 seconds (0:39 at the bottom of
the video screen) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=701dbLfooGA .
Were you surprised to begin this Directed Learning Activity (DLA) with a musical
activity instead of something academic to read? Are you curious to go on and see
what’s next? If you’re even a little bit curious, then we’ve done our job … hooked you
in with a strong introduction that simultaneously makes you want more, and also
establishes the groundwork for the point we plan to make later in this DLA. In these
two songs – one about the rumor mill that exposes a cheating lover, and another
about maniacally surviving a rough and crazy upbringing – the introductory lyrics
pull the listener in and make you want to hear the rest of the story. Now, listen to
one more. You don’t need a lyrics sheet for this one. Although it’s a pop song, it’s
really the music that draws the listener in. Listen for the first 31 seconds (0:31 at the
bottom of the video screen), and notice how the music shifts from the “introduction”
of the song to the “body” of the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdizL4onRc. The horns at the beginning can be read as both a call to the fun and wild ride of
spending time in California, as well as a mournful sadness of feeling torn about
returning to California.
Think of your introduction as a first impression. Your introductions should work
much like the openings to these songs. Introductions can be immensely creative, fun,
and should lure the reader into your essay while also leading the reader to your
thesis (the argument of your essay). Additionally:
-Introductions are generally one paragraph long (50-150 words). Another common
technique is to employ a short, punchy paragraph (one to two sentences) along with
a longer paragraph.
-Introductions are meant to engage your reader, establish your purpose for writing
and to state your main point (your thesis – the place where you take a stand on an
issue or put forth an argument). The most traditional place for your thesis statement
is the last sentence of the introductory paragraph.
-Introductions should generally not include statements such as “I will argue,” or “I
plan to discuss.”
-Even though the introduction is the first thing a reader reads, many writers find it
helpful to write the introduction after they’ve written a first draft of their paper
when they have a clearer idea of what they want to introduce.
Remember, you want your introduction to spark curiosity and compel your reader
to continue. You can accomplish this by starting your essay with:
 An interesting statistic or fact
 A quotation
 An anecdote
 A joke
 An analogy
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
A question (Although be careful of the primary pitfall of question
introductions – you need to be sure the reader would answer the question as
you would. So don’t write, “Are you bothered by all the burglaries in your
city?” if you need the answer to be yes in order for your reader to continue to
be hooked; remember, your reader may live in a small town or a city with a
low crime rate. A better question might be, “How would you feel if someone
you love was shot to death during a burglary attempt?”).
Below are some examples of introductions that utilize some of the above techniques
effectively. As you read through these introductions think about why they
are effective, how they get your attention, and whether or not they make you want
to read on. (Thanks to Grace Fleming, Jane E. Aaron, Ann Raimes and Maria Jerskey
for these examples).
Question: Can your home or office computer make you sterile? Can it strike you
blind or dumb? The answer is probably not. Nevertheless, reports of side effects
relating to computer use should be examined, especially in the area of birth defects,
eye complaints, and postural difficulties. Although little conclusive evidence exists
to establish a casual link between computer use and problems of this sort, the
circumstantial evidence can be disturbing.
Anecdote: As the captain of the Yale swimming team stood beside the pool, still
dripping after his laps, and listened to Bob Moses, the team’s second-best freestyler,
he didn't know what shocked him more-the suggestion or the fact that it was Moses
who was making it.
Surprising fact: The pentagon has twice as many bathrooms as are necessary. The
famous government building was constructed in the 1940s, when segregation laws
required that separate bathrooms be installed for people of African descent. This
building isn’t the only American icon that harkens back to this embarrassing and
hurtful time in our history. Across the United States there are many examples of
leftover laws and customs that reflect the racism that once permeated American
society.
Humor: When my older brother substituted fresh eggs for our hard-boiled Easter
eggs, he didn’t realize our father would take the first crack at hiding them. My
brother’s holiday ended early that particular day in 1991, but the rest of the family
enjoyed the warm April weather, outside on the lawn, until late into the evening.
Perhaps it was the warmth of the day and the joy of eating Easter roast while
Tommy contemplated his actions that make my memories of Easter so sweet.
Whatever the true reason, the fact is that my favorite holiday of the year is Easter
Sunday.
Quotation: Hillary Rodham Clinton once said that “There cannot be true democracy
unless women's voices are heard.” In 2006, when Nancy Pelosi became the nation’s
first female Speaker of the House, one woman’s voice rang out clear. With this
development, democracy grew to its truest level ever in terms of women’s equality.
The historical event also paved the way for Senator Clinton as she warmed her own
vocal chords in preparation for a presidential race.
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Regardless of the introductory technique you use, your introduction may have
additional qualities that pull the reader in. Intriguing introductions can be funny,
moving, dramatic, informative, mysterious, or surprising.
In a moment, you will read the following introduction to Elie Wiesel’s famous
speech “The Perils of Indifference.” Many listening to this speech would already know
that Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, famed author, and winner of the 1986
Nobel Peace Prize. As you read the introduction, we want you to think about
whether you find it funny, moving, dramatic, informative, mysterious, or surprising.
Here is an exercise that will help you think about those qualities, and then the
introduction to the speech will follow.
Link Exercise
Before you read the speech, take out the container of plastic links and the container
marked “Introduction Qualities.” Every time you notice one of the following
qualities, take a link out of the “Link Box,” and move it to the “Introduction
Qualities” box. Here is what the colors mean:
Funny = Orange link
Moving = Blue link
Dramatic = Black link
Informative = Green link
Mysterious = Yellow link
Surprising = Red link
And here is Elie Wiesel’s speech, The Perils of Indifference. Don’t forget to use the
links!
“Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke,
Excellencies, friends: Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a
small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved
Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but
there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again.”
Now go to page 6, “Tally Sheet,” and write in how many of each color link you put
into the “Introduction Qualities” box. Now return the links to the “Link Box,” but
don’t but the boxes away! You’re going to do this exercise again in a moment.
Next, take out the envelope labeled “Essays.” You are about to read three short
essays with the introduction intentionally left off. As you read, think about what
kind of a paragraph might make an effective introduction.
After you have read the three essays from the “Essays” envelope, choose one essay
and write your own introductory paragraph to it on the blank, lined page on page 7
of this packet.
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Now, take out the envelope labeled “Introductions.” Inside are three introductions.
Read each one, doing the Link Exercise with the Link Box and the Introduction
Qualities Box. Make sure to enter your links on the link Tally Sheet before going on
to the next introduction.
Finally, take the three introductions you have just read and the three essays from
the “Essays” envelope and, using the paperclips from the envelope, paperclip the
introduction to the essay that you think it goes with.
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Lyric Sheet
SONG ONE:
I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Ooh, I bet you're wondering how I knew
About your plans to make me blue
With some other guy that you knew before.
Between the two of us guys
You know I love you more.
SONG TWO:
Jumping Jack Flash
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at my ma in the driving rain,
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!
But it's all right. I’m jumpin’ jack flash,
Its a gas! gas! gas!
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Tally Sheet
Remember to move a color coordinated plastic link from the “Link Box” to the
“Introduction Qualities” box every time you notice one of the qualities below. At the
end of each reading make a note of which links you moved and record it here.
Funny = Orange link
Moving = Blue link
Dramatic = Black link
Informative = Green link
Mysterious = Yellow link
Surprising = Red link
Elie Wiesel Essay “The Perils of Indifference”
Orange links: _____
Blue links:
_____
Black links: _____
Green links: _____
Yellow links: _____
Red links:
_____
Intro One
Orange links:
Blue links:
Black links:
Green links:
Yellow links:
Red links:
_____
_____
_____
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Intro Two
Orange links:
Blue links:
Black links:
Green links:
Yellow links:
Red links:
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
Intro Three
Orange links:
Blue links:
Black links:
Green links:
Yellow links:
Red links:
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
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Essays
ESSAY ONE:
As my career evolved, so did my family, but my son John was born with a birth
defect called biliary atresia. I spent many nights in the hospital with him. I would
review Excel spreadsheets in the wee hours of the night. One file showed my son’s
blood electrolyte levels, and another file charted how my chemical compounds were
performing back at work. By this time in my career I figure I must have synthesized
over 2,500 compounds.
This story doesn’t have a happy ending. At the age of two, my son John died after a
failed liver transplant. I can’t begin to describe the anguish that followed — the
nights I lay awake wondering how did this happen? No one knows the cause of this
disease. What if some chemical I worked on caused my son’s illness?
I had prided myself on the ability to make compounds, and on the ability to ask
myself the “right” questions. But it hit me, that for eight years of undergraduate and
graduate education, at no time in my schooling did I ever have a class in chemical
toxicology or environmental impacts of chemistry. Come to think of it, no
universities in the world require chemists to learn these things. It’s just not in our
curriculum. So the people inventing products for industry — people like me — have
not been taught how to do it any other way.
Now, I believe the most important question — the right question that has not been
asked — is a simple one, really: “Why?” “Why do we have hazardous chemicals?”
“Why do we make things the way we do?”
I believe that the right questions are not being asked enough. And perhaps more
troubling, the response rings out: “But that’s the way we’ve always done it!” And
that is exactly the point. We chemists need to take a look at our relationship with the
community we serve, focusing on the cumulative effects of the compounds we
release into the environment. We can start by changing the way we teach chemistry
to future chemists and to the general public.
Society is demanding safer materials, industry wants to make safer materials; the
next generation of chemists needs to learn how to do this. We need armies of
students to go into chemistry and materials science to learn to invent safer
products.
I understand the physiological causes for my son’s disease are complicated, and it is
very unlikely that my son’s illness and subsequent death were linked to any
chemicals from my lab. Still, a father can find ways to blame himself when his son
dies. Blame won’t change the past. But I believe by asking the right questions — by
challenging the old assumptions — maybe we can change the future.
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John Warner is co-founder of the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry in
Wilmington, Massachusetts, where he develops environmentally benign chemicals. A
one-time rock musician, Warner encourages young people to express their creativity
by studying science.
ESSAY TWO:
I was born in 1959, at the tail end of the baby boom. Unfortunately I arrived without
all my body parts fully intact. My left arm is a short stub with a small hand and three
fingers, reminiscent of a thalidomide defect. To my good fortune, I had superb
parents. They were fighters who struck “I can’t” from my vocabulary, and replaced it
with “I will find a way.” They believed the development of the mind, heart and soul
determine who you are and who you will become. My body was not to be used as an
excuse; instead it was a catalyst.
My body was not neglected, though. It endured surgery; it was dragged to physical
therapy, then to swimming, and finally to yoga. But it was not the focus of my life. I
was taught to respect my body, but to remember that it was only a vehicle that
carried the important things: my brain and soul. Moreover, I was taught that bodies
come in all shapes, colors and sizes, and that everyone was struggling in some way
with their physical inadequacies. Infomercials have convinced me this must be true,
although through adolescence I found it difficult to believe the cheerleading squad
had any self-doubts.
In my alternately formed body, I have learned lessons about patience,
determination, frustration and success. This body can’t play the piano or climb rock
walls, but it taught all the neighborhood kids to eat with their feet, a skill it learned
in the children’s hospital. Eventually it learned to tie shoes, crossed a stage to pick
up a college diploma, backpacked through Europe and changed my baby’s diapers.
Some people think I am my body and treat me with prejudice or pity. Some are just
curious. It took years, but I have learned to ignore the stares and just smile back. My
body has taught me to respect my fellow humans — even the thin, able-bodied,
beautiful ones.
I am my words, my ideas and my actions. I am filled with love, humor, ambition and
intelligence. This I believe: I am your fellow human being and, like you, I am so much
more than a body.
Lisa Sandin lives with her husband and their two college-age children in Big Rapids,
Michigan. She owns Heart and Sole Yoga studio, where she teaches yoga and
meditation to students with both able and alternately-abled bodies. Sandin’s essay was
originally published in USA Weekend magazine.
ESSAY THREE:
My grandfather could be quite jovial at times. On first impression, you’d never know
that he was an uncompromising and often brutal sort. My father was much the
same, and so—naturally—it was instilled within me that a man is only worth his
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brawn: work for ten hours or more a day, don’t complain, but then settle the score
late at night with a twelve pack and foul mouth. For years I walked around with this
chip on my shoulder, believing grit alone could suffice as a disposition for living. And
just like my kin, I stumbled in and out of the types of jobs that left me with rough
and callused hands—thus authenticating myself as a loyal son. A true man.
In the summer of 2000, my girlfriend informed me that she was pregnant—that we
were pregnant. Recognizing that this was a situation I would not be able to muscle
my way through, I immediately felt the blood leave my face. It seemed I was
standing on unfamiliar ground. At that moment, I told myself I could never be a good
father, and so it would probably be best if I didn’t even try. I explained my feelings
to my girlfriend, but she simply said she’d have the baby with or without me. There
was so much courage in her eyes that I quickly realized it was something I’d never
really had. So I decided to give it a chance. To give myself a chance.
Next month, our daughter will be ten years old, and although my hands are still very
much callused from the many abrasive things they’ve held over the years, my
daughter has taught me that these hands are more than capable of the softest
touch—and only within this capacity do they reveal their actual strength.
I believe most every man has stood toe to toe with himself in the bathroom mirror,
shadow boxing in an attempt to maintain those many myths that say he must be
unbreakable and unafraid. But I also believe every man owes it to himself, as well as
those he loves, to turn away from that mirror, and instead gather his strength from a
willingness to be as gentle as he can possibly be in this increasingly hostile world.
Andrew Riutta lives in northern Michigan with his eleven-year-old daughter, Issabella.
He is a recent recipient of the William J. Shaw memorial prize for poetry, and in the
spring of 2009, he began working on a book to be titled Something Shaped like a
Rocket.
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Introductions
INTRO ONE:
I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a region known for its harsh winters
and profound isolation. Many of my relatives immigrated there from Finland and
Sweden in the latter part of the nineteenth century—in search of a better life, I
suppose. Most of the men worked as farmers, miners, or lumberjacks, while the
women stayed home to cook and sew. And pray.
INTRO TWO:
I’m a chemist, and I thrive on laboratory work. In college and graduate school, I
would arrive at my lab before the sun came up, and spend 60 hours a week or more
there. After graduation, I got a job in industry and my passion for lab work resulted
in several patents and the synthesis of countless chemical compounds.
My success, I believed, came in asking the right questions.
INTRO THREE:
I believe I am not my body.
Every day, we see images of perfect bodies we can never have, and we become
convinced our bodies are who we are. Passing through puberty, into adulthood and
now into middle-age, I’ve wasted a lot of time lamenting the size of my hips, the gray
in my hair, and the lines in my face. Finally, as I approach my 50s, I believe my
parents were right all along: I am not my body.
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