Introductory Paragraph
 Nice to meet you. What are you all about?
Introductory Paragraph
 A good introductory paragraph makes a reader want
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to continue reading.
It excites the reader about an essay’s topic.
It gives a small amount of background information.
It turns that excitement into curiosity about a well
stated thesis statement.
Finally, It gives the reader a connection to the body
of an essay.
Formula for an Introductory Paragraph
Hook
Information-Adding
Sentence
Pivot Sentence
Set-up
Sentence
Thesis
Example Introduction
 At some point we’ve all been upset at our parents and wanted
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to walk out the front door. (hook)
Sometimes the life of a teenager can be stressful and many
times parents only add to that stress. (Info-adding sentence)
Just because parents sometimes add more stress to life than
they take away it doesn’t mean they don’t care. (Pivot
Sentence)
“The Treasure of Lemon Brown,” by Walter Dean Myers, is an
example of how even when we’re upset at our parents the
bond between us is still strong and necessary. (Set-up
Sentence)
Walter Dean Myers uses plot conflicts and character traits as
tools to show how the bond between a son and a father is
important and necessary in the lives of each of them. (Thesis)
Explanation of Introductory Elements
 Hook: The first sentence in the introduction needs
to grab the reader’s attention. It needs to be general
and introduce the topic of the thesis without
referring directly to it. (examples to follow)
 Information-Adding Sentence: the second
sentence adds information about the grabber, again,
still general and not yet referring to the thesis.
 Pivot Sentence: the third sentence pivots or turns
us toward the thesis. This is the first sentence that
hints about our thesis. We can use a key word about
our thesis here.
Explanation of Introductory Elements (Cont.)
 Set-Up Sentence: The fourth sentence is the set-up
or lead-in sentence. It leads us directly to the thesis,
connecting the topic or idea of the grabber to the
point made by the thesis.
 Thesis: The final sentence is the thesis we wrote
first. Everything written so far should lead directly
to this idea, the whole point of our paper. Don’t be
afraid to alter the thesis a little so it flows with the
set-up sentence.
Let’s look at the formula again…
Hook
Information-Adding
Sentence
Pivot Sentence
Set-up
Sentence
Thesis
Types of Hooks
 Begin with a thought-provoking question
 Do not use you in the question!
 Is it true that bigger is always better? Could it be
that society’s insatiable desire for more is in many
ways giving people less?
 An intriguing example
 Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, could spend one
million dollars per day, every day, seven days a week
and would not run out of money until he was 311
years old!
Types of Hooks
 A vivid anecdote (short scenario)
 It seemed that all they did was drive, and each time
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they stopped it was to visit another site. That
morning in Washington D.C. was different.
A provocative quotation
“There cannot be true democracy unless women’s
voices are heard” (Hillary Rodham Clinton).
A puzzling scenario
A duck’s quack doesn’t echo. Some people might find
a deep and mysterious meaning in this fact …
For Your Notes: Types of Hooks
 Begin with a thought-provoking question (overused)
 Do not use you in the question!
 An intriguing example
 A puzzling scenario
 A vivid anecdote (short scenario)
 A provocative quotation
A Few Questions
What is the purpose of a good introductory
paragraph?
A. To add facts to the essay the reader might need to
understand the essay.
B. To excite the reader and get them interested in the
essay.
C. To make sure the reader knows what is going to be
in the essay.
1.
A Few Questions
•
A.
B.
C.
D.
The first sentence in an introduction is also called?
The pivot sentence
The information adding sentence
The hook
The thesis
A Few Questions
 Walter Dean Myers uses plot conflicts and character
traits as tools to show how the bond between a son
and a father is important and necessary in the lives
of each of them. This is an example of what part of
an introductory paragraph?
A. Thesis
B. Hook
C. Information adding sentence
D. Pivot sentence
A Few Questions
 At some point we’ve all been upset at our parents
and wanted to walk out the front door. This is an
example of what type of hook?
A. A vivid anecdote (short scenario)
B. A provocative quotation
C. A puzzling scenario