"TDCT" INTRODUCTION SAMPLES
Notice in the two samples below that the argument for the essay does not begin. Save the arguments for the body paragraphs. Try to find the transitions in these two samples. Introductions should begin with a topic, something of interest that will engage the reader. You can -- to some extent -- begin an essay with any topic as long as you can transition to the thesis. There could be more than one transition in an introduction as well.
The thesis follows the transition and will always directly answer the question of the prompt. If there is no question, the thesis will address the task of the prompt. If the prompt mentions an author or literary work specifically, be sure to include those elements in your thesis. If the prompt is more general and philosophical, you do not have to include an author or literary title. BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROMPT!!
If you open the sample introductions in the link below, you will also see that the paragraphs are not short. The introduction should be as long as your well-developed body paragraphs. The only paragraph that can be significantly shorter in a traditional essay is the conclusion.
For a print-worthy version of these paragraphs, click here.
According to Oscar Wilde, “Nothing worth knowing can be taught.” To some extent, he has a point. Consider this vacation event at Lake Havisu. A boat, resting on its trailer, has just been pulled onto the pavement after a day on the water. A toddler cranes his neck around his mother’s shoulder, with a furrowed brow and dropped chin. Noticing her son’s stupefied expression, she turns quickly to see his oblivious cousin, belly down on the edge of the boat, slowly beginning to slide off the edge, a five foot drop. “Catch him!” she screamed and Grandma quickly grabbed the reckless boy by his swim trunks just in time. With little patience left, she scolds him—yet again—for not paying attention. Apparently, this hapless youngster cannot be taught carefulness. But so many more things do require instruction: good manners, the importance of truthfulness, the causes of various wars, calculus. Parents and schools should teach a variety of important concepts and skills. Not all do. Unfortunately, schools cave to the status quo too much and have bought into self-esteem building technology filled edutainment instead of teaching the grueling skills of deep reading. Mark Bauerlein presents a compelling argument for a return to slow reading in his article “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?”
Scout Finch adeptly points out that “Macomb had just been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself” ( ). People reading Harper Lee’s well-known classic To Kill a Mocking Bird (TKAM) have been immediately, delicately and firmly deposited in 1933, the year of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inauguration, where he first uttered this famous line. As a high school teacher, I often use the stories of a previous grade to explore literary elements, like Lee’s fabulous historical reference, but students do not recall it. Truly, teachers teach differently, so why complain? But hearing often that Lee’s novel did not receive adequate exploration gives me pause. A disappointed student once explained that her freshman teacher interrupted TKAM every couple of chapters to toss in a group project. Students lost the thread. Corporate American can take the blame for that unfortunate educational debacle because its cry for collaboration drove well-meaning teachers into the deep nether-regions of project hell, at the expense—it would seem—of literature. Now the internet is all the rage, but people should exercise caution in that realm as well. Despite the many perks to online reading and research, Mark Bauerlein accurately espouses the need to develop awareness and strategies to combat the negative impact of superficial reading in his article “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?”
The thesis follows the transition and will always directly answer the question of the prompt. If there is no question, the thesis will address the task of the prompt. If the prompt mentions an author or literary work specifically, be sure to include those elements in your thesis. If the prompt is more general and philosophical, you do not have to include an author or literary title. BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE PROMPT!!
If you open the sample introductions in the link below, you will also see that the paragraphs are not short. The introduction should be as long as your well-developed body paragraphs. The only paragraph that can be significantly shorter in a traditional essay is the conclusion.
For a print-worthy version of these paragraphs, click here.
According to Oscar Wilde, “Nothing worth knowing can be taught.” To some extent, he has a point. Consider this vacation event at Lake Havisu. A boat, resting on its trailer, has just been pulled onto the pavement after a day on the water. A toddler cranes his neck around his mother’s shoulder, with a furrowed brow and dropped chin. Noticing her son’s stupefied expression, she turns quickly to see his oblivious cousin, belly down on the edge of the boat, slowly beginning to slide off the edge, a five foot drop. “Catch him!” she screamed and Grandma quickly grabbed the reckless boy by his swim trunks just in time. With little patience left, she scolds him—yet again—for not paying attention. Apparently, this hapless youngster cannot be taught carefulness. But so many more things do require instruction: good manners, the importance of truthfulness, the causes of various wars, calculus. Parents and schools should teach a variety of important concepts and skills. Not all do. Unfortunately, schools cave to the status quo too much and have bought into self-esteem building technology filled edutainment instead of teaching the grueling skills of deep reading. Mark Bauerlein presents a compelling argument for a return to slow reading in his article “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?”
Scout Finch adeptly points out that “Macomb had just been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself” ( ). People reading Harper Lee’s well-known classic To Kill a Mocking Bird (TKAM) have been immediately, delicately and firmly deposited in 1933, the year of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s inauguration, where he first uttered this famous line. As a high school teacher, I often use the stories of a previous grade to explore literary elements, like Lee’s fabulous historical reference, but students do not recall it. Truly, teachers teach differently, so why complain? But hearing often that Lee’s novel did not receive adequate exploration gives me pause. A disappointed student once explained that her freshman teacher interrupted TKAM every couple of chapters to toss in a group project. Students lost the thread. Corporate American can take the blame for that unfortunate educational debacle because its cry for collaboration drove well-meaning teachers into the deep nether-regions of project hell, at the expense—it would seem—of literature. Now the internet is all the rage, but people should exercise caution in that realm as well. Despite the many perks to online reading and research, Mark Bauerlein accurately espouses the need to develop awareness and strategies to combat the negative impact of superficial reading in his article “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?”