October 12, 2009

I was out on Thursday when we were supposed to have a quiz.  I have a stress fracture in my big toe.  I decided to give the students until tomorrow to take the quiz instead of springing it on them today. 

Homework:
Study for the Unit 2 Quiz

Today:
No Daily Drill
We reviewed the schedule for the week. See the calendar.
We diagrammed reading an essay as diving off a high diving board. The reader on the diving board is nervous about reading the paper. The longer the paper, the higher the board! The handshake gets the reader out the board, and the thesis gets the reader to jump. If the introduction paragraph is good, the reader will want to jump.

The reader jumps into the paper and reads. Then he comes out and looks back at the board. I discussed how the conclusion should reflect the introduction. If the reader gets out of the body of the paper and does not see a diving board, he will be confused!

Here are three ideas for handshakes that we discussed in class. These are taken from a handout called "The Effective Introduction: Using Hooks"which I use in class.

Question- A question provokes thought and helps the reader become involved in your subject matter. Your job in the paper is to provide the answer to this question.

Quote- Your quote should tie into your subject matter and come from a recognized authority in the field. (Try this site for quotes.) Using a quote will give your writing believability and help convince your reader to read on.

Amazing fact or statistic- Either one of these hooks is intended to disquiet the reader with its bluntness or frankness.

Here is a lame example:

Handshake: Being in the middle, doesn’t it sound great? You are neither too young nor too old. In middle school, age makes such a difference.

Thesis: Now I am in the middle, and I think I am going to like it.