Skeptical Audience Member Would Introduction Writ

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Skeptical Audience Member Would Introduction Writ

My topic is: Genetically Modified Crops and Food Security in US

Writing requirement:

Introduction paragraphs are where we gain our reader’s interest and convince them to both care about our topic – AKA our food justice problem – and read the rest of our essay. Everyone has slightly different strategies for doing this, but I provide some ideas here in this PowerPoint ( attached in file) that I use in my WR 121 classes. You don’t have to look at it to complete this discussion board thread, but it might be helpful. However, you should review the Essay #1 Checklist before completing this assignment, though, with special attention paid to the section on the introduction paragraph. When you’re ready, address the following prompts:

1) Either copy and paste the introduction paragraph from your Essay #1 into your initial reply OR write a new one for this post. After you’ve done so, respond to the following question: Do you think a classmate in this course (who’s your target audience, remember!) with no prior knowledge of your topic or question would want to continue reading the rest of the essay? Why, or why not? In explaining your answer, please point to specific places in the introduction paragraph. If you think a skeptical audience member would not want to keep reading, what do you think you need to change to grab their interests. Your reflection on your introduction paragraph should be between 4-6 sentences.

WRITE REQUIREMENT:

  1. Does the essay have an obvious introduction paragraph, and does that paragraph:
    • Make a clear attempt to “hook” the reader with a compelling question, a surprising statistic, an interesting quote from an expert, or a vivid anecdote related to the essay’s topic?
    • Present the actual definition of the food justice problem that I’ve selected, including who that problem affects, and where this problem is most relevant for the essay’s purposes?
    • Explain to the reader why this problem matters, and why it’s worth defining in more detail in the remainder of the essay?

TO FULL MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS THREAD:

1) Your Initial Post (the intro paragraph) must be a minimum of 300 words, total.

2) The initial post should be a clear introduction paragraph to the essay that you’re planning on submitting this Sunday (7/22) for Essay #1 – however, it can and should change between this post and the final essay based on the feedback you receive.

3) You must also offer a productive reply to a classmate’s intro paragraph based on the criteria described in the second part of the prompt – described above.

  • I’ll be especially appreciative of replies to classmates who have not received any feedback yet, so if someone has already replied to an intro, see if there are others in the thread that you can help out before adding a second or third reply to someone’s intro paragraph.