This document provides guidance on writing introductions and outlines. It discusses different types of introduction techniques, including asking questions, sharing personal experiences, and using sensory details. It also covers using quotations and dialogue in writing. The document encourages showing, not just telling, through descriptive language. Overall, it aims to help readers learn how to effectively hook readers and structure their writing.

1. CREATING AWESOME INTRODUCTIONS
SOJOURNER TRUTH EXAMPLE

2. ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do one’s social class and/or
socioeconomic status influence
one’s relationships and
experiences.

3. I. General Overview - Welcome
II. Organizer
III. Writing Elements
IV. Examples

4. WHY USE OUTLINES/ORGANIZERS?
 An outline is a way of organizing key ideas
 An outline helps to set up an essay or a research paper
 An outline is a tool to help revise an essay or research paper.
 An outline can be a study tool to help you summarize key ideas in
reading

5. YOU WILL FIRST COMPLETE THE
PLANNING ORGANIZER (IN DOCSHARING)

6. Where did it occur?
Was it summer, winter,
spring, etc?
What was the weather
like? Was it sunny? Cold?
What was around you?
Were you outside? Inside?

7. Who were the characters?
What were they wearing?
How did they look?
Describe your and the
other characters’
personalities (happy,
outgoing, sad, moody,
angry)

8. What did you see?
What did you feel?
What did you smell?
What did you hear?
What did you taste?

10. What was said between you
and the other character(s)?
You can make this up if you
need to.
Also don’t forget to write
down who was speaking.

11. What happened during
the middle and be sure
to use descriptive words.

12. How did your story end?
What did you learn?
Remember there is
always a lesson in a
memoir.

13. LET’S LOOK AT OUR EXAMPLE
An Account of an Experience with Discrimination
By Sojourer Truth
A few weeks ago I was in company with my friend
Josephine S. Griffing, when the conductor of a streetcar
refused to stop his car for me, although [I was] closely
following Josephine and holding on to the iron rail. They
dragged me a number of yards before she succeeded in
stopping them. She reported the conductor to the
president of the City Railway, who dismissed him at once,
and told me to take the number of the car whenever I
was mistreated by a conductor or driver.

14. On the 13th I had occasion to go for necessities for the
patients in the Freedmen's hospital where I have been doing
and advising for a number of months. I thought now I would
get a ride without trouble as I was in company with another
friend, Laura S. Haviland of Michigan. As I ascended the
platform of the car, the conductor pushed me, saying "Go
back-get off here." I told him i was not going off, then "I'll put
you off" said he furiously, clenching my right arm with both
hands, using such violence that he seemed about to
succeed, when Mrs. Haviland told him he was not going to
put me off. "Does she belong to you?" said he in a hurried
angry tone. She replied, "She does not belong to me, but she
belongs to humanity." The number of the car was noted, and
conductor dismissed at once upon report to the president,
who advised his arrest for assault and battery as my shoulder
was sprained by his effort to put me off. Accordingly I had
him arrested and the case tried before Justice Thompson. My
shoulder was very lame and swollen, but is better. It is hard

15. HOOKING THE READER
Ask a Question
????????
Use Figurative Language
Narrate a Personal
Experience
Use a Quote
From a
Famous
Person
State Your Opinion
Use a Definition
Make a Bold
Or Challenging
Statement

16. START YOUR STORY OFF RIGHT
 Hook- a surprising or intriguing passage or idea used
to grab the reader’s attention at the beginning of a
work

17. MAKE YOUR WRITING
A PAGE TURNER!
The lead (beginning or introduction)
establishes the direction your writing will
take. A good lead grabs your reader's
attention and refuses to let go. In other
words, it hooks the reader.

18. HOOKING A READER WHEN YOU ARE WRITING AN ESSAY IS JUST AS
IMPORTANT AS A MOVIE TRAILER IS TO THE SUCCESS OF THE MOVIE.
YOU WANT TO GIVE “A LITTLE BIT” OF THE CONTENT, BUT YOU REALLY
WANT THEM TO “BUY THE TICKET.” THIS PRESENTATION WILL
INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME TYPES OF INTRODUCTIONS SO THAT YOU CAN
USE THEM AS YOUR OWN WHEN YOU WRITE.

19. YOU SHOULD ACCOMPLISH 3 THINGS WITH YOUR
INTRODUCTION:
Get the reader’s attention
Present your topic and purpose
Connect with your audience
Let’s look at some examples THEN talk some
more about AWESOME writing

20. IS THIS A GOOD HOOK?
 It all started the night before my birthday, January 19, 2014. I was
with my friends when I got a sudden phone call from my mother.
No, this is not a good hook – it lists the events in order (avoid grocery
listing the facts)

21. IS THIS A GOOD HOOK?
 I remember sitting in school one day after a test
when my teacher said she would like to talk to me. As
I walked over to her desk I thought I was in trouble.
Nervously, I asked “Yes Mrs. Cook?” She looked at
me and held up my test.
Yes, this is a good hook – it places the
main character in an interesting
situation and as a reader we want to
know what will happen.

22. IS THIS A GOOD HOOK?
 Baseball is my favorite sport. I love
baseball! My mom first put me in
baseball when I was 5 and I loved
it.
No, this is not a good hook – it lacks
a connection with the main
character and it does not create a
picture with the setting.

23. USE QUESTIONS TO “HOOK” YOUR
READER!

24. AVOID meaningless questions that don’t ask
the reader to think critically.
Examples of Meaningless Questions
 “Do you hate fast food?”
 “Do you have a favorite season?”
 “Have you ever wondered why people believe in school uniforms? Well, I’ll tell
you.”

25. ANOTHER TECHNIQUE THAT
WRITERS USE TO ENGAGE
THE WRITER IS TO SHARE
A PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE
IN THE INTRODUCTION.

26. SHOW DON’T TELL
 Sensory detail- descriptive detail that appeals
to any of the senses – sight, hearing, touch,
smell, or taste
 Showing language- words used to create
pictures in the mind of a reader, rather than
words that merely tell what happened

27. WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PARAGRAPH WITH LOTS
OF SENSORY DETAILS AND SHOWING LANGUAGE?
a. Hannah said, “No, I don’t want a brother! I want a sister!” My parents tried to
soothe her by showing her that baby brother was sucking his thumb in the
picture. Hannah had been a thumb sucker from way back and my parents
thought she would get a kick out of our brother sucking his thumb inside my
mother’s stomach. However, she still looked like she had been sucking on sour
candy for the next two days. My sister can be stubborn. I think she must've been
born with her hand on her hip.
b. My parents took my sister and me to Gatlinburg Tennessee. We stopped at a
Super 8 motel for a little bit. Then we got up, ate breakfast, and were back on
the road. For breakfast I had pancakes and sausage. When we got to
Gatlinburg, we went and found our condo.

28. It was the edge of a baked summer night
when my tired mom, brother, and I eased into an
empty parking space near our apartment.
My mom pointed out a small dark figure in
the grass. “Look, I think it's a cat!”
“What's it doing?” I asked. The head lights
shined into the cat's sparkling green eyes as we
watched her groom her tattered fur.
Here’s an Example

29. “Please stay in the car while I see if the cat has a
name tag.” The cat didn't run away in fear, so it wasn't
hard for my mom to see that the cat was not lacking a
collar.
My brother and I flapped like fish out of water as we
looked at the newly-found creature. The cat wasn't
about to go anywhere, so we took the liberty of
bringing out a small container of milk.
She lapped hungrily at the milk as we watched on.
Her hungry eyes thanked us as milk dripped down her
chin while she licked her chops.

30. DIALOGUE
THE SECOND RULE OF WRITING

31. Quotations – The Comma
When a quotation is introduced, the comma goes
outside the quotation marks.
The Gingerbread Man said, “You can’t catch me.”
To close a quotation, the comma goes inside.
“You can’t catch me,” said the Gingerbread Man.

32. Quotations – ending marks
Provided they’re part of the quotation, question marks and
exclamation points always go inside.
The Gingerbread Man said, “You can’t catch me!”
Question marks and exclamation points go outside if they’re not part
of the quotation.
Did the Gingerbread Man really say, “You can’t catch me”?

33. Quotations – One Final
Thing!
Always capitalize the first word of the person’s exact words.
Fox thought to himself, "That gingerbread man would
be good to eat.”

34. YOUR TOPIC
Write a partial autobiography, focusing on a
specific period of your life, such as elementary
school, early childhood, even infancy (though you
may have to be creative for that one).