Effective Introductions

1. Effective Introductions A quick review

2. Atmospheric Hookhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8931602 Puzzling Hook? Direct Speech Hook? Atmospheric Hook? Visual Hook? Funny Hook? There's a wretched place depression drags me off to after taking control of my thoughts and feelings. It's the place where the longing for relief mutes every other desire, even the desire to wake up in the morning. There are days when I wonder if I'll lose everything: my job, my relationships, my last stitch of sanity. It feels as though I'm breathing hot black smoke.

3. Funny Hookhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7780491 Puzzling Hook? Direct Speech Hook? Atmospheric Hook? Visual Hook? Funny Hook? I believe in old women who learn new tricks — gutsy, wrinkled broads who eat alone in restaurants and pump their own gas.

4. Visual HookNeuromancer, William Gibson Puzzling Hook? Direct Speech Hook? Atmospheric Hook? Visual Hook? Funny Hook? The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

5. Puzzling Hookhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11182405 Puzzling Hook? Direct Speech Hook? Atmospheric Hook? Visual Hook? Funny Hook? I believe in what I learned at the grocery store.

6. Direct Speech Hookhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95895379 Puzzling Hook? Direct Speech Hook? Atmospheric Hook? Visual Hook? Funny Hook? "Would you defend Saddam Hussein? How about Hitler? Would you be his lawyer?“ People ask me this all the time; the names of the bad guys change, but the question is always the same. My answer is always, "Yes, I would." It has to be. Because I believe everyone, no matter what they have done, deserves to have one person on their side.

7. Let’s look at some opening paragraphs • Decide which introduction makes you want to read the rest of the essay…

8. Saying Thanks To My Ghostshttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103412215 I didn't used to believe in ghosts, but I was trained to talk to them. My mother reminded me many times that I had the gift. It all stemmed from a lie I told when I was 4. The way my mother remembered it, I refused to get ready for bed one night, claiming there was a ghost in the bathroom. She was delighted to learn I was a spirit medium.

9. A Taste of Successhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96667434 When I say I believe all children can learn, people sometimes misunderstand. Because I have been working with poor, minority children in Harlem for the last 25 years, some people think I am talking about good kids in bad environments — that if you give a bright kid from a poor family a good educational support system, he or she can succeed. That's absolutely true, but that's not what I mean.

10. Finding Hope in Hip Hophttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90594411 I believe in hip-hop. And being a white girl born and raised in the whitest conditions, it surprises me that I've come to this belief — especially since I used to hate this music. My husband, Adam, would try to play it in his car while we were dating, and I hated it so much that I would give him the silent treatment.

11. Telling Kids the Whole Truthhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88241635 Several weeks ago, I got a call from a good friend whose husband had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. "Do we tell the kids?" she asked. "Absolutely," I answered. "Do we use the C-word?" "Yes, I think you do," I said. "The boys deserve to know the truth, however heartbreaking it is." Adults always insist that children be honest, but how many of us are honest with our kids, particularly about the tough stuff: death, sex, corruption, our own failings?