Persuasive Essay “Introduction Paragraph”
· Begin with a “Position Statement” (see “Persuasive Writing” notes) – this is the sentence that informs the reader of your position (or “stance”/opinion/feeling) about a topic (or “issue”)
Example: “Hats should not be allowed in the building at Lakeside Middle School.”
· Provide just a bit of background knowledge (“BK”) about the topic in general to clue in the reader
· Be sure to write in this paragraph what your reasons are for your position/belief – do NOT give full details because the details for each reason will be written in separate body-content paragraphs (one paragraph for each reason and its set of details)
· Write a closing sentence that wraps up the paragraph…good idea to just re-state your “position statement”
· Example “Introduction Paragraph” for a Persuasive Essay:
Hats should not be allowed in the building at Lakeside Middle School (LMS). Yes, hats are fashionable, hide “hat-head” or bad hair days, and even show off a person’s passion/love for a sports team or product/brand; however, those are aspects that a hat can be good for in the general public – when students are NOT in school! School is a place of learning, and at the middle-school level, learning is hard enough for kids ages 11 to 14 who are just trying to deal with their hormones, relationships, and mastering more advanced schoolwork/concepts. Kids don’t need added distractions, and the wearing of hats at and in LMS adds many! There are the safety issues of having others take one’s hat and run around through the building, as well as the teasing factors of bullies and “flirts”. Add in the concept of “respect” to this controversial issue, and it all just reinforces the notion that hats should not be allowed in the building at Lakeside Middle School .