The Paragraph of Introduction Student Handout 6a
Introductory Paragraph 1A program needs to be instituted in our community to help high-school-aged students
secure summer employment. The initiation of such a program now makes good sense,
as the following reasons show.
Introductory Paragraph 2
Our community needs to institute a program to help our high-school-aged students
secure summer employment. Developing and enacting such a program now would be
beneficial for both the community and for the students involved as the following
reasons indicate: it would provide our students with valuable workplace experience,
it would provide local businesses with a good source of inexpensive labor, and it would
certainly cut down on the amount of juvenile delinquency we usually experience over
the summer months.
Introductory Paragraph 3
A program to aid high-school-aged students in securing summer employment should be
implemented immediately in this community. There can be little doubt that there is a
great need among our 15- to 18-year-old population for gainful summer employment,
and little doubt that such a program would be of great benefit to our young people.
What greater investment can a community make than to invest its collective resources
in the training and well-being of its youth? The time to take on this challenge is now.
The Paragraph of Introduction Student Handout 6b
Introductory Paragraph 1Should our community initiate a program to help high-school-aged students secure
summer employment? Some people say yes and some say no. There are many good
reasons to go ahead with such a program, but there are good reasons against it as well.
What do you think?
Introductory Paragraph 2
A summer work program for high-school-aged students is a good idea, and one which
should be instituted immediately. Such a program would cut down on juvenile
delinquency. Juvenile delinquency has been a major problem over the summer months
in past years. Arrests and referrals to the juvenile detention center usually rise by at
least twenty percent during the summer. Let’s do something about this now.
Introductory Paragraph 3
Our community desperately needs a summer work program for its high-school-aged
youngsters. But there are other things that this community needs just as desperately.
There could be no better way to spend tax dollars than on our youth. But what about
our senior citizens? Do we put some kind of program in place for them, too? Maybe
we should stop and think about a way to spend our tax dollars that will benefit
everyone equally.
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The Paragraph of Introduction Class Worksheet 6
In the exercise below, you will find a menu of opinion statements, clarifiers, and reasons. Use this information to construct three effective introductory paragraphs that might be used in a persuasive piece on whether or not the speed limit on interstate highways should be raised to 80 mph. Try to follow the two basic models you learned in class. Write your paragraphs below.
Opinion musts• The speed limit on U.S. interstate highways should be raised to 80 mph nationwide.
• The United States should get in step with other industrialized countries by increasing its
speed limits on major, limited-access highways to 80 mph.
• Given the hectic pace of modern life, it’s high time that U.S. citizens demand that their
government consider raising the national speed limit to at least 80 mph on all major,
limited-access highways.
Clarifier mays
• Although such a step would be very controversial, the advantages of such a change greatly
outweigh the disadvantages.
• There can be little doubt that such a change is long overdue, if one considers the
advantages that it represents.
• One must wonder why a country which boasts the greatest network of roads in the world
insists upon imposing snail’s-pace restrictions upon its highway drivers.
• The current 65 mph speed limit enforced on most of our freeways would qualify as
unreasonable by other countries’ standards.
Reason mays
• Modern auto engineering advances place 80 mph speeds well within the realm of safety.
• The national need to conserve fuel, which originally made lower speed limits necessary, is
no longer the critical issue it once was.
• Most new automobiles can now travel at higher speeds with good fuel efficiency.
• The vast distances between communities in many parts of the country make the 80 mph
speed limit a more realistic figure.
• Statistics from countries which already have high-speed highways do not indicate that these
highways are any more dangerous than lower-speed highways.
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The Paragraph
of Introduction Extended Practice Worksheet 6
In the exercise below, you will find a menu of opinion statements, clarifiers, and reasons. Use this information to construct three effective introductory paragraphs that might be used in a persuasive piece on why violent criminals should be required to serve the entirety of their sentences without parole. Try to follow the two basic models you learned in class. Write your paragraphs below.
Opinion musts• With the incidence of violent crime escalating, we should not consider parole for anyone
convicted of a violent crime.
• The criminal justice system needs to begin making all violent offenders serve their entire
prison sentences.
• The paroling of violent criminals is an idea that has outlived its usefulness.
Clarifier mays
• The days are over when we can afford to consider a criminal’s best interests before the
interests of the general public.
• The criminal justice system has become far too soft on violent offenders.
• A severe crime requires a severe penalty, and a severe penalty means serving every last day
of an imposed sentence.
• The safety of citizens everywhere is of far greater importance than the rehabilitation of a
convicted felon.
• Regardless of the cost, it is far more important to protect law-abiding citizens, as the
following reasons prove.
Reason mays
• Most violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders.
• Keeping violent criminals incarcerated would actually cost taxpayers less in the long run.
• Not requiring violent criminals to serve their entire sentences sends a f limsy message to
other would-be violent offenders.
• Releasing violent offenders early does not amount to justice being served.
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