Do's and Don'ts - Ethos and Identity Introduction
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This document provides guidance on writing an effective introduction for a comparative analysis project. It advises the writer to consider their introduction as drawing in outside readers, rather than assuming the reader has context like a teacher would. The document encourages setting up the texts for those unfamiliar, using specific details and avoiding broad claims. It also suggests beginning with a quote, anecdote, or historical context rather than generic statements. The goal is an engaging introduction that orients unfamiliar readers to the content that will follow.
Do's and Don'ts - Ethos and Identity Introduction
- 1. Do’s and Don’ts for your Introduction
- 2. DON’T write an introduction like you’d write for a “Paper” In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of The Life, he depicts his journey through slavery, the hardships it brought him, and the process of his life until he ultimately escaped from slavery. Throughout this book Douglass utilizes his rhetoric to persuade the reader into understanding how tragic slavery is. Douglass uses a multitude of techniques to build his rhetoric, the strongest examples of these are his use of repletion and varying sentence structure to push his ethos, pathos, and logos to the reader. This is the kind of introduction you’d write for a short paper in class. It’s fine, but it’s also kind of boring. It feels like the student is writing a paper for the teacher, which – to be fair – he was. But if you’re an outside reader, you’d only keep reading if you had to.
- 3. DO think of the introduction as trying to draw in readers. You want to treat this as an “article” or even a “page” instead of a paper. For instance, read over this project a student completed for a similar project. This is the opening paragraph – it doesn’t treat the reader like a “teacher,” but like a reader – someone who they hope will read more. You can read it here: https://matthewmeyer.atavist.com/sop hronia-a-new-castle-pioneer
- 4. DON’T assume you reader knows too much. I am going to read this as if I am an outside reader. I might know a little bit about these texts, but I don’t know everything. For instance, I might know that Frederick Douglass was an important American person, but that may be it. Did you know about any of these people beforehand? Therefore, DO think about writing this project for yourself BEFORE you read these books. A Problem Introduction: Frederick Douglass’ book is full of ethos and pathos. Harriet Jacobs book is about resisting rather than rebelling. In this paper . . . In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of an American Slave, he shows how much he was hurt by being a slave. (Don’t – see some of the samples in the next few slides)
- 5. For instance, here’s a good one. This is from: http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve /freedom/1609- 1865/essays/douglassjacobs.htm This is by a more “professional” writer than you are, but I think you can even come up with one better than this. Notice how it sets up the texts for a reader who has just found the page.
- 6. DON’T think of this as “Class Paper” Don’t assume your reader knows what you’re talking about or writing about going into the paper. Don’t assume your reader has read Douglass, Satrapi, or Jacobs. Don’t refer to class concepts as though the person reading this is in the class. Here’s a paper a student wrote about the TV show “Scorpion.” You may have never seen it, but from these opening sentences, you get the point, right? You can read it here: https://brandontish.atavist.com/scorpion
- 7. Regarding First Person DON’T Just say “I think” or “in my opinion.” Overuse first person. You can use it, but you shouldn’t rely on it. DO Think about how your experience might speak to, or have affected the way you experienced, the texts you’ve read. Refer to your reactions to portions, and suggest why these are relevant.
- 8. DON’T Just say “I think” or “in my opinion.” Overuse first person. You can use it, but you shouldn’t rely on it. AVOID THIS: I think Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of an American Slave is a great book. I will be a comparing Frederick Douglass to Marjarie Satrapi . . . Regarding First Person
- 9. Regarding First Person A SAMPLE INTRODUCTION I grew up in Kansas, a state whose history with slavery was, to say the least, complicated. From 1854 to 1861, there were a series of border wars known as “Bloody Kansas.” People died – slaveowners, slaves, and abolitionists alike. Therefore, reading a story like the one Frederick Douglass (even though it was set in Maryland) was like understanding the dark history of the state, and the country, where I was born. DO Think about how your experience might speak to, or have affected the way you experienced, the texts you’ve read. Refer to your reactions to portions, and suggest why these are relevant.
- 10. IDEAS for the introduction Begin with an anecdote from one of the texts). Begin with a quote (from the text we’ve read or from somewhere else). Begin by describing an overview of the texts you’ve read. Begin by setting the moment in history, or the ideas you want to deal with. Here’s another example from a student project. https://jackhanesv.atavist.com/investigating- into-the-wild
- 11. IDEAS for the introduction Begin with a quote (from the text we’ve read or from somewhere else). “At times I would rise up, a flash of energetic freedom would dart through my soul, accompanied with a faint beam of hope, that flickered for a moment, and then vanished.” This was one of the many times that Frederick Douglass experienced this “flash.”
- 12. IDEAS for the introduction Begin with an anecdote from one of the texts). Have you ever felt trapped? Linda did. But not just for a few hours or a few days. For years, she hid in an attic. The attic in my house is tiny: you have to duck to fit in there, but it’s still bigger than where she was. She wrote, “My limbs were benumbed by inaction, and the cold filled them with cramp. I had a very painful sensation of coldness in my head; even my face and tongue stiffened, and I lost the power of speech.”
- 13. IDEAS for the Introduction Begin by setting the moment in history, or the ideas you want to deal with. People who live under dictators still experience suffering that we, as Americans, can’t even imagine. As much as they might experience physical pain, what is even worse is a loss of identity . . .
- 14. Words to avoid Interesting Good Bad Important Positive Negative Throughout history, In Society, The point is not that these words are bad, it’s that they’re broad. So avoid broad sentiments as well: “Slavery was bad.” “The Shah had a negative effect on Iran.”
- 15. REMINDER You need a good, thoughtful title. “Ethos and Identity” is not a good thoughtful title. “Analysis of Douglass and Satrapi” isn’t either. Your title goes here on Wordpress: (Not a great title, but better than the ones above)