Send a draft of the first two paragraphs to me and your writing group (via email), by Wednesday, May 4. Bring hard copies of your group members’ paragraphs to class on Thursday.

For these first two paragraphs, you should include the following:

1. A hook to introduce your topic and intrigue readers. This might be a quotation from a text, a description of a scene, a striking question, an interesting image, or a bold statement.
2. An explanation of your motive(s) for writing. Explain what questions drive conversations in published writing about your topic. (See “Motivating Moves” handout.)
3. Your thesis: Think of this as a statement articulating your contribution to the conversation you’ve been describing.

See the samples I’ve posted (below) to see how published critics approach these strategies. You’ll see there is no single formula. The writers’ strategies overlap, but they also differ–and even when they overlap, they don’t follow the same structure. Think about which strategies might work for you and experiment!