Review Sample Introductions for Evaluation. Keeping in mind the primary purposes of an introduction as explained in Introductions and Conclusions, rate the four introductions in the handout from best

Below are four sample introductions. After reading Introductions and Conclusions, analyze the effectiveness of the samples and rate them from best to worst in preparation for Week 8 Discussion: Introductions.

Sample 1

          In society today, many people are homeless.  The problem may not be exactly new, but it is still a major issue in our society.  Homeless people are without homes for many reasons.  Some are poor, some are drug addicts and some have been abused by their families and end up on the street due to that abuse.  The worst part is how many young people live on the streets.  These homeless youths slip through the cracks of the system and have to fend for themselves, which means they do not look forward to full and productive lives like other people their age. 

Sample 2

          Have you ever wondered why a letter you spent a long time composing was misunderstood by the recipient?  Or why a report you submitted after careful research didn’t have the impact you intended?  Written language is vulnerable to misinterpretation, and the trouble with readers is that they read what you write, not what you mean.  Clarity gives way to confusion if the writer fails to pay attention to the ambiguity of words, the mechanics of writing, or the organization of ideas.

Sample 3

          The reactions are physical all right: face turning red and sometimes white, voice switching to falsetto or to bass, stuttering, throat contracting, inhibited breath, dry mouth, stomach contractions, blinking, lowered head and eyes, shaking, fumbling, fidgeting, plucking at the clothes, hands cold and twisting together or held behind the back, smile fixed, feet frozen.  These are symptoms of embarrassment, or dis-ease.  They are brought on by entirely social or mental conditions, and they constitute proof positive that the human body reacts directly to the mind, even without reference to willpower or design.

Sample 4

          Imagine for a moment you are an Olympic athlete.  If you pictured a male athlete, try again.  Actually, you are a woman, engaged in rigorous year-round training.  Now, imagine that your body-fat percentage is less than half the average for a reasonably active woman your age.  As a result, your menstrual cycle has stopped; you no longer have a period.  You are a textbook case of anorexia nervosa, obsessed with weight and body shape.  Perhaps you are bulimic, and resort to compulsive binge eating, followed by violent purging—vomiting, fasting or the taking of laxatives and diuretics.  If you are a junior athlete, in your early teens, you are effectively delaying the onset of puberty and stunting normal growth. A rational observer would conclude that you are seriously ill.  A rational observer would not suspect that you had been driven to these life-threatening disorders by your coach.