As a researcher, I took a lot of pride in composing the questionnaires for my participants.  It was a very cohesive way of putting research into the novella without being stuffy about it.  Seeing the results was fantastic; I had not been expecting to get such good feedback.  If I ever plan on doing further research of this kind, it will likely be in the same ways.  However, I am not a researcher and I do not plan on shoving my works down editors’ throats just for some glory.  If ever I plan on researching something, it will be at my own pace with my own means, because I think my work is meaningful.

I still do not consider myself to be a “writer”.  I enjoy writing on occasion, and I happen to be decent at it.  I wish to continue my novella as a creative fiction piece for pleasure only, not for prestige.  I also have some script ideas for Tost and Turn’s Student One Acts next spring.  Between this, there will, of course, be the mandated papers for classes.  This is the extent of my plans as one who writes.

My proudest moment in this course was finishing the last twenty pages, just because I wrote so much in such little time.  I felt the last twenty were easier to write, as I had loosened up and the creative juices were flowing.

Creating my questionnaire and seeing the results in my hands was a great feeling… probably the best thing about this course.

2.  The most helpful feedback I received at any time was probably from my first peer editor, who read the first half of my novella and told me she connected with my female character, Dawn, and the events that happened to her which lead to her poor body image.  These events were based around things that had happened to me personally, and I was really glad to know that it was not so individualized that the story was impersonal.

3.  The most difficult part of the editing process was just writing the paper!  I got stuck on Bobby’s section multiple times because his story was not as personal to me, though he is based on my father.  However, the easiest part was going through the paper once it was done.  I edit as I write, so there were only some minor grammar issues.

4.  In Dawn’s second section, where she is about to enter her sophomore year of high school, I feel my writing is the best.  I got to explore different characters and apply the research about social influence on body image as well as a great deal of lingo from the 1970s.

2.  I realized that I need to edit my lit review, big time.  The order is right, but I need it to be more formal.  Other than that, I have considered about taking out Bobby as a character in my paper.  I don’t seem to have the same understanding of Bobby as I do Dawn, which shows when his story drags on compared to hers.  I need to keep the story flowing for the sake of the research topic as well as that of my audience… I don’t want to bore them just to educate them!

Conclusions:

According to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Writing Center, conclusions are not just about revisiting the central theme of the topic, but restating its importance and herding the theme into bigger and broader aspects of life that it may include.  It is important to prove why the topic is important and stress the big picture that the research ultimately suggests.  Simply restating the thesis, stating the thesis for the first time, resorting 0nly to an emotional finale or trying to squeeze any last bit of information into the end are not the best ways to conduct a conclusion.

And to Naomi Rockler-Gladen, author of “How to Write a College Term Paper Conclusion”, a conclusion should summarize the main parts of the paper just to refresh the reader of the researcher’s journey.  However, obnoxious repetition should be avoided, as well as new information that may be too big to mention at the last minute.  Concluding statements, like quotes, intriguing metaphors or similes, are all appropriate ways to wrap up any ending statements or remarks.

Discussion:

According to Bates College’s Online Resources page, the discussion of a scientific journal (or any paper, for that matter)  should discuss the knowledge attained by researching the topic, in both secondary and primary means.  It should address the thesis and the hypothesis (or research question), stating if the research found supported or negated the researcher’s original premise.  It is important to keep a clear voice that remains to the point and it should address each step of the research, not necessarily repeating the results but rather any personal dialog the researcher believes to be important to add to the findings.

As well as University of  North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Writing Center, which states that the discussion should state and explain the conclusions the research has produced.  It should discuss any unexpected or expected outcomes, and how it aligned with the researcher’s original thesis/hypothesis.  The Discussion section is also the place to talk about the results in accordance to any past research as well as what the research findings might suggest.

Results:

According to Asian Institute of Technology, the results of the paper should state in graphs, charts, diagrams, tables, figures, and text the final conclusions that the research has brought.  The results do not have to be very lengthy, but enough to state the findings so that the audience may understand.  The researcher may choose to present all of the results and then the discussion, or cut the results and discussion into pairs that accompany each other.

And, to Experiment-Resources.com, the Results section should only present the results of the research, not an examination of the results, as that is what the Discussion section is for.  Writing too much information should be avoided, instead, only presenting the most important findings that pertain to the thesis/hypothesis.

Works Cited

“Conclusions”.  2007.  31 March 2010.  http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/conclusions.html

“Discussion”.  The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper.  25 Sept. 2008.  31 March 2010.  http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#discussion

“Results”.  Scientific Reports.  2007.  31 March 2010.  http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/lab_report_complete.html

Rockler-Gladen, Naomi.  ”How to Write a College Term Paper Conclusion”.  17 Nov. 2008.  31 March 2010.  http://studyskills.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_write_a_college_term_paper_conclusion

“Writing a Results Section”.  Experiments-Resources.com.  2010.  31 March 2010. http://www.experiment-resources.com/writing-a-results-section.html

“Writing Up Research”.  Results.  2003.  31 March 2010.  http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21RES.HTM

The journey was difficult to start, as beginnings always seem to be the worst.  I started by writing the introductions for both Bobby and Dawn, later going back and adding more to start the actual conflict of their story.  What I find to be the most startling is that the first twenty pages are almost entirely dedicated to the introduction of their story, and I have so much yet to discuss.

Something I thought would be difficult but was actually a lot easier to incorporate into the story was the attention to the causes of negative body image.  The next twenty pages (probably more) will more than likely be as hard as I thought the first were going to be, as my characters will become more complex as they age.  But as long as I keep to the main ideas of the paper– discovery of ideal body image and the lack-there-of within their own bodies,  the process of losing weight and achieving the ideal body type but not realizing it, and then eventually having the corresponding perspective of  body image to the true sizes of their body.

To stay within the time frame, I may have to delete huge portions of the first twenty pages to cover everything I need to discuss.  Other than that, the difficulties ahead will be making time to actually write the next twenty pages, and to continue developing the characters as they grow.

Who will your research subjects be?

I have determined that my research subjects will be IUP college students as well as 8th graders, 10th graders, and 12th graders.  Though the characters in my novella, Bobby and Dawn, will be younger (11, to be precise) when they both realize that they are overweight, the majority of the content will be based on when they are older.

How will you find them?

For the college students, I plan on sending a survey to Marlen to send out to the rest of his English classes.  As for the middle and high school students, I need to get permission from the Indiana Middle/High School to hand out surveys, and then inquire about a therapy workshop to be done after school or over a weekend.

How many will you need?

Hopefully I’ll receive a lot of feedback from all of the grades, but I think that I’ll only need about 25-50 from each group to get a estimate of beliefs in body dissatisfaction.

Are there any potential dangers to your participants undertaking in this research?

I realized that I did NOT want to be the one to awaken any insecurities in children, and so I think it’s safe to say that 8th graders will already have some grasp of an “ideal” body image, so I wouldn’t need to worry about corrupting anyone.  I don’t think my research will cause any new insecurities.  In fact, I think it will only help.  Some may be embarrassed to speak about their body types, but I will make it clear that the data collected will be completely anonymous and research will not be passed around between students, only to me.

How will you protect your participants from harm and safeguard their privacy?

For the surveys, their names do not need to be known; just their age, body type, and general views about their body type.  Again, I will ensure the students that the answers to the questionnaires will only be viewed by myself, and that no individual will be specifically mentioned without express permission.

What questions about methods and data collection do you have at this time and how will you answer them?

A stupid question I’ve been playing with:

If the researcher bases their methods around the methods of another researcher, even with slight variation, is it considered plagiarism?   I’ll simply have to ask Marlen.

What happens if the school will not let me give out my surveys, and what about the workshop?

I’ll have to ask and find out.

• They are important to the reader to understand the initial results
• They should include the exact procedures of the experiments
• The participants should be described thoroughly, specifically addressing age, gender, and ethnicity
• Each method, be it survey or experiment, should be done ethically
• Each method should be described in great detail so that the reader can detect any possible biases
• Though thoroughness is necessary, it should be said that going through every little detail can seem monotonous to readers; keep in mind a proper audience.
• Should discuss how the data was collected and then analyzed
• To help write the methods section, keep very detailed notes while administering experiments
• The methodology section is strictly to ensure the audience of the researcher’s credibility; if something seems wrong with the methodology, then the outcomes are probably inaccurate as well.

Works Cited

“How to Write the Methodology Chapter of a Dissertation or Thesis”.  Dissertation Guide.  Essay Town.  2010.  15 March               2010. <http://www.essaytown.com/writing/write-methodology-chapter-dissertation-thesis>

“Method and Research Design”.  Writing Research.  The Language Center of Asian Institute of Technology.  15 March 2010.  <http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21meth.htm>

1. Formatting – Chosen format, be it blog or paper, is professional and suitable for intended audience.

1. Introduction – Attention-grabbing and a good preview of the information to come.

1. Conclusion – summed up the point the author wished to convey according to the intro and the body.

1. In-text Citations – the research of others was cited accordingly.

1. Works Cited/References – Proper credit is given where it is due to the work of others, with all elements of citation included as needed.

0 A list of referred works was not included, and though not necessary a typical blog format, was necessary for the information the author was trying to convey.

1. Grammar/Mechanics – language choice; punctuation; spelling, etc.

1. Tone – was the author able to communicate his or her ideas in the corresponding tone to his or her intended audience?  Did the author use terms that the audience could understand? Was the author overly ambiguous or straight to the point?

1. Flow – transitions between paragraphs; all sentences in a paragraph related; no run-on or fragmented sentences.

1. Hooked and maintained reader interest.

1. Genre – Met the needs of the intended genre.

I could have written a better article.  The citations were unclear, his information did not follow his intended topic, and it was poorly written.

(Total was 18/50)

According to North Carolina A&T State University’s F.D. Bluford Library’s website, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Writing Center website…

A literary review is meant to organize the various research found on the writer’s topic.  It is mostly a summary of sources, but can also be used to chronologically order the research to create a better understanding of the whole.  It helps to show the most important information, as well as identify any gaps or holes when trying to answer the research question.  It is not the paper itself, though each summary should include an introduction (a summary of the article, using few quotes), body (the writer’s personal thoughts about the article and what was thought to be the most important), and a conclusion (how it pertains to the research).  Lit reviews help to narrow down the writer’s topic by analyzing the entirety of the information that he or she has collected thus far.  A thesis or a research question should be provided at the beginning of the review, however, to show what the research will be pertaining to.  The articles can be organized in whatever way will be most beneficial to the writer, but the most common ways of organization are grouping articles of similar topic or organizing them by time.  Don’t forget a works cited at the end!

Speaking of works cited…

Works Cited

“How  to do a Literature Review?”.  North Carolina A&T State University F.D. Bluford Library.  2003.  28 Feb 2010.

http://www.library.ncat.edu/ref/guides/literaturereview03.htm

“Literature Reviews”.  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.  2007. 28 Feb 2010.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html

“Adolescent Girls’ and Boys’ Weight-Related Health Behaviors and Cognitions: Associations With Reputation- and Preference-Based Peer Status” by Shirley S. Wang and Shadi Houshyer.

I.  Intro

A.
– Body dissatisfaction, dieting, and identify development interrelate to peer acceptance and likability.
B.  Three Issues with Past Research
1. First problem
–Most past research has been based on “self-report methods” which only discuss perceptions of norms rather than actual norms themselves.
2. Second problem
–Researches wish to narrow down peer influence as a factor in body-related cognitions.
3. Third problem
–A distinction in peer popularity and peer likability has never thoroughly been discussed.
C. Social Preference vs. Peer Perceived Popularity
1. Social Preference = Peer Likability
a. Linked with aggressive behavior, school drop-out, severe psychological symptoms.
2. Peer Perceived Popularity = Social Reputation
a. Linked with social hierarchy, also substance abuse, sexual risk, and aggressive behaviors.
D. Goals
1. Researches wished to examine gender differences in social reputation and peer likability in reference to weight-related behaviors and cognitions for adolescents.
II. Research Methods
A. Participants
1. The research was composed of 441 high school juniors and seniors.
B. Procedures
1. 441 students were questioned on peer relationships and adolescent health-risk behaviors.
C. Measures
1. Perceived Body Size
a. Girls were asked to identify their perceived body size and ideal body size based on the Ideal Body Subscale-Female test with twelve different body silhouettes ranging from very thin to very obese, and only 8% recorded desiring a heavier body type than their perceived body type.
b. Boys were asked to identify their perceived body size and ideal body size based on the Ideal Body Subscale-Male test as well, and most wished for body types in the middle of the chart (muscular to very muscular) rather than towards the left, which is very thin.
2. Body-Related Cognitions
a. Girls were not bothered with questions concerning muscularity while boys were not bothered with questions concerning anxiety over slight fluxuations in weight.
3. Dieting
a. Students asked how often they engaged in any kind of dieting behaviors, and results were very similar between both sexes.
4. Peer-Rated Social Preference and Social Reputation
a. Students given list of names of all fellow classmates and asked to nominate those they would most likely spend time with/not spend time with, and those they perceive popular/unpopular, and the adolescents social reputation was calculated according to results.
III. Results
A. Descriptive Statistics
1. There were little variation in body dissatisfaction, dieting behavior, peer acceptance/rejection, or peer popularity between boys and girls, though girls were more worried about obesity while boys were more concerned with muscle development and fitness.
2. There were no differences in the overall scores for ethnicities, though there was slight variation concerning  body worries and misperceptions.
3. There was significant correlation between dieting behavior and social reputation but NOT in peer likability.
B. Associations Between Self-Reported Body Size and Peer-Reported Peer Status
1. Boys had a curvilinear association with social reputation and body size (showing a better social reputation between “skinny” and obese) while girls had a linear association (Social reputation being highest at the thinnest and lowest at the heaviest).
C. Peer Status as a Concurrent Predictor of Dieting Behavior
1. For both boys and girls, higher rates of dieting coincided with peer-reported popularity, though boys focused on muscularity and girls focused on obesity.
IV. Results
A. Peer-perceived Popularity, but not peer likability, is linked with ideal body shapes and dieting behavior.
B.  Adolescents who want to obtain a higher social status focus on achieving an ideal body type.
C. Boys and girls both reported similar levels of body dissatisfaction in relation to peer-perceived popularity.
D. Peer-led programs would be the most effective in aiding to a healthy body image.
V. Conclusion
A. Though there were some limitations on the report, self-report was used as little as possible and an overall vision of actual versus perceptional popularity and likability was obtained.
B. Striving to maintain a certain body image to obtain a certain social reputation could develop into varying eating disorders later in life.

“Prejudice Against Fat People: Ideology and Self-Interest” by Christian S. Crandall.
I. Intro
A. Symbolic Racism
–Symbolic Racism focuses on the lack of American Protestant values that African Americans supposedly do not possess, as well as the deeply rooted bias that they do not value discipline, self-control, or self reliance.
–The characteristics that make up the antifat attitudes are very similar to those of symbolic racism.
–These characteristics for both antifat attitudes and symbolic racism are the inability to value hard work, self-contained independence, obedience to authority, and self-discipline, as well as traditional hatred.
–Symbolic attitudes imply that abstract ideologies can play an important role in the prediction of behavior instead of self-interest.
B. Criticism of Symbolic Racism
–There is not enough research to imply that valuing authority figures, independence, and self-reliance will lead to racist tendencies, that the definition of symbolic racism is too ambiguous, and that self-interest is also too ambiguous.
C. Symbolic Prejudice and Fat People
–Racism against African Americans has become such a movement in modern culture that it has its own unique qualities that separates itself from other racism.
–Antifat attitudes are not so culturally abundant so there is not an independent attitude system for it.
–Antifat attitudes are also less desirable to aid the victims in any way.
D. Evidence of Prejudice Against Fat People
–The negative characteristics associated with obese persons include aesthetically displeasing, morally and emotionally impaired, alienated from sexuality, disconnected from themselves, weak-willed and unlikeable.
–They are discriminated against by fit persons, health care workers, employers, peers, potential romantic partners, family, themselves, and are less likely to be hired or promoted.
–Fat people are less likely to attend college and are associated with a lower socioeconomic status.
E. Is Fatness a Function of Willpower?
–There is more biological evidence pointing towards being or becoming fat than simply being greedy or gluttonous.
–Certain physiological factors make dieting both difficult and ineffective, so self-control is rarely an issue.
II. Body
A. Outline
Study 1: Development of the Antifat Attitudes Questionnaire
1. Method
–251 People from a Psychology class filled out a questionnaire based on a 26 question, 1-9 Likert-scale.
2. Results
–Men disliked fat people more than women, women had a greater fear of fat than men, and both connected controllability of weight to willpower, as well as to dislike and willpower.
3. Discussion
–The connection between dislike and willpower showes that people belief that weight is a completely controllable phenomena, which contributes to antifat attitudes.
Study 2: Antifat Attitudes in an Ideological System
–Fatness is through the fat person’s fault, so fit people will denigrate and stigmatize them, as will black people will be blamed for their socioeconomic status; heroes will be blamed for their victories and victims will be blamed for their woes.
–The just world theory applies, as hard workers will be rewarded and those who are lazy will receive their just rewards, because they are noncontributing and… lazy.
–Fat deviates from the social norm, as the supposed immoral tendencies of black people do, relating back to old-fashioned racial feelings for going against authority.
–If Black people are discriminated against because they are regarded as lazy, sinful, and lacking in discipline and self-denial, then the same attitudes also apply to fat people.
1. Method
–The subjects, undergraduate psychology students, were split into groups and given questionnaires based on the just world, authoritarianism, values, and poverty.
– Most questions were asked based on a one to five scale, some going higher as needed.
–For the poverty question, the students were given questions based on a one to seven scale.
–The results showed that ideological measures were significantly correlated with antifat attitudes.
–Between males and females, there was no difference in the size of correlation between antifat attitudes and ideological variables.
–The rejection of overweight and obese peoples follows the just world theory, that people get what they deserve and that deviance from the norm is cause for social rejection.
–Undergraduate students were used for the tests, and the concern was that they would not be well-informed on the political and social ideology, so the researcher was very careful to who he chose to answer his questionnaires.
Study 3: College Democrats and College Republicans
–The researcher hypothesizes that Republicans will feel that fat people are fat through the fault of their own in comparison to Democrats because of liberal versus conservative ideals.
–From the University of Florida College Democrats and College Republicans groups, 26 Democrats and 30 Republicans were questioned to answer the questionnaires.
–Republicans were, in fact, more conservative than Democrats and held more antifat attitudes.
–Political conservatism was linked to both Dislike of fat people and the idea of Willpower, but not related to Fear of Fat.
–Conservatism is linked to antifat attitudes, and the general intolerance of others, and is also related to antisemitism, racism, and sexism.
–There was a greater belief in Republicans that fat people, and also black people, deserve whatever fate they receive for the actions they do or do not participate in.
Study 4: Changing Beliefs About the Causes of Obesity
–The researcher wished to attempt to see if he could change antifat attitudes by conducting an experiment based on McGuire’s work on attitude consistency.
–In a group of 11 men and 31 women, an experimental and control group were told that they would be performing a test of memory for written versus spoken prose, where the control group was given information about weight, metabolism, and genetics, while the control group only received facts about sailing.
–They were asked to remember and recite the facts that they remembered, including sailing, physiology of weight control, stress and health, and baseball.
–Those in the experimental group scored lower in willpower than the control group, showing that fewer believed in self-control and willpower contributed to being fat.
–Changing the belief that discipline and self control are the key to keeping a healthy body weight are vital in changing antifat attitudes.
–The report shows it is not stereotypes, but attributions, that lead to antifat attitudes.
Study 5: Prejudice, Social Desirability, and the Distribution of Attitudes
–The researcher believes that racism may be decreasing because the social acceptability of being racist is at an all time low, and research may be slanted due to this fact.
–Studies showed that though racist tendencies was more low key, fatist tendencies were not.
–Though symbolic racism and fatism is very similar, it is also different because attitudes towards being racist and fatist differ in social acceptability.
Study 6: Self-Interest, In-Group Bias, and Antifat Attitudes
–The researcher wished to know if fat people have antifat attitudes or if there is an in-group bias.
–He tested people based on their BMIs, and found that those with an overweight BMI were antifat, as well.
–This contrasts to the in-group bias that Whites and Blacks share, as neither will try to be racist towards their own affiliations.
–Fat people do not see themselves as a group, and do not insist on the deprivations that they as a group share, and there is no self-interest motivation in the antifat beliefs.
III. Conclusion
A. General Discussion
–In comparing symbolic racism and fatism, no self-interest biases appear in antifat attitudes.
–Antifat attitudes are not a new thing, but they have reached new heights, and are as fierce as racist beliefs were half a century ago.
–Fit and obese people are equally likely to be antifat, meaning that fat people should feel that their state is attributed to their faults.
–The stigmatized, here, the obese, do little as a group to shield themselves from negative social attitudes.
–This may be because coming together as a group will not help fat people be less fat, so there is no use for comradery, since they can leave the group through various means, unlike black and white people.
–There is a long, historical record of antifat attitudes, especially in North America, that attribute to socioeconomic status and socialization in general.
–These beliefs seem to be very North Native American, as studies indicate less fatist attitudes in Mexico and farther south.
–Fat people are another discriminated bunch in a long list of those who deviate from the norm, including the elderly, homosexuals, ethnic minorities, and the handicapped.
–Antifat attitudes make a very interesting juxtaposition in the face of symbolic racism for comparisons in discrimination and social desirability.

Article 1:

The difference between the introduction and the lit review was that the intro only stated the perceived issue and the surrounding concerns, whereas the lit review talked about the thesis and some of the conclusions of the research as well.  For this article, the authors attempted to reinforce the fact that body image is very connected to peer popularity, which would lead to different behavioral and hierarchal results later in life.  Stressing this importance was really the only way the information was attention-grabbing.  It was set up as a very informative article, moderately readable, but it is not meant to engage the readers.

a. The purpose was to discuss the connections between body image/body dissatisfaction to peer likeability versus social reputation.  It wished to prove that both boys and girls struggle with body image, though in varying degrees, concerning social connections. (Intro)

b. The stressed importance is that those who suffer from body dissatisfaction will try to improve it through unhealthy means that will lead to varying eating disorders, which will become a lasting trend through adulthood.  It also stresses the importance of social hierarchy, as girls who are thinner and boys who are more muscular tend to have higher ratings of social reputation, which carries on to obtaining more career-oriented goals as adults. (Under III. Results, C, and IV. Results, A)

c. What are the connections between preference and reputation based peer status and weight-related behaviors and cognition? (Intro)

d. Students were given questionnaires asking about perceived body types and ideal body types based on the 12 Silhouette scale, with body types varying from very thin to very obese.  They were also asked about dieting routines, and then asked the students to list their peers according to most likeable to least likely to associate with, as well as those who were considered most popular to least popular.  (Methods)

e. Comparing the results of each student’s personal body image to the students’ ratings of popularity and likability, they discerned the connection between the two. (III. Results)

f. Any future research that should be conducted should be done by ME!  I wanted to know why body image was so important, and here is one of the suggested reasons why.

Article 2:

Again, the difference between the lit review and the introduction was that the lit review plainly states the research question and some of the results.  The Introduction was actually a very vague description of symbolic racism, and only caught my attention because I had to keep reading to see the connection to antifat attitudes in the following paragraphs.

a. The purpose was to compare the ideologies of symbolic racism and fatism, which have very similar characteristics.  (I. Intro, A. Symoblic Racism)

b. The importance is that fatism is actually very much apart of Northern American culture but is not as associated with negative social regard as racism. (III. Conclusion, A. General Discussion)

c. Is fatism and symoblic racism based on the same ideologies? (I. Intro, A. Symbolic Racism)

d. Jesus.  The author used 6 different methods of research, asking questions about antifat attitudes, the just world attitudes, conservative attitudes, the acceptability of racist attitudes and fatist attitudes, etc.  (II. Body)

e. The author found that there are connections between ideologies surrounding symbolic racism and fatism, both based on the just world theories, which conservative persons are more likely to hold than more liberal persons. (II. Body)

f. The thing I want to use from this article was the attitudes against fat people, not necessarily as a comparison to any form of racism.  It was useful for this purpose but the author’s claims concerning racism are rather ambiguous.

…oh my god, I’m done.  I’m done!

The introduction to any good paper should be attention-grabbing.  It should appeal to the reader and make the reader want to continue going through the rest of the book, paper, whatever it may be.  It’s why the brightest birds get the mates– they draw more attention to themselves.  Some ideas to creating an explosive introductory sentence are using humor, whether telling a joke or reciting a funny fact, reciting an interesting fact that will lead into the paper as it progresses, presenting a very vivid background to the source of the information, or using some kind of thought-provoking quotation that will pull readers in.  Every writer needs an audience, whether it be millions of people or the author themselves.  If the author is not thrilled with his or her own opening statement regardless of the amount of passion in the following content area, nor will the reader, who may not make it the best part what the writer has to say.

Works Cited

Flemming, Grace.  ”The Introductory Sentence”.  About.com: Homework/Study Tips.  17 Feb 2010. http://homeworktips.about.com/od/paperassignments/a/introsentence.htm>

“Writing Introductions”.  Indiana University Writing Center.  2008.  17 Feb 2010. http://homeworktips.about.com/od/paperassignments/a/introsentence.htm>