how do i write an introduction parargraph?

Question

that is comparing and contrasting two short stories? examples would help me. thanks!!!

Answer 1

Here's a handout I gave my English students. Hope this is helpful.

COMMON METHODS OF INTRODUCTION

Use any one method, or a combination, to introduce your subject to the reader in an interesting way.

1. BACKGROUND. Begin with a broad, general statement of your topic and narrow it down to your thesis statement. Your background might be historical, chronological, experiential, whatever. For instance, you might begin with a statement about small towns in America, then move to small southern towns, and end the paragraph with a statement about the small southern town in which you grew up. In a paper entitled “My Job in an Apple Plant,” the writer begins on the general topic of terrible jobs, then narrows it down to the one worst job he ever held.

2. CONTRAST. Start with an idea or situation that is the opposite of the one you will develop. This approach works because your readers will be surprised, and then intrigued, by the contrast between the opening idea and the thesis that follows it. Here is an example of a “contrast” introduction:
When I was a girl, I never argued with my parents about differences between their attitudes and mine. My father would deliver his judgment on an issue, and that was actually the end of the matter. Discussion seldom changed his mind, and disagreement was not tolerated. But the situation is different with today’s parents and children. My husband and I have to contend with radical differences between what our children think about a given situation and what we think about it. We have had disagreements with all three of our daughters, Stephanie, Diana, and Gisel.
Related to CONTRAST is the SHOCKING STATEMENT.
Wrong: Apply the paint in smooth, even strokes.
Right: Apply the paint in smooth, even strokes, keeping in mind that until 1986, Madonna was, biologically speaking, a man.
Notice how William Zinsser captures your attention in the following lead:
I’ve often wiondered what goes into a hot dog. Now I know and I wish I didn’t.
Two short but powerful sentences--what reader wouldn’t want to read on?
My trouble began when the Department of Agriculture published the hot dog’s ingredients--everything that may legally qualify--because it was asked by the poultry industry to relax the conditions under which the ingredients might also include chicken. In other words, can a chickenfurter find happiness in the land of the frank?
This second paragraph explains the reason for the article and keeps our curiosity high. Then,
Judging by the 1,066 mainly hostile answers that the Department got when it sent out a questionnaire on this point, the very thought is unthinkable. The public mood was most felicitously caught by the woman who replaied, “I don’t eat feather meat of no kind.”
When you’re lucky enough to find a snapper of a quotation, by all means use it, preferably at the end of a ¶.

3. ANECDOTE/ILLUSTRATION. Open with an incident or brief story. (Flip through the Reader’s Digest and notice how many articles begin with an anecdote). Stories grab our attention, are naturally interesting, and appeal to our curiosity to find out “what happens next.” Keep the anecdote brief and related to your central idea. For example:
The husky man pushes open the bedroom door and grins as he pulls out a .38 revolver. An elderly man in thin pajamas looks at him and whimpers. He slides weakly out of the bed and moves toward the door of the room, but the husky man, still grinning, blocks his way. With the face of a small, timid animal, the old man begs, “Oh, God, please don’t hurt me.” The intruder, still grinning, fires four times. The television movie now cuts to a commercial, but the little boy who was watching begins to cry. Such scenes of direct violence on television must surely be harmful to children for a number of psychological reasons. (Notice how the anecdote illustrates the thesis).

4. QUESTION. A question demands an answer, inviting us to read on...to supply the answer ourselves, or to see what answer the writer will provide. For instance:
What would happen if we were totally honest with ourselves? Would we be able to stand the pain of our own self-deception? Would the complete truth be too much for us to bear? Such questions will probably never be answered, for in everyday life we protect ourselves from the onslaught of too much reality. All of us cultivate defense mechanisms that prevent us from seeing and hearing and feeling too much. Included among such defense mechanisms are rationalization, reaction formation, and substitution.

5. QUOTATION. This may be something you have come across in your readings; a popular maxim or proverb (”Never buy a used car from a friend”); a recent advertising slogan (”Reach out and touch someone”); someone’s favorite expression (”My father always says...”); or one you have specifically looked up that relates to your thesis.
“Evil,” wrote Martin Buber, “is lack of direction.” In my school days as a fatherless boy, with a mother too confused about her own life to really care for me, I strayed down a number of dangerous paths. Before my eighteenth birthday, I had been a car thief, a burglar, and a drug seller.

Final point: The thesis statement does not have to be the last sentence in the first ¶. Try locating it elsewhere, or even omitting an outright thesis statement: let the reader infer the thesis from your text.

Answer 2

For just a plain introduction paragraph you introduce the topic and tell what your paragraph is going to be for example:

Garfield and Snoopy are icons of the Sunday Comics, but they have many differences. Garfield is a cat and Snoopy is a dog. You can hear Garfield's thoughts but you cannot with Snoopy. Garfield acts like he couldn't care less about Jon sometimes and Snoopy is loyal to Charlie Brown.

I wrote that real fast, but you get the idea

Answer 3

You need a topic sentence, then the paragraph should give a preview of the sides you are going to take.

Answer 4

while planning the introductry para you must have it clear in mind that what you are going to write there what will be like cover of your book so try to be more specific,attracting,short and compelete in your views...
i believe your sole objective should be to involve the reader right from the begining so use kind of language that leads to inquisition in readers mind.
Hope i am getable to you.....
bbye!

Answer 5

Comparative Essay

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~nkerns/102c/compare.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Comparative-Essay

http://wc.pima.edu/~vfurlong/130_essay.html

http://homepage.mac.com/cjudson/vergil/C1760895792/E1737120831/

http://www.csbsju.edu/writingcenters/handouts/comparative_essays.htm

Planning:

A good essay needs to be clear and logically structured.

http://www.horton.ednet.ns.ca/staff/syme/compareEssay.html

Basic Structure

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.