T-Bird Up in Smoke - Sample Intro

Here is what I did with my T-Bird Up in Smoke Intro (I tried to break it down into easy-to-follow parts.  Of course, use your own imagination and style.  There is no one way to write an intro.)

a. setting: I’m going to establish time and  place.

When I was in my twenties, I didn’t have all that much going for me.   No money.  No girlfriend.  I didn’t really like my job.  I was a lonely guy. 

       b. specific details:  I want to paint a picture for my reader.

But, I had a car.  It wasn’t just any car.  It was a classic 1965 Ford Thunderbird.  It was painted cherry red, and it had a 428 cubic-inch V8 engine underneath the hood.  When I drove down the street, windows rattled and heads turned, and you know what?  Everybody knew who I was.

       c. Transition: I’m ready to make a point.  I want to set my reader up for my thesis.

It was like this car was everything to me.  It made me who I was.  I spent more time and energy thinking about it than I thought about myself.

       d. Turning point: I’m going to emphasize a life-changing moment.

 But one day, I learned an important lesson the hard way. Have you ever heard of “seeing the light?”  Sometimes it takes an abrupt, unexpected moment – like totally out of the blue – for a person to see something he/she has been ignoring for a long time. Suddenly, things can come into focus.

       e.Thesis: Create that one meaningful statement that combines your subject and the controlling idea.

The day I watched my T-bird go up in flames, I knew it was time to change my priorities in life.

Here is what my introduction might look like when I combine the parts:

    When I was in my twenties, I didn’t have all that much going for me. No money.  No girlfriend.  I didn’t really like my job.  I was a lonely guy.  But, I had a car.  It wasn’t just any car.  It was a classic 1965 Ford Thunderbird.  It was painted cherry red, and it had a 428 cubic-inch V8 engine underneath the hood.  When I drove down the street, windows rattled and heads turned, and you know what?  Everybody knew who I was.  It was like this car was everything to me.  It made me.  I spent more time and energy thinking about it than I thought about myself.  But one day, I learned an important lesson the hard way.   Have you ever heard of “seeing the light?”  Sometimes it takes an abrupt, unexpected moment – like totally out of the blue – for a person to see something he/she has been ignoring for a long time. Suddenly, things can come into focus.   The day I watched my T-bird go up in flames, I knew it was time to change my priorities in life.