EXAMPLES OFINTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS

MODEL I: Beginwith a memorable quote that reflects your thesis

     The tradition of allthe dead generations weighs like an incubus on the brain of the      living, ---Karl Marx

Two othertranslations of this passage use the word Alp and the word nightmare instead of incubus; all three translations, however, attestto the importance of tradition in people's lives. A1p suggests that tradition weighs heavilyon our minds; nightmareindicates that the grip of tradition is frightening; and incubus, the most telling image, says thattradition comes to us, even attacks us, when we are sleeping, the time when weare unaware of its presence and yield unconsciously to its demonic power. If"Maria Concepcion" is any indication, Katherine Anne Porter wouldhave agreed with all three translations, for both Maria and her fellowvillagers move tropistically toward tradition. In this short story, Porter usesthe social milieu of a primitive Indian society in modern Mexico to advance thetheme that despite the influences of a new culture, a society is likely toretain most of its traditional values. In this story the efforts of earlySpanish settlers and the Catholic Church to erase the pagan culture can befound everywhere, but they prove to be only a veneer under which the originalculture remains, essentially unaltered.

MODEL II:Begin with personal anecdote

I had alwaysbragged that I was rootless and adaptable, eschewing tradition and glorifyingchange, until, that is, I lived for two and a half years in the Middle East.Under the stress of living in a foreign culture, I took refuge in the ritualsof American holidays, which we could celebrate with impunity, as long as ourfestivities did not contravene any Moslem beliefs. I fashioned triangular NewYear's hats from Farsi and Armenian newspapers; I wrapped Christmas gifts ingold-stenciled Yazd cloth and tied them with the colorful braid used to trimthe voluminous skirts of the nomadic Kashgai women; and at Thanksgiving, I paidseven dollars for a can of cranberry sauce, a food which in my stateside homegoes in toto from mytable to the Howard County Landfill. Because of my experiences in the MiddleEast, I identified with Maria Concepcion, Katherine Anne Porter's fictionalcharacter who also reverted to the security of custom, In the short story"Maria Concepcion," Porter uses the social milieu of a primitiveIndian society in modern Mexico to advance the theme that despite theinfluences of a new culture, a society is likely to retain most of itstraditional values. In this story, the efforts of early Spanish settlers andthe Catholic Church to erase the pagan culture can be found everywhere, butthey prove to be only a veneer under which the original culture remains,essentially unaltered.

MODEL III:Begin with anecdote about someone else

My friend JuliaMiller, an ardent feminist, crusaded against marriage as an institution,proclaiming that it insulted and enslaved women by giving them security inreturn for sex and domestic service. Falling into a relationship with DavidKessler, she advertised their liaison--and I believe she was sincere--as themodel for future heterosexual alliances: no bonds, real or symbolic, she said,Soon, she was reading Bride's Magazine, ironically, if not pathetically,storing it under her side of the bed. Eventually, she mailed engravedinvitations with inside envelopes. Given away by her father at the wedding, shewore white tulle and satin. Her thank-you notes, monogrammed with her newinitials, were, of course, signed "Julia M. Kessler," Julia, likeKatherine Anne Porter's fictional Maria Concepcion, had a choice: the oldfamiliar way or the new uncharted way. Though from vastly different cultures,both Julia and Maria demonstrate the strength of the social environment onpeople's lives. In the short story "Maria Concepcion," Porter usesthe social milieu of a primitive Indian society in modern Mexico to advance thetheme that despite the influences of a new culture, a society is likely to retainmost of its traditional values. In this story, the efforts of early Spanishsettlers and the Catholic Church to erase the pagan culture can be foundeverywhere, but they prove to be only a veneer under which the originalculture_ remains, essentially unaltered.

MODEL IV :Begin by relating the thesis to modern-day events

While liberalwesterners regarded the Shah of Iran as too slow in bringing twentieth centurystandards of democracy to his people, many Iranians felt that he, urged changetoo fast: he campaigned against the body-veiling chador as a symbol of theoppression of women, he made school attendance compulsory, and he invitedwestern firms to modernize transportation, communication, and buildingconstruction. These Iranians craved the security of the old ways and thuswelcomed the regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who mandated the veil, restoredHammurabi style justice, and denounced foreign devils. The pull of tradition, ahistorian's thematic staple, has fascinated writers of fiction for eons as well.In her short story "Maria Concepcion," Katherine Anne Porter uses thesocial milieu of a primitive Indian society in modern Mexico to advance thetheme that despite the influences of a new culture, a society is likely toretain most of its traditional values. In this story, the efforts of earlySpanish settlers and the Catholic Church to erase the pagan culture can befound everywhere, but they prove to be only a veneer under which the originalculture remains, essentially unaltered.