Writing Academic English 4th Edition

60 Partn I Writingan"Essay
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Noticehowthegeneralstatementsintheintroductoryparagraphofthemodel

essayintroducethetopic.ThefirstsentenceisaboutthearrivalofEuropeansand

theirencounterwithnewcultures.Thenextsentencepointsoutthattherewerelarge

differencesbetweenEuropeanandNativeAmericans.Thenexttwosentencessay

thattwo-wayculturalexchangehappened,butthedirectionoftheexchangeandthe

specificitemsarenotidentified.

WhenthefirstEuropeanscametotheNorthAmericancontinent,they

encounteredthecompletelynewculturesoftheNativeAmericanpeoplesofNorth

America.NativeAmericans,whohadhighlydevelopedculturesinmanyrespects,

musthavebeenascuriousaboutthestrangeEuropeanmannersandcustomsasthe

Europeanswerecuriousaboutthem.Asalwayshappenswhentwoormorecultures

comeintocontact,therewasa culturalexchange.NativeAmericansadoptedsome

oftheEuropeans'ways,andtheEuropeansadoptedsomeoftheirways.

Thethesisstatementisspecific;itgivesthedirectionoftheexchange(Native

Americaninfluencesonmodernu.s.culture)andliststhesubtopics(language,art,

food,andgovernment).

Asa result,NativeAmericanshavemademanyvaluablecontributionstomodern

U.S.culture,particularlyintheareasoflanguage,art,food,andgovernment.

Funnel

1 ntroduction

Theintroductoryparagraphofthemodelessayis a funnelintroduction.Thisintro-

ductionissocalledbecauseit is shapedlikeafunnel-wideat thetopandnarrow

atthebottom.Itbeginswithoneortwoverygeneralsentencesaboutthetopic.

Eachsubsequentsentencebecomesincreasinglyfocusedonthetopicuntilthelast

sentence,whichstatesveryspecificallywhattheessaywillbeabout.Writinga

funnelintroductionis likefocusinga camerawitha telephotolens.Youstartwith

a widepictureandgraduallynarrowthefocussothatjustoneobjectappearsin

thecamera'sviewfinder:yourthesisstatement.

_General

statements

~__Thesis

statement

FunnelIntroduction