The first line of an essay should usually be what we call a "hook," which is a line to get the reader's attention and make them want to know more. I always give my students various options for what a hook could be. For example, they could use a surprising statistic: "More than half of the people on Earth live on less than $2 a day." Another option would be a short anecdote. These aren't the only options of course, but they're very good and always neglected by my students. Nevertheless, they generally seem to ignore my suggestions and go for their old reliable formula, which goes something like "[whatever the topic is] is an important issue nowadays."
Of course, this doesn't really meet the criteria I was asking for. I like to point out to students that simply saying that something is important doesn't really make it important. More so, if a teacher or parent says to them, "Now pay attention. This is important," chances are they're not going to listen or think the upcoming is message is actually important. I tell them that good writers show instead of tell (like by using a statistic, or an anecdote, like I've been saying all along).
Still, other students have another strategy that still doesn't really work: they use the superlative. If saying "Fast food is an important thing in people's lives" is a weak hook and doesn't get the reader's attention, then certainly saying, "Fast food is the most important thing in people's lives," will. At least, I imagine this is what their thought process is. The problem is that this doesn't remotely make their writing stronger because it's clearly an exaggeration. The note I usually make when someone writes this is, "Really?!? More important than family? Than your religion? Than breathing?" This usually drives the point home. I then remind them of what I've been saying from the beginning, that they should use some sort of statistic or anecdote. For example, they could talk about how there's an intersection here in Doha that locals refer to as cholesterol corner because there are several American fast food chains on all sides of it, or they could also talk about how this city has the highest number of Hardee's restaurants per capita of any city in the world. I'm not sure that last one is actually true, but it feels like it. Seriously, there are an absurd number of Hardee's here.
Of course, this doesn't really meet the criteria I was asking for. I like to point out to students that simply saying that something is important doesn't really make it important. More so, if a teacher or parent says to them, "Now pay attention. This is important," chances are they're not going to listen or think the upcoming is message is actually important. I tell them that good writers show instead of tell (like by using a statistic, or an anecdote, like I've been saying all along).
Still, other students have another strategy that still doesn't really work: they use the superlative. If saying "Fast food is an important thing in people's lives" is a weak hook and doesn't get the reader's attention, then certainly saying, "Fast food is the most important thing in people's lives," will. At least, I imagine this is what their thought process is. The problem is that this doesn't remotely make their writing stronger because it's clearly an exaggeration. The note I usually make when someone writes this is, "Really?!? More important than family? Than your religion? Than breathing?" This usually drives the point home. I then remind them of what I've been saying from the beginning, that they should use some sort of statistic or anecdote. For example, they could talk about how there's an intersection here in Doha that locals refer to as cholesterol corner because there are several American fast food chains on all sides of it, or they could also talk about how this city has the highest number of Hardee's restaurants per capita of any city in the world. I'm not sure that last one is actually true, but it feels like it. Seriously, there are an absurd number of Hardee's here.
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