Compares the rhetorical strategies of 20 opening paragraphs from "Psychology Today" to those in 20 first paragraphs from student essays. Observes that professionals regularly begin exposition with narratives, indirection, and irony, while students begin with rhetorical questions, truisms, and muddled strategies. Concludes that students'…

Discusses problems of writing introductions in light of the theories of H. P. Grice, C. Altieri, K. Burke, and Aristotle, illustrated with scientific writing, rhetorical criticism, and student letters and essays. Approaches the introduction as text both about subject matter and about the intended reader, situation invoked, and writer's own…