Donald Murray recommends that in order to find a good title, we have to write a lot of bad ones. Hence, jot down ten potential titles in the space provided below. Remember the title reveals your essay's focus, tone, direction, and limits.
Much like the title, an effective lead-in has to capture and hold the reader's attention by providing information that is pertinent as well as interesting. In no more than five or six sentences, write two completely different leads with a new direction and different tone. (Do not yet state your thesis here.)
Now state your tentative working thesis and essay map. Does it suffer from the infamous "so-what?" syndrome? How can you avoid this?