In “The Craft of Research” Chapter 16, Wayne C. Booth explains how to effectively use introductions and conclusions. The introduction is composed of a pattern that Booth calls, “Context + Problem + Response,” and setting the foundation of the introduction with “common ground.” This introduction is clearly effective in the examples made; however, I found that the introduction becomes bland insanely quick, especially when the same style is read consecutively.
Many of the introductions in “The Craft of Research” lack the attention-grabbing factor that I believe is integral in a successful introduction. I enjoy anecdotes that tell a personal and unique story that can put a special spin onto a piece of writing. Although the introduction provided by Booth uses questions to make it interesting, the purpose of the question as the context makes the questions lose the interesting factor that it could have had.
I agree that establishing common ground is important in an introduction as to not lose the reader’s attention in the first paragraph. Yet, there are many ways to make an introduction captivating that are not the mentioned methods in chapter 16.