INTRODUCTION TO INTRO WRITING

Introduction

Speech and debate are argument-based activities. In Interpretation, competitors shape an author's work to argue the truth about the human condition. In each interpretation event, a student writes and performs an introduction to the performance. The introduction is the 30-45 second segment that follows your teaser, in which you explain the main message of your piece and give the title and author of your source material. The introduction, in short, is the central argument of the performance or the lens through which you want the audience to view a performance. 

This is the ONLY part of an interpretation that the competitor writes themselves. Introductions begin with a broad concept, theme, or historical explanation, then provide details specific to the particular selection. There are no real requirements for this section under NSDA rules, other than that it must include the title and author. The template below is a good place to start if you are unsure how to write your intro, but keep in mind that it is a rudimentary formula and not set in stone. 

Name it: Create a desire to watch the piece. 

The AGD, or the attention-grabbing device, is how you will create a desire in your audience or judge to watch the piece. There are five basic types of AGDs: 

• Rhetorical question – A question used to pique the audience's curiosity 

  • How many people will be diagnosed as HIV positive this year? How many of those will develop full-blown AIDS? 

• Statistic – A statistic or data used to startle your audience 

  • According to ESPN, Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance drew an average of 128.2 Million Viewers, ranking as the 4th-largest halftime show in history.

• Anecdote – A short story, personal or otherwise, that ties the selection to your credibility. 

  • When I was nine, I put a marble in my ear…I know none of you have ever done anything that stupid 

• Famous quote – Using a quote gives the audience recognition on a different plane, rather than literature

  • “Ask not what your country can do for you…” – Author and background on quote  

• Joke – Everyone loves humor, and it can make an audience feel comfortable to go on your journey 

  • I've had two kinds of disappointments in my life… one of them was telling my Asian parents I chose HI instead of debate. My parents had a very clear vision for my future, and apparently, Humorous Interpretation wasn't part of it.

Explain it: What does your AGD have to do with your piece? 

Now that you've written an AGD for your introduction, you need to explain the relevance of the AGD to the message you are trying to push with your piece. It justifies the canon and makes the connection between the literature and the audience. It shows your intellect and unique attributes. Here are two examples using the AGDs above: 

Using the AGD from the Statistic AGD, "According to ESPN, Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance brought in an average of 128.2 Million Viewers, ranking as the 4th largest halftime show in history." A good way to explain it would be "With the existence of this other halftime show, it's clear that parts of American society want to push Latinos out." It explains the relevance of mentioning Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show in the AGD, then connecting it to the uprising in racism toward Latino people in America. 

Using the AGD from the Joke AGD, "I've had two kinds of disappointments in my life… one of them was telling my Asian parents I chose HI instead of debate. My parents had a very clear vision for my future. Apparently, Humorous Interpretation wasn't part of it." A good way to explain it would be "When you're raised believing anything less than perfection is failure, that pressure can become suffocating. And it doesn't just push Asian American kids to succeed, it shoves many into anxiety, depression, and silence." It explains the relevance of the joke about parental expectations, then connects it to the pressure that Asian American kids feel because of it.

Prove it: This is why the piece matters!

Now that the issue has been identified, you need to link it to the piece. You will provide the audience with the perspective from which the performance is launched and share your point of view on the piece, providing a framework for understanding it. Here are two examples, continuing the ones from above: 

According to ESPN, Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance drew an average of 128.2 Million Viewers, ranking as the 4th-largest halftime show in history. With the existence of this other halftime show, it's clear that parts of American society want to push Latinos out. At the end of the day, we are Latin…AMERICANS. 

I've had two kinds of disappointments in my life… one of them was telling my Asian parents I chose HI instead of debate. My parents had a very clear vision for my future, and apparently, Humorous Interpretation wasn't part of it. When you're raised believing anything less than perfection is failure, that pressure can become suffocating. And it doesn't just push Asian American kids to succeed, it shoves many into anxiety, depression, and silence. It's issues like these that made me choose interpretation. It's not just acting, it's a unique event where we critique social problems and sometimes, say what we can't always explain to our parents.

Conclude it: Connection to piece, title, and author.

Finally, explain the connection between the issue in the piece and the piece itself. Oftentimes, this is the shortest, just a sentence summarizing the piece, but also not giving too much away. The last sentence of the introduction for traditional interpretation events is the title of the piece and the author. In contrast, for black book events, you must name the title and author for each piece of literature in your program. Here is an example, continuing the second introduction from above. 

I've had two kinds of disappointments in my life… one of them was telling my Asian parents I chose HI instead of debate. My parents had a very clear vision for my future, and apparently, Humorous Interpretation wasn't part of it. When you're raised believing anything less than perfection is failure, that pressure can become suffocating. And it doesn't just push Asian American kids to succeed, it shoves many into anxiety, depression, and silence. It's issues like these that made me choose interpretation. It's not just acting, it's a unique event where we critique social problems and sometimes, say what we can't always explain to our parents. These same issues follow Tiffany when her overbearing mother shows up at camp. Forced to choose between keeping up the perfect daughter act or finally standing up for herself, Tiffany must decide who she really wants to be. Camp Stinky Waka by Pamela Eels O’Connell.

Introduction Examples (Written)

Now that we've walked through how to write one, here are some introduction examples from the NSDA Interpretation of Literature textbook for each event to provide you with a better example of what an introduction for each event can look like. (Sidenote: These introductions cited from the textbook are more than a decade old, which means that the writing style may have changed since then. However, the core structure and components are still there.) 

Dramatic Interpretation 

T.S. Elliot once noted, “the end of our exploring is to arrive where we first started

and to know that place for the very first time." As an actor, devout Mormon, husband, and father, Stephen Fales has played many roles for many people. But he reminds us all in his autobiographical one-man show that to be oneself and to love oneself is the greatest role of all. Confessions of a Mormon Boy by Stephen Fales – Mike Dahlgren, 2009 National Final Round 

Humorous Interpretation 

Tonight, I would like you all to go home, look at yourself in the mirror, alone, naked. Do you like what you see? If not, that's okay, because someone, somewhere...HAS to be uglier than you. Unfortunately, looking in the mirror and picking out things about

yourself you wish you could change happens to most of us. Including me. But all it takes is one person to show you that you are who you are...and that's a SEXY thing. Fat Kids on Fire by Bekah Brunstetter – Lindsey White, 2010 National Final Round 

Duo Interpretation 

Performer 1: August 1, 1966

Performer 2: University of Texas

Both: 16 Killed

Performer 1: April 20, 1999

Performer 2: Columbine High School

Both: 15 Killed

Performer 1: April 16, 2007

Performer 2: Virginia Tech

Both: 33 Killed

Performer 1: March 31, 2011

Performer 2: Worthing High School

Both: 1 Dead

Performer 1: And that's one too many.

Performer 2: The brutal murder of today's youth has become an epidemic

Performer 1: But instead of societies searching for a way to fix this problem, everyone is looking for someone to blame. 

Performer 2: Herman Howard is a victim of bullying, and a broken home becomes one of those teens lost in the shuffle.

Performer 1: Making him another statistic

Both: Hello Herman

Performer 1: by John Buffalo Mailer

Introduction Examples (Performed)