Drafting the Introduction Paragraph + Appositive Commas

Teacher reads two introductions — one with appositive identifying author, one without. Children compare effect.

• Read both
• Ask 'what does the appositive add?'
• Note: appositive provides extra info without a new sentence

Today you draft the INTRODUCTION of your literary essay AND meet APPOSITIVE COMMAS. The literary-essay introduction has 3 moves: HOOK (open with a question, vivid image, or surprising claim about the text), CONTEXT (1 sentence orienting the reader to the text — what it's about, its tradition, its claim to fame), THESIS-ABOUT-TEXT (from MG-4 — text + position + insight + three-claims preview). 4 to 6 sentences total. Watch teacher draft an intro for the Esperanza Rising resilience essay: HOOK: 'What does resilience look like when a child loses everything?' CONTEXT: 'Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising, the 2000 Pura Belpre medal winner, follows a wealthy Mexican girl whose father's death sends her family to a California labor camp.' THESIS: 'In Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, the writer uses moments of physical labor to show that resilience is adaptation, not survival. Three moments carry this idea: Esperanza learning to soothe the babies, Esperanza sweeping the platform, and Esperanza preparing the harvest meal.' 4 sentences. Now APPOSITIVE COMMAS (MG-12). An APPOSITIVE is a noun phrase that renames an adjacent noun, set off by commas. RULE: Noun + COMMA + renaming noun phrase + COMMA + rest of sentence. EXAMPLE 1: 'Maya, my neighbor, brought cookies.' (Maya is renamed by 'my neighbor'). EXAMPLE 2: 'Esperanza, the daughter of a wealthy rancher, became a worker.' (Esperanza is renamed by 'the daughter of a wealthy rancher'). EXAMPLE 3: 'Woodson, the author of Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award.' (Woodson is renamed by 'the author of Brown Girl Dreaming'). NOTICE: the appositive can be removed and the sentence still makes sense — that's the test for NON-RESTRICTIVE (uses commas). Compare RESTRICTIVE (no commas): 'The girl who brought cookies is my neighbor.' (the clause 'who brought cookies' is ESSENTIAL — it identifies WHICH girl). Most literary-essay appositives are non-restrictive (extra info about the author or character) — they take commas. Today, add at least one appositive to your intro that identifies the AUTHOR or the TEXT'S tradition. Common move: 'Pam Munoz Ryan, the Mexican-American author of Esperanza Rising, ___' or 'Esperanza Rising, the 2000 Pura Belpre medal winner, ___'.

• Notice the second comma after 'medal winner'. Forgetting the second comma is the most common error.

  model See narrative.

  prompt Teacher drafts intro for Esperanza Rising essay with appositive.

• What are the 3 moves in a literary-essay introduction?
• What is an appositive?
• How is a non-restrictive appositive different from a restrictive clause?

M-5-S-WR-10-A Chart Physical / non-image

11x17 chart: 3 moves (hook / context / thesis-about-text) shown vertically. Each move has a worked example sentence from the Esperanza essay. Appositive in the context move highlighted yellow with BOTH commas circled. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

M-5-S-GR-10-B Chart

Reproduction of MG-12 at 11x17: rule + 4 worked examples + restrictive/non-restrictive note with the 'removable test' explained. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-12 Chart

Appositive comma anchor: rule + 4 worked examples + types. RULE: 'Noun, +Renaming Noun Phrase, + rest of sentence.' Example 1: 'Maya, my neighbor, brought cookies.' Example 2: 'Esperanza, the daughter of a wealthy rancher, became a worker.' Example 3: 'Woodson, the author of Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award.' Example 4: 'Melody, a girl with cerebral palsy, finds her voice through a communication device.' Below: NON-RESTRICTIVE vs. RESTRICTIVE NOTE — non-restrictive (extra info, COMMAS): 'My sister, Maya, brought cookies.' Restrictive (essential info, NO commas): 'The girl who brought cookies is my neighbor.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Draft YOUR introduction paragraph. 3 moves: hook + context + thesis-about-text. 4-6 sentences.

  scaffold MG-2 anchor; MG-4 thesis-about-text; intro 3-move card
• Add ONE appositive to your intro identifying the AUTHOR or the TEXT'S tradition. Use BOTH commas.

  scaffold MG-12 anchor
• Pair-share. Partner asks: 'Is your hook a hook (not a summary)? Are both appositive commas there?'

  scaffold Partner-check card

• Show your introduction (3 moves).
• Underline the appositive in green; check BOTH commas.
• Move status-tile to DRAFT.

• Star your strongest move in the intro.
• Predict: tomorrow we work on body completion and roots part 2.

• At home tonight, find 1 appositive in your home reading. Note both commas. Bring.