开篇段写作按部就班

本文讲讨论thesis statement的写法，并给出两个适合cause and effect essay的thesis statement样例。并探讨general statements写作的注意事项，要多general才合适呢？

首先，我们来看thesis statement。这是之前阅读的两篇cause and effect essays，我们就以这两篇essays的thesis statements为例。

第一篇讨论社会压力对女性健康的影响。作者在Thesis statement中提到了cause，即社会压力，和影响的方面：

[The negative impact of socially constructed stress on women] causes [a wide range of health issues that can be both physiologically and psychologically].

Thesis statement很具体，因为作者在介绍effects时用了限制性定语从句，把健康问题具体到了生理和心理两方面。这样读者看了thesis statement后，就能对文章的大致内容进行预测，即作者会从生理和心理两方面探讨社会压力对女性健康的影响。

我们再来观察这个句子的主干：

The negative impact of socially constructed stress on women causes a wide range of health issues that can be both physiologically and psychologically.

这句话的主干可以总结为：

[The negative impact of PHENOMENON on SUBJECT causes EFFECTS]

假如我们现在要写The effects of being labelled as gifted and talented on students，那么thesis statement套用这个句子主干，就可以写成：

The negative impact of being labeled as gifted and talented causes relationship problems for the labeled students with their peers at school and with siblings at home.

第二篇essay讨论数字技术对儿童阅读的影响。作者在thesis statement提到了cause和两个effects：

The development of the digital environment, including interactive books, graphics, websites, games, movies, and television, has dramatically expanded the realm of children's literature and has influenced the way that children interact with reading and language.

Thesis statement中提到的两个具体的effects，即拓展了儿童的阅读领域，和影响了儿童和阅读及语言互动的方式。thesis statement写得具体，才能让读者一目了然。

这句话的主干是两部分：

[The development of the digital environment, including interactive books, graphics, websites, games, movies, and television,] [has dramatically expanded the realm of children's literature and has influenced the way that children interact with reading and language.]

可以总结为：

[PHENOMENON + EFFECTS]

如果套用这个结构，在为The effects of being labelled as gifted and talented on students写个thesis statement，可以写成：

Being labeled as gifted and talented may influence students’ relationship with their non-labeled peers and siblings, and hinder the development of their social skills.

虽然Thesis statement是introductory paragraph的最后一句，但是可以先写好thesis statement，再写general statements。

Attention-getting introduction里，general statements通常会描述一个真实案例，学生的写作一般都很有创意，没有大问题。需要注意的是funnel introduction的general statements。

Funnel introduction是个漏斗形，由general到specific。在学生的写作中，一般把握不好一开始general的程度，往往会过度general，以致于描述的现象和真正要写的topic相差甚远，不能很好得起到介绍话题的作用。

在学生的写作中，无论作文题目是什么，一般都可以以globalization, the development of technology开篇。比如，和经济相关的话题、和教育相关的话题、和旅游相关的话题，都可以和globalization扯上关系。可这样的开篇太宽泛，和真正的topic关系并不大。

比如funnel introduction的例文，topic是社会压力对女性健康的影响。如果以“随着全球化的进程，人们的节奏越来越快”开头，就过于宽泛了。例文是以生活中的压力开头的。

In our lives, we all experience stress; these stress come from many factors that include the urgency to perform under pressure, to need to do well in school or at the workplace, or from the multi-faceted roles that we must play within our lives.

Stress in life和普通读者都经历的事，容易让读者理解，从读者熟知的生活压力引入社会压力顺理成章，自然而然，不会像从全球化引到社会压力有巨大的跨度。

所以虽然funnel introduction由general statements引入，却也不能描述太general的现象，还是要尽量选择读者熟悉的、和topic尽可能相关的角度切入。