In questions 1 and 2, choose the better introduction: the one that, in addition to engaging the reader’s attention, clearly states a thesis.
Discuss your answers with a partner.
Question 1:
a. Soft money is the term used for campaign contributions that sidestep laws governing the amount of contributions candidates can get from any one source. Many election campaigns are financed largely with soft money, whether it is raised by the candidates themselves or by their party organizations. Soft money pays for items such as television ads that endorse a political issue rather than a candidate.
b. Every election year, political parties and candidates raise millions of dollars in soft money, contributions that sidestep laws limiting the amount of money a candidate can receive from any one source. Because unregulated soft money can make winning candidates feel indebted to wealthy donors such as unions and corporations, we must close the undemocratic loopholes in our current campaign finance laws.
Question 2:
a. In the eighteenth century, an English clockmaker named John Harrison received a prize for a clever invention that allowed sailors to calculate longitude. He created a clock that required no pendulum and contained different kinds of metal. This clock worked on board a ship that was at sea, and it worked in many different temperatures and climates.
b. Until the eighteenth century, ships at sea had no way of calculating longitude with any accuracy. As a result, countless sailors died when their ships lost track of their position in the ocean and ran aground or failed to find their way home. Great scientific minds tried to solve the problem of longitude without success, but it was a self-taught English clockmaker, John Harrison, who invented a device that worked. Harrison’s invention must rank as one of the greatest contributions to the field of navigation.
