ABSTRACT
The purpose of the lead often is explained in terms of function: It is there to hook the reader, to get him or her to read the rest of the story.
That sounds much too much like a mechanical function: It's like the first stage of a three-stage rocket, the booster that is meant to get the missile off the platform before it is jettisoned and lost over the ocean forever, its work complete so the serious business of space travel can carry on high above.
