2. Introductions
• Begin by introducing the overall topic
• Lead into the issue and your thesis.
• Show the complexity of the issue, perhaps by
asking a question.
• Lead into the thesis.
3. Introductions
• Don’t do too much.
• Set your reader up for the rest of your paper.
• In a short paper, you want to explain your
point as quickly as possible.
As you develop and proofread your introduction,
the question to ask is, “Would a reader
understand what this paper is going to be
about based on these few sentences?”
4. Thesis
You may have always been told that a thesis has
to be: “My paper will be about this, this, and
this” or “In this paper, I will show that this is
this and that is that.” It doesn’t.
A good “thesis” is a roadmap for the rest of the
paper. It suggests where the paper is going
and what will be explored.
5. Introductions
• Lead into the issue and your thesis.
– It is difficult to have a discussion these days
without someone bringing up the way file sharing
is destroying the music industry. According to
David Lowery, the amount that artists make off
of their music has gone down 64% in the last
fifteen years. Musicians and artists constantly
claim that file-sharing is not merely “sharing,”
but piracy, stealing, or theft.
6. Introductions
• Show the complexity of the issue, perhaps by asking a
question.
– It is difficult to have a discussion these days without
someone bringing up the way file sharing is destroying the
music industry. According to David Lowery, the amount
that artists make off of their music has gone down 64% in
the last fifteen years. Musicians and artists constantly
claim that file-sharing is not merely “sharing,” but piracy,
stealing, or theft. However, so-called “pirates” argue that
they are merely searching for the best avenues to listen
to music through easily available sources. Are pirates
really “pirates,” or just technologically astute customers
who are looking for new and easier ways to find music.
Who is really hurt by file sharing?
7. Introductions
• Lead into the thesis.
– It is difficult to have a discussion these days without someone
bringing up the way file sharing is destroying the music industry.
According to David Lowery, the amount that artists make off of
their music has gone down 64% in the last fifteen years. Musicians
and artists constantly claim that file-sharing is not merely
“sharing,” but piracy, stealing, or theft. However, so-called
“pirates” argue that they are merely searching for the best
avenues to listen to music through easily available sources. Are
pirates really “pirates,” or just technologically astute customers
who are looking for new and easier ways to find music. Who is
really hurt by file sharing? In this paper, I will look at both sides
of the issue by looking at responses from those who are taking a
stand against file sharing as well as those who defend their
practices.
8. Introduction Paragraphs
• For your introduction, don’t do too much.
• Here might be an introduction for my paper:
– When Lebron James made his famous “decision” on
ESPN to go from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to
the Miami Heat, the world reacted. Many responded
strongly by calling him an egomaniac and a narcissist,
yet others came out in defense of Lebron and called
those critics alarmists.
• In these sentences, I’ve set the stage for what’s to
come. I’ve noted that there are a lot of responses
to the “Decision,” without taking a side on it.
9. Introduction Paragraphs
• When Lebron James made his famous “decision” on
ESPN to go from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers
to the Miami Heat, the world reacted. Many
responded strongly by calling him an egomaniac and
a narcissist, yet others came out in defense of Lebron
and called those critics alarmists. Was the public
overreacting to Lebron, or did Lebron act selfishly
and thoughtlessly in making a decision that
benefitted only himself?
• Now I’ve added a sentence that acts a transition to
what I am going to deal with in the paper.
10. Introduction Paragraphs
In this case, I’m setting up my
authors briefly as a way to
introduce them, and to briefly
explain what they’re talking
about.
When Lebron James made his famous
“decision” on ESPN to go from his
hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to the
Miami Heat, the world reacted. Many
responded strongly by calling him an
egomaniac and a narcissist, yet others
came out in defense of Lebron and
called those critics alarmists. Was the
public overreacting to Lebron, or did
Lebron act selfishly and thoughtlessly
in making a decision that benefitted
only himself? In this paper, I consider
articles by Deron Snyder, Wayne
McDonnell, Leonard Shapiro, and Phil
Taylor on alternate sides of the
debate. These critics show the wide
range of responses that both writers
and ordinary people had to the issue.
11. In this case, I’m not mentioning the
authors names, because I can
always introduce them later.
But I am explaining the kinds of
authors and sources I will be
dealing with in the paper.
When Lebron James made his famous
“decision” on ESPN to go from his
hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to the
Miami Heat, the world reacted. Many
responded strongly by calling him an
egomaniac and a narcissist, yet others
came out in defense of Lebron and
called those critics alarmists. Was the
public overreacting to Lebron, or did
Lebron act selfishly and thoughtlessly
in making a decision that benefitted
only himself? In this paper, I will
examine the opinion of sportswriters
who consider the different sides of
this issue.
12. Both of these introduction strategies can be effective.
When Lebron James made his famous
When Lebron James made his famous
“decision” on ESPN to go from his
“decision” on ESPN to go from his
hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to the
hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to
Miami Heat, the world reacted. Many
the Miami Heat, the world reacted.
responded strongly by calling him an
Many responded strongly by calling
egomaniac and a narcissist, yet others
him an egomaniac and a narcissist,
came out in defense of Lebron and
yet others came out in defense of
called those critics alarmists. Was the
Lebron and called those critics
public overreacting to Lebron, or did
alarmists. Was the public
Lebron act selfishly and thoughtlessly
overreacting to Lebron, or did
in making a decision that benefitted
Lebron act selfishly and
only himself? In this paper, I consider
thoughtlessly in making a decision
articles by Deron Snyder, Wayne
that benefitted only himself? In this
McDonnell, Leonard Shapiro, and Phil
paper, I will examine the opinion of
Taylor on alternate sides of the
sportswriters who consider the
debate. These critics show the wide
different sides of this issue.
range of responses that both writers
and ordinary people had to the issue.
This one works because it gives the reader a
“roadmap” of the various points that will be explored,
and set ups the authors who will be presented, and
what they are writing about.
This one works because it sets up the issue and the
kinds of arguments that will be explored. It does it in
a broader way.
13. Don’t do this
Lebron James left Cleveland for Miami, creating an
uproar. In this paper, I will consider the articles
Measure of a Champion by Phil Taylor, Stop Picking On
LeBron by Deron Snyder, Coverage of LeBron James's
decision brings ESPN's integrity into question yet again
By Leonard Shapiro, and LeBron: The Ego Has Landed
in South Beach By Wayne McDonnell. These articles
argue about whether or not Lebron was justified in his
decision-making.
This is boring for a reader. These titles and authors
don’t mean anything to them yet.
Don’t just state the name of the author and title. In
fact, as we’ll discuss, you should avoid quoting the
entire titles of articles altogether unless it’s absolutely
necessary.
14. What follows are some reasonably effective
examples of introductions for this kind of paper.
Since the synthesis is a relatively short paper, your
introduction should be pretty brief as well.
However, these also work as models for
introductions in general because they:
1. Set up the topic generally
2. Set up the information that is going to be explored
3. Set up the kinds of material that you’re going to be dealing
with.
4. Have a broad statement that explains what the paper is
going to be about
