The document discusses introductions to essays. An introduction should be 5-10 sentences and catch the reader's interest. It provides background on the topic and states the main thesis. The introduction generally moves from general ideas to more specific ones, culminating in the thesis statement. A strong introduction clearly introduces the topic, gives information about it, and states the thesis. A weak introduction may provide too much or too little information or discuss multiple topics. An introduction can be made more interesting through facts, personal stories, examples or quotations.

1. Module 6
What’s an introduction
The first paragraph of an essay is called the
introduction. The introduction …
•is usually five to ten sentences.
•catches the reader’s interest.
•gives the general topic of the essay
•gives background information about the topic
•States the main point (the thesis statement) of
the essay.

2. What’s an introduction
The introduction is often organized by giving the most
general ideas first and then leading to the most specific
idea, which is the thesis statement, like this:
General ideas
Specific idea
(Thesis statement)

3. What’s an introduction
Look at this example from an essay you have read before:
General ideas
•English as a world language today is the result of events that
happened a long time ago.
•English was introduced to North America in the seventeenth
century.
•Although American and British people can understand each
other, there are differences between the two forms of English
Specific idea
(Thesis statement)
•Certain differences in vocabulary and the use of idioms
between American and British English can cause
misunderstandings between speakers

4. How to write a strong introduction
A strong introduction …
•introduces the topic clearly
•gives several sentences of
information about the topic
•States the thesis (the main idea) of
the essay

5. How to write a strong introduction
Any of the following will make an
introduction weak
•It doesn’t give enough information about
the topic or gives too much information
about it.
•It talks about too many different topics
•It does not state a clear thesis.

6. How to make an introduction interesting
To make an introductory paragraph
interesting for the reader, you can
include …
•interesting facts or statistics,
•a personal story or example,
•an interesting quotation.

7. How to make an introduction interesting
To make an introductory paragraph
interesting for the reader, you can
include …
•interesting facts or statistics,
•a personal story or example,
•an interesting quotation.