Expository essay introductory paragraph

1. Expository Essay:
Writing the Introductory
Paragraph
AJ. RUSSELL RODRIGO

6. Problem solving will almost always grab your reader’s attention,
especially in an academic context.
1. Solve a problem.
Consumption of processed and convenience foods and our dependence on the car
have led to an increase in obesity and reduction in the fitness level of the adult
population.

8. For an essay about perseverance

9. For an essay about success and failure

10. For an essay about bullying

11. For an essay about courage

12. For an essay about marriage

13. Facts can quickly interest readers and make them want to read more. Try to
think of an interesting/shocking/weird fact about your topic.
“Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok
Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon
Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit.” Yes, that’s the
complete Thai name of Bangkok and has been listed as the longest name for a
place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

14. Acknowledge what others have said on the subject.
Other people suggest that students should fabricate facts or
statistics when other sources are unavailable, but this approach
is unacceptable as it seems academically dishonest.
For some topics, the amount of literature available can be overwhelming. If
you are writing on a popular topic, it’s best to acknowledge in your
introduction that much has been written on the subject.

15. Point out an irony or a paradox
The paradox of our times is that people
have taller buildings, but shorter tempers,
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
People have learnt how to make a living,
but not a life.
Paradoxes are logic puzzles, seemingly
contradictory statements. They’re great to use in
introductions as a way to get the reader’s attention.

16.  Start your paper with a general statement about
your topic that catches the reader’s attention, a
relevant quotation, question, anecdote,
fascinating fact, definition, analogy, the position
opposing one you will take, or a dilemma that
needs a solution.
Hook/Opening Statement
Context/Background
 Provide the information the reader will need to
understand the topic.
Thesis Statement
 State your topic, focus and main points
Introduction

17. Is billionaire Donald Trump’s spectacularly bad hair
real or fake? Donald Trump is an American real
estate mogul and media personality. In 2012, he ran
for President of the United States. Trump is currently
worth 3.9 billion dollars, but aside from his business
success, he is best known for his amazingly bad hair.
This essay will reveal how Donald Trump’s hair has
changed over the years, and it will answer whether
his mop is the real deal or a weird wig.
Hook
Context/Background
Thesis Statement

18. Globalization has been around since Man started to seek out new
food sources, shelter, and other essential requirements to live. The
modern age of globalization has allowed the world to be everywhere
at once, in a sense. You can walk down the street of pretty much any
city in the world and find a 7-Eleven, and right around the corner will
be another one. In most major cities, you can simply pick up the
telephone, or even get on the Internet, and order anything from
gourmet meals to pizza and other fast food, having it delivered straight
to your doorstep. International consumerism is generally perceived as
positive, but as stated by The Levin Institute, (n.d.), “the new
availability of foreign foods in a market – often at cheaper prices – can
displace local farmers”, and often those local foods are replaced with
fast food. The Levin Institute, in the same paper, went on to use France
as an example of how the infiltration of American style fast food is
often considered sub-par by many in French society. With time, this
quest has led us to increased international consumerism combined with
a meshing of cultures and traditions allowing fast food to be made
available in all corners of the world, thus having a direct impact on
health and lifestyle. Globalization causes blurring cultural identity,
cultural lines, health issues due to fast food overconsumption, and
sedentary lifestyle.
Read this sample
introductory paragraph
and identify the following:
1. Hook
2. Context or
background
3. Thesis statement

19. Opening Statement
Context/
Background
Thesis Statement
Globalization has been around since Man started to seek out new food
sources, shelter, and other essential requirements to live. The modern age of
globalization has allowed the world to be everywhere at once, in a sense.
You can walk down the street of pretty much any city in the world and find a
7-Eleven, and right around the corner will be another one. In most major
cities, you can simply pick up the telephone, or even get on the Internet, and
order anything from gourmet meals to pizza and other fast food, having it
delivered straight to your doorstep. International consumerism is generally
perceived as positive, but as stated by The Levin Institute, (n.d.), “the new
availability of foreign foods in a market – often at cheaper prices – can
displace local farmers”, and often those local foods are replaced with fast
food. The Levin Institute, in the same paper, went on to use France as an
example of how the infiltration of American style fast food is often
considered sub-par by many in French society. With time, this quest has led
us to increased international consumerism combined with a meshing of
cultures and traditions allowing fast food to be made available in all corners
of the world, thus having a direct impact on health and lifestyle.
Globalization causes blurring cultural identity, cultural lines, health issues
due to fast food overconsumption, and sedentary lifestyle.

20. Use Varied Sentence Structure
 Sentences are the building blocks of writing.
 The ways sentences are constructed affect the fluency or the
flow of the writing.
 Expository essays are enhanced when the writer uses
purposeful sentences that are varied in both length and
structure

21. Examples of how writers can vary sentences to
improve their writing include the following:
1. Using a variety of sentence patterns: simple, compound, and complex
 Combining short sentences with prepositional phrases or participial phrases
 People gather and socialize in a fashion, which is much different from the grab and go lifestyle in the
United States.
 Combining short sentences by linking items of equal importance with a coordinating conjunction
 You can walk down the street of pretty much any city in the world and find a 7-Eleven, and right around
the corner will be another one.
 International consumerism is generally perceived as positive, but as stated by The Levin Institute, (n.d.),
“the new availability of foreign foods in a market – often at cheaper prices – can displace local
farmers”, and often those local foods are replaced with fast food.
 Combining short sentences containing ideas that are of unequal importance with a subordinating
conjunction
 Starbucks has caused an uproar in Italy due to the cookie cutter approach to a time-honored tradition.

22. Examples of how writers can vary sentences to
improve their writing include the following:
2. Varying sentence beginnings by starting sentences in different ways
 With an adverb
 With a phrase (i.e., prepositional, participial, or infinitive)
 With an introductory clause
3. Breaking up long, rambling sentences (often run-on sentences) into two or
three shorter sentences