2. As the first part of the essay, the introduction is important
because it is what readers will first see and read. It should be
attractive and interesting. To help you better write
introductions, we share insightful tips for you.
3. To guide you in writing
introductions, you should know
its purpose and carry it out.
Your goal in writing this part of
the essay is to attract readers
through it or get their interest
by it. This is the first function
that you should perform with
the introduction.
CARRY OUT THE PURPOSE
4. Now you know that you should
attract or get the interest of
your readers. So, define who
your readers are and keep
them in mind the whole time you
are writing your introduction
from start to finish. As a
student, the most important
reader that you should put in
mind is your professor.
HAVE YOUR READERS IN MIND
5. Alternatively or additionally, your
professor may specify a different
target reader that you should write
for. Whoever your target readers
are, you should think about them
when you write the introduction of
your essay. This way you can better
think of what will be interesting or
attractive to them or how you can
make things interesting or attractive
to them.
6. Interesting and Effective
An essay's introduction should be
interesting so that it can attract
target readers. However, this is not
enough. It should also be effective
with its second function.
An introduction should be effective in
providing readers with a guide on
what are the important ideas that
they will expect to read later in the
discussion part or body of the essay.
7. For an introduction to be effective in presenting to
readers the essay's important ideas it should help you
the writer of the essay to:
reveal the
central idea
or thesis of
the essay
guide readers
to important
ideas in the
body of the
essay
provide relevant
background
information to
help readers
understand the
essay's purpose
and thesis
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8. Essay's Purpose and Its Introduction
The purpose of your essay is
an important factor to
consider when writing its
introduction. The introduction
should jive with the purpose
of the essay.
9. Examples of Introductions
PURPOSE / ESSAY INTRODUCTION
persuasive essay prepare readers for the discussion part
informative essay prepare readers for the discussion part
narrative essay the first event of the story
10. Thesis Statement
The thesis statement is usually
required in higher education academic
essay writing. This sentence or two
or three reveal the central idea of the
essay. The best organised way is to
put the thesis statement at the end
part of the introduction.
11. Introduction Writing Strategies
The general format and flow of the introduction
starts with the attractive or interesting hook that
leads to the thesis (thesis statement). These two
parts should stimulate in readers an interest in
the topic.
Here are some introduction writing strategies to
help you.
12. You can describe a scene or tell an anecdote.
Example:
The hunt of one student for a part-time job once
brought him to a waiting area for applicants. The scene
offered him the chance to say to himself, “Whew, I'm too
young for this.”
(a part of an introduction in an essay in labour economics
course)
13. Provide relevant background information.
Example:
For a business organisation to succeed, it needs to set a
goal and work as a unit to achieve such aim. If one among
these elements of organisation is missing – goal, people,
resources and strategy – there would be no success. If
there is no success, it could even be that there is no
organisation. The organisation exists because of its goals.
Without goal, there is no organisation.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in business
management studies)
14. Example:
What is work? Do you want to know what is work? Do
you know what it means, even just at least to me? People
go to the office or any other workplace every day. They
receive their pay checks after every 15 days. Observe
these people without prejudice. Try to think how why they
do what they do. That is what to them what is work. It has a
unique meaning to them. And it has another unique meaning
to other people.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in human resources
studies)
Address your readers directly.
15. Use a comparison, a contrast or an analogy.
Example:
Meet Employee A. He is a worker that is diligent, well-
organised, productive, efficient and effective. That is why
he is an excellent performer at the office.
16. Example:
Meet Employee B. He is a worker that grabs every
opportunity to avoid tasks and if such is assigned to him,
he avoids actually doing it. He does not have any report to
give during meetings because he does not perform the
task of documenting what work he is doing. And besides,
he almost does not have any accomplished work to do so.
17. Example:
But when Employee A is asked why does he do all these
at work, he answers “… because I am lazy.”
18. Example:
Because he is lazy, Employee A does not want to do his
tasks again because of mistakes and so he is diligent in
doing them. He does not want to do things over and over
again, so he organises his work well. He wants to sleep in
the office resting area, so he finishes his work as early as
he can. He is an excellent performer and produces high
quality and sufficient output at work because he, says he
himself, is lazy. (a part of an introduction in an essay in a
psychology subject)
19. Example:
During the year that passed, 2014, the number of hiring
officers and recruiters who used video interviews such
as Skype accounted for 24%. The number was 18%
during 2012. This shows that this substitute of the
traditional walk-in actual face-to-face interview has a
growing popularity among employers.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in a business
communications subject)
Use a statistic or a startling remark.
20. Example:
Religion and spirituality is a debate within the person.
There are people who believe that there is a supreme
being and there are those who do not. Some do not want
to think about it and say that it is not up to them to
ascertain. But why do believers came to be so? What is
it in them that caused them to “hope in things that cannot
be seen?” Do they have something that other do not?
(a part of an introduction in an essay in religious studies)
Ask a question or present a problem.
21. Example:
“Work makes man perfect.” That is an old saying which
may have been forgotten. The new generation might not
be aware of it, even. In the context of office and
corporate work, what is given emphasis is efficiency.
The goal of working is to reduce work itself. In other
words, people work because they want to avoid further
or later work.
Use a quotation.
22. Example:
We can see this paradigm shift in the phenomena of
employees systematising and automating their work,
employers streamlining their operations and
businessmen and aspiring businessmen aiming to
multiply their profits while exponentially reducing their
working time and effort.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in history)
23. Example:
There is an elephant in the company. And their
business is not a zoo or anything related to animals.
There is an elephant in the office. According to the
encyclopaedic dictionary, “elephant in the room is an
English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is
either being ignored or going unaddressed. It is also an
idiomatic expression that applies to an obvious problem
or risk no one wants to discuss.
Define an important term or concept.
24. Example:
The company has an elephant in the room. As the
people in the organisation avoids the topic, their problem
is one for case studies in business management
textbooks.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in business
management course)
25. Example:
People can give what they do not have. Yes, they can.
They can purchase luxuries in life even though they do
not have the cash to do so. They can even do so with
cash that they do not really own or, to be more specific,
did not earn. One best – or shall we say worst – way to
give what you do not have is to live beyond your means.
(a part of an introduction in an essay in personal finance in
a finance course)
Open with a paradox.
26. Challenge a widely held assumption or opinion.
Climate change is not true. It is a fallacy. It is a lie. It is a fraud.
We can hear this every now and then. That is what some
people say. But who are these people? Let us take a look at
their arguments and who they are. And let us also look at the
people who say that climate change is true, what they say
about it and who they are. (a part of an introduction in an
essay in science)
27. Things to avoid when writing introductions.
Do not be too obvious. Avoid bald or very direct statements like
“In this essay, I will discuss the definition of work.”
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28. Do not apologise. Avoid statements which are self-critical like “I
am not sure if I am right, but I think...” or “I do not have much
background regarding this topic...”
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29. Do not use overused sayings and avoid empty statements like
“Love is what makes the world go round” or “Haste makes
waste.”
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