Introductions

The first idea I would want to suggest about introductions is that you don’t necessarily need to write one before you write the essay.  Many students will get stuck right off the bat on their papers because they are waiting for an idea for an introduction.  The reason they might be stuck is because they are trying to introduce an essay they haven’t written yet.  At times, it might be more efficient for you to write the body of the essay first before you write the introduction for it.  Then you will know what it is that you are trying to introduce, so the idea for the introduction may come more easily.

Having said that, let me answer two questions about introductions:  what is the purpose of an introduction, and how do you write a good one?  Introductions are used as a way to capture the interest of your reader and to let them know what they will be reading in the body of the essay.  Imagine how jarred you might feel if you began to read the bulk of a body of material right away without knowing what you might be facing within that material.  You might not want to proceed.  So instead of just rushing into the body of the material, most writers introduce their topic to guide their reader into the body of work that is to come.  So the purpose of the introduction is to motivate your reader to read further and to alert them about what they will be reading.

To write a good introduction, you need to reflect on this purpose.  So since your first purpose is to capture the attention of your reader, you would begin your introduction with a motivator.  There are six techniques that many writers use to capture the attention of their readers:

Whichever technique you decide to use in your introduction, you would want to make sure that it is relevant to your topic.

The next part of the introduction would then alert your reader about what they will be reading.  So you will need to present them with some background information on your topic to give them with the big picture of your topic, so to speak.  You would want this information to be more general; you do not necessarily need to suggest all the points you are going to cover in your essay.  Just provide your reader with the information they might need to appreciate your points within the essay.

The last part of the introduction is the thesis statement.  This statement will also satisfy the purpose of letting your reader know what they will be reading.  The thesis statement is a forecasting statement that suggests the main idea that you will cover in your essay.  (See The Writing Process for more information on thesis statements.)  You might also want to add a blueprint to your introduction.  A blueprint will alert you reader to the structure of your essay.  It states the main point that you will cover in the body of your essay.  The wording of the blueprint will be the wording that you will use in the topic sentences of each body paragraph.  Here is an example of a thesis with a blueprint. 

President Bush has already outlined three separate policies that address his campaign pledge of compassionate conservatism:  an educational plan that includes accountability and vouchers, federal funds for faith-based organizations to help the poor, and an overhaul of Medicare that would help the elderly to buy prescription drugs.

What this statement does is to alert the reader that you will discuss policies that address Bush’s compassionate conservatism ideal.  That part is the thesis.  The next portion of the sentence names the three policies.  These are the policies that you will discuss in the body of your essay.  The reader will expect you to cover them in the order that you named them, which is why it is called a blueprint.  It alerts the reader to the structure of your essay.  You can also use the wording of the blueprint as the wording of your topic sentences to bring your reader back to the blueprint.

In conclusion, an effective introduction has three parts that should blend together smoothly:  a motivator, background information, and the thesis statement.