Purpose of the Introduction

The introduction is the b r o a d beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the audience:

·       What is this?

·       Why am I reading it?

·       What do you want me to do?

You should answer these questions by doing the following:

1.       Set the context –provide general information [not sources] about the main idea, explaining the situation so the reader can make sense of the topic and the claims you make and support

2.      State why the main idea is important –tell the reader why he or she should care and keep reading [while staying in 3^rd person voice]. Your goal is to create a compelling, clear, and convincing essay people will want to read and act upon

3.      State your thesis/claim –compose a sentence or two stating the position you will support with logos (sound reasoning: induction, deduction), pathos (balanced emotional appeal), and ethos (author credibility).

For exploratory essays, your primary research question would replace your thesis statement so that the audience understands why you began your inquiry. An overview of the types of sources you explored might follow your research question.  [We will not be writing exploratory essays in our ENGL101 course, so please keep this little gen tucked in the back of your mind for writing in other courses.  However, you will always be arguing a point in our class, and that requires a clear thesis statement in the writing style assigned for the paper (cause/effect, ethical, proposal, etc.]

If your argument paper is long, you may want to forecast how you will support your thesis by outlining the structure of your paper [body-paragraphs by using an essay map], the sources you will consider, and the opposition to your position.

[Typical Engl101 and ENGL102 papers will not address the sources to consider nor the opposition to the argument position within the introduction.  See your instructor’s sample outline ort the readings from your textbook to fully understand the style of argument  you will be writing: proposal, cause/effect, ethical, etc.] 

You can forecast your paper in many different ways depending on the type of paper you are writing, [but the easiest way is with a traditional essay map.]

Ask your instructor about what tone you should use when providing a forecast for your paper. [As with all academic writing at the college-level, stay in 3^rd person voice throughout the paper.]

These are very general examples, but by adding some details on your specific topic, a forecast [essay map] will effectively outline the structure of your paper so your readers can more easily follow your ideas.

Content in [brackets] provided for my students within our writing courses. 

Always ask YOUR instructor for the final determination about introduction paragraph flow and structure.

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