The introduction of the essay is where we make our first impressions with our readers. If we want our readers to keep reading, we need to prove to them that it’s worth their time.
The introduction tells your readers what they can expect from the essay. It’s like a tourist brochure and map all rolled into one carefully crafted paragraph. When we read it, we should know what we will find out and be able to picture how the ideas will be developed.
If you confuse or bore your readers at the beginning, it might be hard to recover!
Checklist for an Effective Introduction
Let’s begin by considering the essential elements of an effective introduction.
Does your introduction:
Revising an Introduction (Practice)
Let’s practice revising a sample introduction, making sure it clearly provides the topic, thesis and map for the essay.
In this activity, you will need to reorganize an introductory paragraph. This paragraph is an introduction for an essay on the skills students need today to do university research.
Read over the paragraph and consider a more logical order for the sentences, using the guiding questions. When ready, drag the sentences into a more effective order.
