- Characteristics of Strong and Week Introductions
- Introduction Contents
- Funnel Structure of Introduction
- Example of Introduction
- Checklist
Characteristics of Strong and Week Introductions
Strong introductions
- introduce the topic clearly
- arouse interest
- give several sentences of info about the topic
- state the thesis of the essay
Week introductions
- do not give enough info about the topic
- give too much info about the topic
- talk about too many different topics
- do not state the thesis
Introduction Contents
There are different kinds of information which you may find in introductions. Some of them are introduced in the next. However, it does not mean that your introductions will need all of them.
Contents
- a definition of any difficult words
- a review of some literature
- background to your research (relevance)
- your purpose of the paper
- your research method and results
- the limitations of the paper
- an outline of the structure
Some examples of different contents
Definition of any difficult words
Privatisation is the process of transferring certain industries from state control to the private sector, which began in Britain in 1981 with British Telecom.
Review of some literature
A number of researchers have examined this issue, notably Smith & Wesson (2011)…
Various investigations have explored the subject, especially. .
Background
In recent years the privatisation of state owned businesses, especially monopoly utilities such as electricity and telecoms, has become widespread in both developed and developing nations.
Relevance
As privatisation is increasingly seen as a remedy for economic ills in many other countries, it is worth examining its impact in Britain, which was a pioneer in this process.
Limitation
Only privatisations completed between 1981-95 will be dealt with, as it is too soon to assess the impact of later developments.
Outline
An assessment will first be made of the performance of the privatised industries themselves, on an individual basis, and then the performance of the economy as a whole will be examined.
Funnel Structure of Introduction
You should start with a general statement about a topic, outlining some key issues but explain that your essay will focus on a specific one.
Thesis statement:
- the most important part of the introduction
- states the specific topic of the essay
- is usually the last part of the introduction
- should list the subtopics
- should indicate the pattern of organisation
Example of Introduction
Yellow: Justifying the topic and pointing out why it is Interesting
Green: Summarising points in the essay and showing the structure of ideas
Grey: The thesis statement (what the essay is discussing and how it is approaching it)
Checklist
When you have finished writing your introduction, you can check it according to the following checklist:
- Is it likely to interest the reader? Why?
- Does it start with a general statement related to the topic and gradually become more specific?
- Is there a thesis statement that tells the reader what the essay will be about? Does it state the writer’s position? Can you easily identify it?
- Does the introduction give an overview of the essay structure?
- Are ideas clearly linked between sentences or is it sometimes confusing?
