Ideally, your introduction will make your readers want to read your paper. After reading your introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they read the main body of your paper. Your introduction should also give the reader a sense of the kinds of information you will use to make that argument and the general organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. In many academic disciplines, your introduction should contain a thesis that will assert your main argument. You can let them know what your topic is, why it is important, and how you plan to proceed with your discussion. Your introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. Your introduction is an important road map for the rest of your paper. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper. A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. If you are uncertain what kind of introduction is expected, ask your instructor. Note that what constitutes a good introduction may vary widely based on the kind of paper you are writing and the academic discipline in which you are writing it. Similarly, once you’ve hooked your readers with the introduction and offered evidence to prove your thesis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. By providing an introduction that helps your readers make a transition between their own world and the issues you will be writing about, you give your readers the tools they need to get into your topic and care about what you are saying. If your readers pick up your paper about education in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, for example, they need a transition to help them leave behind the world of Chapel Hill, television, e-mail, and The Daily Tar Heel and to help them temporarily enter the world of nineteenth-century American slavery.
Your introduction and conclusion act as bridges that transport your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis. And it’s fine to write them first! But in your final draft, these middle parts of the paper can’t just come out of thin air they need to be introduced and concluded in a way that makes sense to your reader. You might have chosen a few examples you want to use or have an idea that will help you answer the main question of your assignment these sections, therefore, may not be as hard to write.
Usually when you sit down to respond to an assignment, you have at least some sense of what you want to say in the body of your paper. Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for creating effective introductions, and provide some examples of less effective introductions to avoid.
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