Newpaper articles, as well as works of fiction, traditionally begin by orienting the reader to the time, place, and participants of the action. The needed information is given by answering the "Reporter's Questions."
Where exposition is concerned, introductions have various functions. For technical works like instructions, memorandums, and reports, the introduction may variously define the audience, define the problem to be addressed, state the writer's purpose, establish his credibility, give background information, define terms, state conclusions, and give a preview of the parts of the document.
For informal essays such as those published in newspaper, magazines, and anthologies for college English courses, the introductions may include any of the items normally found in technical writing. However, while the primary purpose of technical writing is to inform, or to persuade where proposals and recommendations are concerned, the primary purpose of informal essays is more often to entertain. For this reason, the introduction to an informal essay will usually include an interest catcher to draw the reader into the text.
English handbooks list a number of techniques to catch a reader's interest. These include:
The parts of an introduction can be illustrated as an inverted pyramid, the base representing some general introductory sentences and the interest catcher, he midsection a transition from the interest catcher to the specific topic of the essay, and the apex the author's thesis.
The length of an introduction should be in proportion to the length of the entire work. For short papers such as college essays, the introduction is usually only one or two paragraphs. For a research paper, it may be several pages. Informal essays published in anthologies may have introductions of four or five paragraphs, while a book may have an entire chapter devoted to the introduction.
But no matter the length , the usual practice is for the writer to state his main idea (or thesis)near the end of the introduction and before he begins to develop his ideas in the body of the writing. Stating the main idea in the introduction helps the reader to predict what the writer will say and therefore aids comprehension. When the main idea is stated at the beginning, the organization is deductive. The most common alternative is for the writer to give examples, evidence and explanation first, and then to state his main idea near the end. When the main idea is stated at the end, the organization is inductive.
The main idea or thesis should be one declarative sentence that explicitly states the writer's opinion on the topic. It may also provide an overview of the points to be covered in the essay, and indicate how the writer will treat the topic. For example, will he compare and contrast it to something else, divide it into parts, or define it? The various ways of treating a topic are referred to as the "modes of discourse." Click here to see examples of thesis sentences for expository essays that employ different modes of discourse.
The introduction is important because it not only catches the reader's interest but prepares him for what is to come. An introduction may reveal the topic, signal the mode of discourse, state the main idea, reveal the writer's attitude (tone), and preview the parts of the essay. All of this helps the reader make more accurate predictions about what he is about to read. Accurate predictions increase reading efficiency and comprehension. Click here to see examples of introductory paragraphs.
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