How to Write an Introduction

The purpose of the introduction is to lead your reader into your discourse. There are many ways to do this. For example, you can lay the background for your topic. If you are writing about global warming, you could write the history of carbon-fuel engines beginning with the industrial revolution and ending with the present-day situation where a large percentage of the populace drive a car most days of the year. If you choose to do this, you will probably have to write it a couple of times to get it as concise as it needs to be to fit in your paper. Many books have been written about this topic, so you will need to carefully choose just which information you want in your introduction without making it too long.

Another thing you can do in your introduction is to state what the setting of your topic is in order to write a story that will catch your readers’ interest and lead them into your topic. For example, the story of one of the tsunamis of recent years might introduce an essay on global warming. You may want to conclude your introduction with your thesis statement or you may want to start the first paragraph of the body with the thesis statement. It is best to alert your readers as to where you are taking them, so putting the thesis statement after the opening paragraph is one way to do this.