Dr. Matt Kuefler

15. INTRODUCTIONS

What should an introduction do?

An introduction is your way of letting your readers know what your topic is about, and what your thesis is -- that is, what will be your main argument in the essay. It should provide all of the information relevant to your readers' entry into the topic, including what primary source or sources you are using.

What should an introduction not do?

An introduction should not try to provide too much information, such as biographical or other details. (These details should be provided in the paragraph after the introduction, in a paragraph of background information; see Writing Tip #7.) An introduction in a short essay such as the ones you will be writing for this course should also not rehearse your main points: it is sufficient to bring up your main points at the start of the paragraphs where you intend to discuss them.

What form should a good introduction take?

The first sentence of a paragraph should be a general statement telling the reader what the topic of the essay is, or at least making a statement that few can disagree with. The last sentence of a paragraph should be your thesis statement. In between, you don't need more than an additional sentence or two that moves your reader from the first, general statement about the topic to the finely focused thesis.

Example:

It has often been difficult to talk about sexual matters. Years ago, this reticence was even more pronounced. The publication in 1948 of Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, followed in 1953 by his Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, changed all that. More than any other single factor, the publication of Alfred Kinsey's studies on human sexuality made public discussion of sexual topics respectable.

Note that the final sentence is my thesis, what I will be arguing throughout the paper. Before it, only two sentences provide enough introduction to the topic. If I need to tell you more about Kinsey's studies, I can do that in the next paragraph, as background information.

Should I talk about myself as the writer in the introduction?

This is a matter of taste, in my opinion, although some professors have definite preferences. For the most part, I don't feel it necessary to talk about oneself in the introduction. After all, it is simpler just to say "Agrippina was the real power behind the throne of her son, the Roman emperor Nero" than to say "I will be arguing in this essay that Agrippina was the real power behind the throne, etc." Most writers use this opening, "I will be arguing," or something like it, to pinpoint to their readers what their thesis is. But if you place your thesis in the last sentence of your introduction, where it belongs, then you don't really need to pinpoint it: your readers will know to look for it there.