Essay definition; parts of introduction
Estimated Time: 20 minutes
At the end of the lesson, you will understand what an essay is and how to write an essay introduction.
What is an Essay and How Do I Write an Introduction for an Essay?
In the previous three weeks, you’ve learned how to write a coherent, unified paragraph, with a topic sentence, supporting ideas, and a concluding sentence. This week, you’ll use what you’ve learned and apply these concepts to writing an essay. You can find the presentation from the video here.
An essay is simply a piece writing on a particular, focused subject, and reflects the viewpoint of its writer. Your essay should illustrate your idea or viewpoint with supporting evidence. Essays are also used to assess your understanding of specific ideas and your ability to explain and argue these to answer a given question.
They are usually written in a discursive way, which brings together your ideas, evidence, and arguments to answer the question or solve a problem. This will often mean writing in the formal third-person, but some particular types of essays may require the use of the first person, such as reflective pieces.
The structure is often similar and can be applied to any essay. You will state your argument in the introduction, build and support these arguments in the main body, and should end with your key message or a clear answer to the question or problem in the conclusion.
An introductory paragraph, as the opening of your essay is designed to grab people’s attention, is your chance to make a great first impression. The goal of your introduction is to give your reader a clear idea of what your essay will cover.
An introduction is typically the first paragraph of your paper. Your introduction should begin with an engaging statement devised to provoke your readers’ interest. In the next few sentences, introduce them to your topic by stating general facts or ideas about the subject.
As you move deeper into your introduction, you gradually narrow the focus, moving closer to your thesis. Moving smoothly and logically from your introductory remarks to your thesis statement can be achieved using a funnel technique, as illustrated in the diagram above. Let’s talk about each of these parts in more detail.
Let’s take a look at the first paragraph of an essay, which will include:
- An opening statement, or “hook” is designed to engage the reader’s attention: this can be a compelling question, a statistic, an anecdote, for example.
- Topic and relevant sentences, which introduce and convey the topic’s relevance
- Thesis statement –– a clear and concise statement in which you summarize the argument or claim you will make in your essay. This is arguably the most important sentence in your essay.
- A transition to supporting paragraphs.
The first part of an introduction is the opening statement or question, also known as the attention grabber or hook. The opening statement or question acts as a first impression that will determine the readers’ willingness to read.
The first part is followed by the topic statement, which introduces the topic. This part should come immediately after the opening statement or question. In this part of the introduction paragraph for the essay, you should tell your readers more about the topic to ensure that the readers connect the topic to what has aroused their curiosity. The introduction should also provide information about the purpose of your essay or paper.
The main points outline the essay’s body. Though the outline of the main points has been taken as the last part of the introduction paragraph, it should not come after the thesis statement. The thesis should be the last sentence of your introduction paragraph. Ideally, this part should provide your readers with an overview of the main points.
Finally, the most important part of your introduction paragraph is the thesis statement, which gives the purpose of the essay. It is a clear statement providing the overall point you are going to make within the body paragraphs of your paper. The thesis statement states the argument of your paper, and it should be a clear and straightforward statement.
Extras
Check Yourself
Complete the tasks below to check your understanding of today’s lesson.