How to Write an Essay Introduction for University

How to Write an Essay Introduction for University to Make Your Work Appealing

An essay introduction is an important part of any written paper. It acts as a map for your readers. In most cases, you read on reject a person’s work because of the introductory paragraph. Thus, you need to know how to write an essay introduction for university to overcome the challenge of penning an interesting piece for your readers.

When writing an essay introduction, include relevant background information on the topic of discussion. This paragraph of the say should offer answers to ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ of your subject matter. The ‘what’ in your introduction tells the reader the main argument of your essay. ‘Why’ explains the usefulness of the essay. The ‘how’ shows the manner in which you will argue out your points to convince the reader with your claims.

Because of these elements, you have no excuse of not equipping yourself with skills to help you write excellent introductions. The segments that follow will give a stepwise approach in understanding this.

Tips on How to Write an Essay Introduction

What to Do At Prewriting Stage

These guidelines on how to write an essay introduction for university touch on different elements of an introductory paragraph.

Reflect on the angle that you will take. When you get to writing the introduction, an obvious assumption is that you already know your topic and various directions you intend to explore. In case you do not know, make a turn, go back, and work on that before you attempt introducing your essay.

A good essay must have a way it presents its arguments to the reader, different from other essays probably taking about the same issue. Think about some of the questions your essay should answer and why they are significant.

Have your thesis before writing. A thesis statement is a belief, which you defend throughout the essay. It acts as the compass of your paper. To write a good essay introduction, ensure that you have your thesis ready. In some cases, you may write the introduction after working on the body of your essay to allow you capture the content of your paper in its entirety.

Example #1 of Essay introduction

The following paragraph is an expert from Race and Media, a professional essay done by a qualified writer. Take a look.

Over the years, African Americans in the United States are considered as non-citizens. American natives see them as immigrants because of their numbers. They are thought to have settled in America from other parts of the world for the convenience of the rich settlers. Because of this, African-Americans continue to fight for a fair society that recognizes the rights of all. This struggle has made several milestones, with a number of public instructions advocating for non-bias practices when dealing with issues of public interest. However, the media remains biased in handling most issues even though it has played an exceptional role in shaping the American society.

 

From this introduction, you can easily tell the angle of the writer and the thesis. The author holds that the media is not neutral when addressing issues of race in the United States. The thesis statement comes at the end of the paragraph in the last sentence. “The media remains biased in handling most issues even though it has played an exceptional role in shaping the American society.

Here are more examples of papers with nice intros to help you master the art of how to write an essay introduction for university.

Consider Your Readers before Writing an Essay Introduction

Think about your audience. The aim of writing any essay is to express ideas on paper for others to read. Therefore, have them in mind at every stage of the writing process. In case you are a student, your immediate audience is either your lecturer or teacher. However, it is important to have a general consideration for your audience.

Give important information. Your introduction should focus on information, which your audience is likely to value throughout the essay. Dig into the background to be at par with your readers, without leaving anything for granted.

Be as clear as possible and define terms, which may appear new to the audience. Making such preparations will help you have all the information you need to come up with an excellent introduction paragraph.

Your readers know something. As you tailor your paragraph, remember your readers are not zombies. They already know something about what you are telling them and have no interest in general statements. Avoid statements like, “Since time immemorial” or “Human beings love to learn.” Such statements put off the reader.

The essay excerpt below shows how to write an essay introduction for university without losing your audience. The author of what is a patent starts by defining the time patent.

A patent refers to a right from the government to an inventor of a product to exclusively enjoy the proceeds from the exploration of the breakthrough for a given period. Here, any other person wishing to explore the idea for profit must get permission from the inventor. For a product or service to be patented, it must be new, has an inventive step and invented via industrial application.

More Guidelines on How to Write an Essay Introduction for University

The main reason why an essay introduction requires attention is that it acts as the face of your paper. Before the reader goes through the body of the essay and the conclusion, they go over the introduction. Make it interesting to capture and hold their attention. Consider the following approaches:

Go for statistics. Get startling figures of research to express the gravity of the matter under discussion.

Quote an expert. In giving authoritative information, go ahead and quote respectable people in the field or on the topic. Always remember to introduce the personality before quoting their words.

Talk about your thesis. Tell your readers about some of the misconceptions on the topic of discussion that your essay will discuss.

Lay the foundation. Give the basic information, which your readers need to have in order to understand your essay.

Use anecdotes. While introducing your essay, use narration or anecdotes to hold your readers’ attention. This may draw from personal experiences or depict a real world phenomenon.

Let us look at another good example, as you figure out how to write an essay introduction for university using the above guide.

In this essay titled We Can Live Without Petroleum, the author gives a brief history of the oil industry, including experts who made discoveries in the 19th century.

Petroleum has changed human life in various ways. Dr. Abraham Gesner, a Canadian geologist discovered the oil industry in 1846. After his discovery, other experts developed and expanded the idea to meet needs of the world. In 1859, the world advanced the oil industry when Colonel E.L. Drake discovered abundant oil at Titusville. Through these discoveries, the world was transformed politically, economically and environmentally. Even with its application and massive influence, man can live without petroleum.

The author moves from the known to the unknown, in order to capture the readers’ attention. The introduction tells how man relies on petroleum. In the last sentence of the paragraph, the writer gives the thesis statement, which relates to the title of the essay. It says, “Even with its application and massive influence, man can live without petroleum.”

How to Write a Flawless Essay Introduction for University

Writing a flawless essay introduction is not easy. Students make mistakes, which result into low marks. Below are pointers on how to write an essay introduction for university without making common mistakes.

Change your introduction later. You may have to change your introduction after writing the essay. This is because essay arguments evolve as you write and you may end up deviating so much from your first paragraph. Do not hesitate to flip back to the introduction paragraph and fine-tune it depending on the arguments of your essay.

Avoid fillers. Fillers have no place in an essay introduction. Do not include information that is irrelevant to your topic of discussion. Avoid vague statements of those that do not say anything or much as expected.

Avoid generalization. At this point, do not jump into making conclusive statements. Your reader wants to know what to expect in the essay and not your opinions.

Keep it short and clear. To have a grip on how to write an essay introduction for university, you must know what to include in your essay intro. Give more background information about your topic of research but do not get into the specifics of your essay. Move other information into the body of the essay in case your introduction starts to get long.

 

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ONLINE SOURCES:

http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/beginning-academic-essay

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Essay-Introduction

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/planning-and-organizing/intros-and-conclusions

http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html