Study Skill 13.1 Part A: Essay Introductions

Introductory Activity: Essay Introductions in Action

To begin our exploration of essay writing, let's read a sample introduction to an essay:

Do you like hamburgers? I do. My mom tells me that eating hamburgers every day is not good for me. Fast food has been around for a long time. In this essay, I will tell you why eating fast food every day is bad for you.

Now let's take a look at another version of this essay introduction:

Every day after school my friends and I walk to an area of our town that has shops, restaurants, and a beautiful, three-tiered fountain. It is a central part of our town and is always bustling with people, especially in the afternoon when everyone is craving something to eat or drink. It was inevitable that fast-food restaurants would open in this area to compete for business from shoppers, people meeting each other, and school kids like us. In 2000, the first fast-food restaurant, Chicken Fluffy, opened in this area and it was immediately a popular place to gather. My friends and I would usually go there after school and order their famous chicken wings and milkshakes as we talked about our day and planned for the weekend. After an hour or so we all would go our separate ways to do homework and have dinner with our families. I never gave this ritual a second thought other than looking forward to spending time with my friends. The first McDonald’s opened in 1940 (Klein, 2019) and, just like Chicken Fluffy’s in my town, it became very popular, but there has always been competition in the fast-food industry. Every restaurant wants to be the one known as the fastest and tastiest, but some restaurants have traded fresh ingredients for food that is full of preservatives and chemicals because it is easier to prepare quickly. In recent years, some fast-food restaurants are trying to have more healthy options and provide a larger variety of fresh ingredients. For many, the convenience of eating at places like Chicken Fluffy and McDonald’s often wins out over healthier options or eating at home.

Now that you have read these two essay introductions, think about your answers to these questions:

Which example introduction grabs your attention more? Why?
Can you find the thesis in each introduction? Where is it located?
Which overall introduction provides the most details?
Which of these example introductions would you score higher if you were a teacher? Why?
Compare an introduction you have written in the past to each of these examples. Which example introduction is more similar to the one you wrote?

Introduction to the Concept

If you think of an essay like a hamburger, the introduction and conclusion are the buns. They are the bread that holds the contents together. In other words, they are the beginning and end of the essay. These two pieces of the essay are important because they let the reader know your purpose for writing the essay and grab their attention. They make sure your reader understands the message you want to send and leaves them with a final thought.

The top bun of the hamburger is your introduction. Your introduction is made up of three parts: the hook, the overview, and the thesis statement. Let's look at each one of these parts more closely.

Part 1: Hook

The strongest hooks are personal anecdotes. They help the reader connect to you on a personal level and get them interested in what you want to say. It gives the reader a common thread or idea to share with you. You can also use things like surprising statistics but make sure to cite your source correctly. Rhetorical questions are overused so let’s not even consider using those as a hook. Some people begin with a quote from a famous person but that isn’t the strongest hook either. We care about YOUR thoughts and ideas, not those of someone else. A personal anecdote as your hook is the sharpest, most successful method for getting the readers’ attention and allowing them to connect to your message.

Part 2: Overview

Your overview is like the trailer for a movie. It gives the reader a preview of what they will find in the body of your essay. Getting back to the hamburger metaphor, the overview is like the menu description of the food. It doesn’t give you every detail about the hamburger, but it does give you enough information for you to decide if this hamburger is right for you. Your reader looks at your overview to determine if your essay will cover the ideas and concepts they are hungry for. It is also a preview to the organization of your essay. This is because the first sentence of the overview is also the topic of your first body paragraph in the essay. The second sentence of your overview correlates to the second body paragraph of your essay. This method of the organization continues no matter how many body paragraphs you have written. For each body paragraph, you must write at least one sentence in the overview of your introduction. If your essay has three body paragraphs, you will need three sentences in your overview.

Part 3: Thesis Statement

The final sentence of your introduction is your thesis statement. Your thesis statement can make or break your essay. It is very important because it precisely and concisely gives the audience the most important message contained in your essay. It is only one sentence but it is very powerful. Don’t forget, the thesis statement must be something you can prove with research. The thesis statement is also where you build trust with your audience. It must be clear and smooth so the reader can look at the statement and immediately discern the message you are trying to send and, therefore, the purpose of your essay. Additionally, when you write the conclusion paragraph you will need to restate your thesis using different words.

Watch

Shmoop "Thesis Sentence vs. Topic Sentence by Shmoop" https://tinyurl.com/jjg4xru
Shmoop"Writing Grabby Intro Sentences by Shmoop" https://tinyurl.com/y8cvuyen

Visit

The Writing Center (UNC): Introductions https://tinyurl.com/y9mrjp27
BBC Bitesize: How to write an introduction to an essay https://tinyurl.com/w9vunyx

Special Focus: Writing in a Second Language

You may have been taught a different way to organize your essay. In some countries, the route to a thesis is much less defined and indirect. In other countries, the format is not that important and it is acceptable to include extraneous details about the topic. This tutorial is for students who are writing essays to American expectations. There are many different ways to write essays and none of them is wrong or better than the other. However, the purpose of this tutorial is to make you aware of the expectations with our program which aligns with most American English courses.

When you first begin writing essays using the recommended organization, it may be difficult for you to focus or write smoothly. That is understandable. Writing is a skill that takes time and practice.

Resources

FluentU: "7 Things Every ESL Teacher Should Teach Students About Essay Writing" https://tinyurl.com/uj2r3wd

The Tufts Daily: "Getting it 'write': Essay styles vary by country, creating difficulties for international students" https://tinyurl.com/svucauh