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Graduate Writing

Resources on grammar, sentence structure, editing, and proofreading.

Writing the introductory paragraph can be a frustrating and slow process -- but it doesn't have to be. If you planned your paper out, then most of the introductory paragraph is already written. Now you just need a beginning and an end.

Beginning Sentence(s)   Here's your chance to introduce your topic and grab your reader's attention. NEVER start your paper saying, "In this paper, I will" or "This paper is about." Start strong. In your research, have you come across an odd factoid or interesting quote? Try starting your paper with that. How about starting with an anecdotal story or humor?
     
Middle Sentences   The middle sentences cover the different points in your paper. If you've already planned which order to write the points in the paper, you already know which order to place them in your introductory paragraph. (Hint: it's the same order). You don't have to include every single point, but make sure the important ones get in there. 
     
Ending Sentence   All the previous sentences have been building up to this: your thesis. Your thesis statement expresses the overall idea of your paper and show where you stand on the topic.

Checklist For Introductions

  • The opening sentence is engaging and catches the audience’s attention
  • Uses background information to set the “scene” of the paper
  • Provides sufficient background information that provides the audience with enough information to understand the thesis 
  • Explains what the topic of the paper is 
  • Defines any necessary terms and keywords
  • Describes why the chosen topic matters to the audience 
  • Contains a thesis statement 
  • The thesis statement is easily identifiable and is not confused with other sentences 
  • The thesis statement mentions the topic that will be discussed 
  • The thesis statement contains a clear argument 
  • The thesis statement sets up an “outline” for how the rest of the paper will be structured or what the rest of the paper will be focused on proving