{"id":8044,"date":"2018-11-19T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T21:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.essaypop.com\/?p=8044"},"modified":"2020-11-02T04:28:01","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T12:28:01","slug":"how-can-i-write-an-essay-introduction-in-three-easy-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.essaypop.com\/features\/how-can-i-write-an-essay-introduction-in-three-easy-steps","title":{"rendered":"How Can I Write an Essay Introduction in Three Easy Steps?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing an intro is easy! \u00a0If you\u2019ll indulge me, I\u2019m going to write an <\/span>actual introduction<\/b> to a real essay prompt<\/a> as I go through the steps so you can understand them in context. Here\u2019s the prompt:<\/span><\/p>\n

Who was responsible the the sinking of the RMS Titanic and the deaths of more than 1,500 passengers?<\/span><\/h5>\n

This is a pretty typical prompt. \u00a0Let\u2019s tackle the intro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step One \/ Hook \u2018em<\/span><\/h4>\n

Begin the introduction with a <\/span>hook<\/b>, an engaging beginning that starts a conversation with the reader. \u00a0There are a number of ways you can accomplish this You can provide background information. \u00a0You can share a personal anecdote. You can shock the reader with a provocative statement. In a 1,000-word essay a typical hook might range from five to eight sentences in length. <\/span>The following hook gets the reader\u2019s attention by asking a series of questions, then presenting a number of possible answers to the questions posed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more than 100 years now people have been asking the question, \u201cWhat really caused the Titanic to sink?\u201d and \u201cWho \u00a0was responsible for the tragedy?\u201d This tragedy remains, perhaps, the greatest unsolved mysteries in history. Several people could probably be blamed for the tragic sinking of the legendary cruise liner. \u00a0For many, the ship’s captain, Edward J. Smith is a prime and obvious suspect. After all, as the skipper, shouldn’t the buck have stopped with him? Many blame the captain of the Californian, Stanley Lord who ignored the frantic distress calls of the nearby Titanic on the night of the catastrophe. Maybe he could have saved those 1,500 victims. \u00a0\u00a0Still others blame non-human factors such as bad rivets, bad weather or just plain bad luck. But who or what was really to blame for the sinking of the Titanic and the loss of all those unfortunate souls?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not required, nor is it always appropriate, but I do like <\/span>asking a question<\/b> somewhere in my hook when I can. I feel that it personalizes the writing and draws my reader in. \u00a0However you do it, make your <\/span>hook<\/b> conversational and interesting, even if it is an academic paper that you\u2019re writing. \u00a0For a list of awesome hook strategies, go to <\/span>[link to style guide]<\/span><\/p>\n

Step Two \/ State your thesis<\/span><\/h4>\n

This simple sentence or two is the direction, the laser focus and the \u201cpoint\u201d of your entire essay. It announces to the reader, \u201cI am going to be discussing something very specific and very important and THIS is what it is.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

It is clear from the evidence the Titanic’s chief architect, Thomas Andrews, was mainly responsible for the tragic event.<\/span><\/p>\n

Short and sweet, right? \u00a0It\u2019s clear from thesis statement who I will be focusing on in this paper. \u00a0I think students often go into way, way too much detail in their theses, and this is a mistake. Keep it simple and keep it uber-focused. \u00a0Here\u2019s a cool tool that\u2019s free and will help you generate thousands of amazing thesis statements: <\/span>https:\/\/www.essaypop.com\/blaster<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Now sometimes, especially in a structured, multiple-paragraph essay, you might need to add some sub-theses to you main thesis. \u00a0This does not change your thesis, it just adds to them. Typically, these sub-theses (we call them Pops) announce body paragraphs to come later in the essay. \u00a0Check out these Pops from my own introduction: <\/span><\/p>\n

(1) Afterall, It was Andrews who made the decision to remove many of the bulkhead walls which caused the water to leak uncontrollably into the ship. (2) He also made the ill-fated decision to eliminate many of the necessary lifeboats so that the cruise ship’s deck wouldn\u2019t appear cluttered. (3) Finally, to save money, Mr. Andrews purchased substandard materials, including rivets and steel for the hull that made the Titanic weaker than it should have been. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

See what I did here? \u00a0I took my main thesis statement [Andrews was to blame] and broke it into three subtopics. \u00a0It\u2019s still part of my thesis statement, it\u2019s just that I am doing my reader the courtesy of foreshadowing what\u2019s to come. \u00a0Think of it as a table of contents for my essay. I numbered them here so they\u2019d jump out. Obviously you wouldn\u2019t number your own.<\/span><\/p>\n

Step Three \/ Wrap it up<\/span><\/h4>\n

At this point, you\u2019re 99% of the way there. All you have to do is apply the finishing touch. \u00a0We call this <\/span>the closer<\/b>. \u00a0The closer typically begins with a phrase like \u201cAs we will see\u201d or \u201cIt will soon be incontrovertible that\u2026\u201d, and then restates or reiterates some aspect of the thesis. It\u2019s acts as a little reminder and, more importantly, allows the introduction to <\/span>feel<\/b> finished.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this analysis, we\u2019ll see that it was the the bad decisions of the man who oversaw the construction of the Titanic and the ship\u2019s chief architect who must be held ultimately responsible for the ship’s tragic demise.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen writers close their intros with questions for the reader or even provocative statements, and these can work fine, but most of the time you\u2019ll want to choose one of the many, many academic, closing statements that good writers like to use. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So that\u2019s it! \u00a0That\u2019s how you write the introduction to your essay in three, easy steps.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The introduction formula is easy to learn, and it works every time. Here\u2019s how.
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