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Essay Introduction
A good introduction sets the stage for a good essay. Get it right and you're halfway to getting the rest of your essay right. Here's a few pointers on how to make sure you get your introduction spot on.
Tell the readers what you're going to write about
Just because your introduction comes first doesn't mean it should be the first thing you write. Sure, you can start by sketching out your arguments and setting out the general form and theme of your essay, but bear in mind that the first draft of your introduction probably isn't going to be the final one.
Above all you can use your introduction to break down the essay into manageable chunks. Many people find essay writing daunting. If you sit down at ten o'clock at night with a cup of coffee and twelve hours to go before you have to hand your work in, what's probably going through your head is, how on earth am I going to write 5,000 words on this? So do yourself a favour. Jot down some headlines to include in your work well in advance of the deadline. It shouldn't be too difficult. If you're having trouble with inspiration, go back over your lecture notes or read through some criticism. If you've got Letts notes or a similar study guide, have a flick through that. If you're really stuck for inspiration, you could try some creative thinking techniques. Just let your book fall open at any page and select a word at random. Think about why that word's connected to what you're writing about. Think about where you might have heard or read about things connected with that word. Draw your ideas down on a spider chart - just because you're going to end up with an essay format doesn't mean that's what you have to start off with. OK, some of your ideas might be nonsense, but a few of them will be good. And there you go - you've got the start of your essay.
In a 5,000 word essay, let's say 1,000 words will be taken up by your introduction and conclusion. That leaves 4,000. Figure out, say, five things you'd like to include and write them down. It doesn't have to take ages - you should be able to do it in half an hour. So now you've got five section that each need to be 800 words long. 5,000 words sounds like a lot - but 800? Anyone can write 800 words.
Summarise your arguments
Here's one of the reasons why you should leave writing your introduction until last - you can use it to introduce the arguments you're going to make in your essay. Doing this gives the reader a sense of direction, an idea where your essay is going. There's nothing worse than having to read pages and pages of meandering discussion - even a long essay should be episodic and make its points clearly. There's also an element of self discipline here - you can use your introduction to review your own work. If you've sketched out a draft introduction at the beginning of the essay writing process, you can go back to it at the end. Did you make all the points you wanted to make? Did you give enough time and thought to all of your points? Did you introduce any new themes? Compare the essay you've written with the essay you thought you were going to write.
Discuss other literature you may have read
If you've done your homework, now's your chance to show it off. Reading other essays, critical work and journals is a great way to improve your work for many different reasons. For one thing, following the example of good writers will improve your own writing style. But more importantly, writing your essay is a learning process. You're a student - you're studying! You're not expected to know everything. It's perfectly acceptable for you to include another writer's work in your own writing, just do it in an intelligent way. If you find a critic you agree with, include the passage you like and explain why you like it. If you read something you think is totally wrong, quote that, then discuss why you think it's wrong. Tutors will appreciate the extra effort you've gone to to read around your topic, and it will make your work look more mature and rounded. Us an online resource like Wikipedia. Don't just cull stuff straight off there, though - check out the further reading section that is included at the bottom of many articles. Then take a trip to the library for a spot of further reading.
Keep your readers interested
Let's take a minute to consider the lives of lecturers and tutors at universities. It must be dreadful, mustn't it? Up at eleven every morning, couple of hours of lectures, then in the pub for four. Imagine. But also imagine having to mark piles and piles of essays. That really must be quite boring. If you can make your essay jump out from the rest, if you can write an introduction that makes the person marking it think, "Oh, that's interesting, that's a bit more original than the rest of them," well, you're certain to get a better mark. How do you do that? Make your introduction sharp and punchy. You can even make it a little bit funny if you like. Get excited about your work. Say, here are the points I'm going to make and here's why there interesting, original and better than everyone else's.
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Other study area articles
- Essay Conclusion
- Essay Format
- Essay Introduction
- Essay Writing And Grammar
- How To Form Your Essay Title
- How To Reference Your Essay
- How To Use Punctuation In An Essay
- How To Write An Essay
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