Four Ingredients Of An Effective Introduction For An Essay

An introduction is the point where you grab your reader or your audience. You want them to want to continue reading the paper. There needs to be a magnetic pull. The four most important and effective parts of the introduction are the thesis statement, the hook, the background material, and the topic choice.

1. The Thesis Statement: the thesis statement has to include solid ideas and be constructed with clarity. You do not want to have grammar errors, words spelt incorrectly, or poor structure. The thesis statement is the roadmap to the paper and it indicates a lot to the reader as to what is coming next in the paper. The thesis paper is no time to lose your reader. Make sure all of your main points have solid support and are relevant to the subject.
2. The Hook: the hook can come in many forms. It can be a question, a quote, strong data, or even a story. This part of the introduction has the job of catching the reader’s attention. Many a paper has crashed due to a poor or uninteresting hook or attention getter. Be careful, not to get to gimmicky with the hook, you must always keep in mind that this is still a formal paper. A knock-knock joke does not make for a good attention getter.
3. The Background Material: the background material forms a foundation for the paper. This part should never be longer than the main point paragraphs. Many writers make the mistake of getting lost in the section and including too much information. Use the most relevant facts in the background section and then move along to the next step.
4. The Topic Choice: the topic choice in revealed in the introduction portion of the paper. Your choice can also make or break the paper. In this firsts section, you want to show that you know how to select an innovative and thought-provoking topic idea.

The first section of your paper sets the standard for the rest of the writing. So much can be predicted and determined from that first part. You have to make sure that the thesis statement is stellar, the hook or attention getter is magnetic, the background material is just enough, but not overwhelming, and lastly that you have picked a creative and relevant topic for the composition.