Ten Ways to Write an Introduction

The introduction of a paper should capture the reader’s attention and convey the paper’s topic. Here are ten techniques to use. Here are ten different techniques to use, alone or in combination, to write an introduction.

General to Specific: Begin with a broad statement, then gradually narrow it down to specifics.

Countless people have historically opposed the abuse and corruption of power benefiting a few at the expense of the greater public interest. Historians have struggled to interpret these distant pleas… In less-developed regions, the pervasive corruption of public administrations is often dismissed as a cultural constant or inevitable institutional legacy. This neglect and skepticism obscure historical evidence crucial for reinterpreting… efforts against harmful corrupt practices. Peru is a case in point (A. Quiroz, Corrupt Circles: A History of Unbound Graft in Perú, p. 1).

Tell a Story: Use an anecdote to pique the reader’s interest and introduce the main topic.

Around 10,000 years ago, a woman from a plant-gathering tribe returned home after a long day collecting seed. She stumbled, spilling the basket. She picked up most seeds, but some remained and became buried. After the rains, spring and winter passed. The next summer, she saw grain growing where she had dropped the seed. Delighted, she scattered more seed, which again yielded results. This occurred in the Middle East’s fertile crescent, marking the start of agriculture (J. Madeley, Food for All: The Need for a New Agriculture, p. 1).

Ask a Question: Ask a question that challenges the reader to think about your topic.

The right to narcissism? Any claim to a right to narcissism would raise more than a few eyebrows. Is not narcissism problematic enough, but to call for its legitimation, to openly declare, as Derrida does, that narcissism should be “rehabilitated,” as if it has ever been neglected and fallen into disrepair? (P. DeArmitt, The Right to Narcissism: A Case for an Im-Possible Selflove, p. 1).

Give an Opinion: Get the reader’s attention by making a bold statement.

America was not discovered by the Europeans. It was truly a meeting of two cultures that had not known each other previously. The native peoples of Latin America were more diverse in culture, lifestyles, languages, and civilization than the Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) who sailed the Atlantic in the sixteenth century in search of adventure and fortune (L.A. Clayton, et al. , A New History of Modern Latin America, p. xv).

Use a Quotation: Start with a quote, leading to your thesis statement.

About four weeks into our first Procrastination Group at UC Berkeley, a student said with surprise “Procrastination is like a dandelion. You pull it up and think you’ve got it, but then it turns out the roots are so deep, it just grows back.” While for some people, procrastination is like a flower easily loosened and removed, for many it is a patch of dandelions whose roots are so deep and tangled (J.B. Burka & L.M. Yuen, Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About it Now, p. 1).

Paint a Picture: Describe a vivid scene or striking image that captures the reader’s imagination.

Down a narrow basement staircase in a one-story ranch-style house in Larchmont, Cambridge, Massachusetts, about two miles from Harvard, is a rectangular study. Near the door are comfortable armchairs, one with movable metal arms and a reading lens. At the far end, facing each other, are a long wooden desk and a bright yellow sleeping cubicle equipped with a stereo and storage for Wagner tapes. Every morning for more than twenty years, a timer has rung at five, bringing B.F. Skinner to his desk like a monk to matins ( D. Bjork, B.F. Skinner: A Life).

Compare and Contrast: Introduce a topic by showing its similarities to or differences from another topic.

The most significant difference between painting and photography is that painters have a full choice, and the decision to desaturate the palette has always been taken deliberately, whereas for photography’s first century, black and white was an imposed medium. Another important difference between monochrome in painting and in photography is the matter of degree of color (M. Freeman, The Complete Guide to Black & White Digital Photography, p. 32).

Background Information: Offer background and history to contextualize an issue or problem.

A Dutch merchant said that it was about the beginning of September 1664, that he, along with his neighbors, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague had returned to Holland. It had been very violent there, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in 1663. Some said it came from Italy, others from the Levant, brought by the Turkey fleet, others from Candia or Cyprus. Regardless of its origin, all agreed it had returned to Holland (D. Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year, p. 1).

Startling Fact or Statistic: Capture the reader’s interest with a surprising fact before gradually introducing your main point.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, around half of the planet’s six billion people live in poverty, with a purchasing power under two U.S. dollars per day. Close to two billion suffer from serious deficiencies of iron, iodine, vitamin A, and other nutrients. More than one billion lack access to potable water, and around 840 million are undernourished, meaning they do not have enough food to meet their basic energy needs and are hungry almost every day (M. Mazoyer & L. Roudart, A History of World Agriculture: from the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis, p. 9).

Provide a Definition: Start with a general definition or consensus of your topic, then progress to your main point.

For most historians the characteristic and peculiar element in Greek political life has been the polis, the city-state, an institution of which any precise definition obscures the variety in size or shape or social and political organization. Very roughly, it was a community of citizens (adult males), citizens without political rights (women and children), and non-citizens (resident foreigners and slaves), a defined body… that allowed enough of its members to feel that they were independent (G. Forrest, The Oxford Illustrated History of Greece and the Hellenistic World, p. 13).