good introduction for an assignment

How to Write an Essay Introduction (with Examples)   

essay introduction

The introduction of an essay plays a critical role in engaging the reader and providing contextual information about the topic. It sets the stage for the rest of the essay, establishes the tone and style, and motivates the reader to continue reading. 

Table of Contents

What is an essay introduction , what to include in an essay introduction, how to create an essay structure , step-by-step process for writing an essay introduction , how to write an introduction paragraph , how to write a hook for your essay , how to include background information , how to write a thesis statement .

  • Argumentative Essay Introduction Example: 
  • Expository Essay Introduction Example 

Literary Analysis Essay Introduction Example

Check and revise – checklist for essay introduction , key takeaways , frequently asked questions .

An introduction is the opening section of an essay, paper, or other written work. It introduces the topic and provides background information, context, and an overview of what the reader can expect from the rest of the work. 1 The key is to be concise and to the point, providing enough information to engage the reader without delving into excessive detail. 

The essay introduction is crucial as it sets the tone for the entire piece and provides the reader with a roadmap of what to expect. Here are key elements to include in your essay introduction: 

  • Hook : Start with an attention-grabbing statement or question to engage the reader. This could be a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or a compelling anecdote. 
  • Background information : Provide context and background information to help the reader understand the topic. This can include historical information, definitions of key terms, or an overview of the current state of affairs related to your topic. 
  • Thesis statement : Clearly state your main argument or position on the topic. Your thesis should be concise and specific, providing a clear direction for your essay. 

Before we get into how to write an essay introduction, we need to know how it is structured. The structure of an essay is crucial for organizing your thoughts and presenting them clearly and logically. It is divided as follows: 2  

  • Introduction:  The introduction should grab the reader’s attention with a hook, provide context, and include a thesis statement that presents the main argument or purpose of the essay.  
  • Body:  The body should consist of focused paragraphs that support your thesis statement using evidence and analysis. Each paragraph should concentrate on a single central idea or argument and provide evidence, examples, or analysis to back it up.  
  • Conclusion:  The conclusion should summarize the main points and restate the thesis differently. End with a final statement that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. Avoid new information or arguments. 

good introduction for an assignment

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write an essay introduction: 

  • Start with a Hook : Begin your introduction paragraph with an attention-grabbing statement, question, quote, or anecdote related to your topic. The hook should pique the reader’s interest and encourage them to continue reading. 
  • Provide Background Information : This helps the reader understand the relevance and importance of the topic. 
  • State Your Thesis Statement : The last sentence is the main argument or point of your essay. It should be clear, concise, and directly address the topic of your essay. 
  • Preview the Main Points : This gives the reader an idea of what to expect and how you will support your thesis. 
  • Keep it Concise and Clear : Avoid going into too much detail or including information not directly relevant to your topic. 
  • Revise : Revise your introduction after you’ve written the rest of your essay to ensure it aligns with your final argument. 

Here’s an example of an essay introduction paragraph about the importance of education: 

Education is often viewed as a fundamental human right and a key social and economic development driver. As Nelson Mandela once famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” It is the key to unlocking a wide range of opportunities and benefits for individuals, societies, and nations. In today’s constantly evolving world, education has become even more critical. It has expanded beyond traditional classroom learning to include digital and remote learning, making education more accessible and convenient. This essay will delve into the importance of education in empowering individuals to achieve their dreams, improving societies by promoting social justice and equality, and driving economic growth by developing a skilled workforce and promoting innovation. 

This introduction paragraph example includes a hook (the quote by Nelson Mandela), provides some background information on education, and states the thesis statement (the importance of education). 

This is one of the key steps in how to write an essay introduction. Crafting a compelling hook is vital because it sets the tone for your entire essay and determines whether your readers will stay interested. A good hook draws the reader in and sets the stage for the rest of your essay.  

  • Avoid Dry Fact : Instead of simply stating a bland fact, try to make it engaging and relevant to your topic. For example, if you’re writing about the benefits of exercise, you could start with a startling statistic like, “Did you know that regular exercise can increase your lifespan by up to seven years?” 
  • Avoid Using a Dictionary Definition : While definitions can be informative, they’re not always the most captivating way to start an essay. Instead, try to use a quote, anecdote, or provocative question to pique the reader’s interest. For instance, if you’re writing about freedom, you could begin with a quote from a famous freedom fighter or philosopher. 
  • Do Not Just State a Fact That the Reader Already Knows : This ties back to the first point—your hook should surprise or intrigue the reader. For Here’s an introduction paragraph example, if you’re writing about climate change, you could start with a thought-provoking statement like, “Despite overwhelming evidence, many people still refuse to believe in the reality of climate change.” 

Including background information in the introduction section of your essay is important to provide context and establish the relevance of your topic. When writing the background information, you can follow these steps: 

  • Start with a General Statement:  Begin with a general statement about the topic and gradually narrow it down to your specific focus. For example, when discussing the impact of social media, you can begin by making a broad statement about social media and its widespread use in today’s society, as follows: “Social media has become an integral part of modern life, with billions of users worldwide.” 
  • Define Key Terms : Define any key terms or concepts that may be unfamiliar to your readers but are essential for understanding your argument. 
  • Provide Relevant Statistics:  Use statistics or facts to highlight the significance of the issue you’re discussing. For instance, “According to a report by Statista, the number of social media users is expected to reach 4.41 billion by 2025.” 
  • Discuss the Evolution:  Mention previous research or studies that have been conducted on the topic, especially those that are relevant to your argument. Mention key milestones or developments that have shaped its current impact. You can also outline some of the major effects of social media. For example, you can briefly describe how social media has evolved, including positives such as increased connectivity and issues like cyberbullying and privacy concerns. 
  • Transition to Your Thesis:  Use the background information to lead into your thesis statement, which should clearly state the main argument or purpose of your essay. For example, “Given its pervasive influence, it is crucial to examine the impact of social media on mental health.” 

good introduction for an assignment

A thesis statement is a concise summary of the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, or other type of academic writing. It appears near the end of the introduction. Here’s how to write a thesis statement: 

  • Identify the topic:  Start by identifying the topic of your essay. For example, if your essay is about the importance of exercise for overall health, your topic is “exercise.” 
  • State your position:  Next, state your position or claim about the topic. This is the main argument or point you want to make. For example, if you believe that regular exercise is crucial for maintaining good health, your position could be: “Regular exercise is essential for maintaining good health.” 
  • Support your position:  Provide a brief overview of the reasons or evidence that support your position. These will be the main points of your essay. For example, if you’re writing an essay about the importance of exercise, you could mention the physical health benefits, mental health benefits, and the role of exercise in disease prevention. 
  • Make it specific:  Ensure your thesis statement clearly states what you will discuss in your essay. For example, instead of saying, “Exercise is good for you,” you could say, “Regular exercise, including cardiovascular and strength training, can improve overall health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.” 

Examples of essay introduction 

Here are examples of essay introductions for different types of essays: 

Argumentative Essay Introduction Example:  

Topic: Should the voting age be lowered to 16? 

“The question of whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 has sparked nationwide debate. While some argue that 16-year-olds lack the requisite maturity and knowledge to make informed decisions, others argue that doing so would imbue young people with agency and give them a voice in shaping their future.” 

Expository Essay Introduction Example  

Topic: The benefits of regular exercise 

“In today’s fast-paced world, the importance of regular exercise cannot be overstated. From improving physical health to boosting mental well-being, the benefits of exercise are numerous and far-reaching. This essay will examine the various advantages of regular exercise and provide tips on incorporating it into your daily routine.” 

Text: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee 

“Harper Lee’s novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ is a timeless classic that explores themes of racism, injustice, and morality in the American South. Through the eyes of young Scout Finch, the reader is taken on a journey that challenges societal norms and forces characters to confront their prejudices. This essay will analyze the novel’s use of symbolism, character development, and narrative structure to uncover its deeper meaning and relevance to contemporary society.” 

  • Engaging and Relevant First Sentence : The opening sentence captures the reader’s attention and relates directly to the topic. 
  • Background Information : Enough background information is introduced to provide context for the thesis statement. 
  • Definition of Important Terms : Key terms or concepts that might be unfamiliar to the audience or are central to the argument are defined. 
  • Clear Thesis Statement : The thesis statement presents the main point or argument of the essay. 
  • Relevance to Main Body : Everything in the introduction directly relates to and sets up the discussion in the main body of the essay. 

good introduction for an assignment

Writing a strong introduction is crucial for setting the tone and context of your essay. Here are the key takeaways for how to write essay introduction: 3  

  • Hook the Reader : Start with an engaging hook to grab the reader’s attention. This could be a compelling question, a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or an anecdote. 
  • Provide Background : Give a brief overview of the topic, setting the context and stage for the discussion. 
  • Thesis Statement : State your thesis, which is the main argument or point of your essay. It should be concise, clear, and specific. 
  • Preview the Structure : Outline the main points or arguments to help the reader understand the organization of your essay. 
  • Keep it Concise : Avoid including unnecessary details or information not directly related to your thesis. 
  • Revise and Edit : Revise your introduction to ensure clarity, coherence, and relevance. Check for grammar and spelling errors. 
  • Seek Feedback : Get feedback from peers or instructors to improve your introduction further. 

The purpose of an essay introduction is to give an overview of the topic, context, and main ideas of the essay. It is meant to engage the reader, establish the tone for the rest of the essay, and introduce the thesis statement or central argument.  

An essay introduction typically ranges from 5-10% of the total word count. For example, in a 1,000-word essay, the introduction would be roughly 50-100 words. However, the length can vary depending on the complexity of the topic and the overall length of the essay.

An essay introduction is critical in engaging the reader and providing contextual information about the topic. To ensure its effectiveness, consider incorporating these key elements: a compelling hook, background information, a clear thesis statement, an outline of the essay’s scope, a smooth transition to the body, and optional signposting sentences.  

The process of writing an essay introduction is not necessarily straightforward, but there are several strategies that can be employed to achieve this end. When experiencing difficulty initiating the process, consider the following techniques: begin with an anecdote, a quotation, an image, a question, or a startling fact to pique the reader’s interest. It may also be helpful to consider the five W’s of journalism: who, what, when, where, why, and how.   For instance, an anecdotal opening could be structured as follows: “As I ascended the stage, momentarily blinded by the intense lights, I could sense the weight of a hundred eyes upon me, anticipating my next move. The topic of discussion was climate change, a subject I was passionate about, and it was my first public speaking event. Little did I know , that pivotal moment would not only alter my perspective but also chart my life’s course.” 

Crafting a compelling thesis statement for your introduction paragraph is crucial to grab your reader’s attention. To achieve this, avoid using overused phrases such as “In this paper, I will write about” or “I will focus on” as they lack originality. Instead, strive to engage your reader by substantiating your stance or proposition with a “so what” clause. While writing your thesis statement, aim to be precise, succinct, and clear in conveying your main argument.  

To create an effective essay introduction, ensure it is clear, engaging, relevant, and contains a concise thesis statement. It should transition smoothly into the essay and be long enough to cover necessary points but not become overwhelming. Seek feedback from peers or instructors to assess its effectiveness. 

References  

  • Cui, L. (2022). Unit 6 Essay Introduction.  Building Academic Writing Skills . 
  • West, H., Malcolm, G., Keywood, S., & Hill, J. (2019). Writing a successful essay.  Journal of Geography in Higher Education ,  43 (4), 609-617. 
  • Beavers, M. E., Thoune, D. L., & McBeth, M. (2023). Bibliographic Essay: Reading, Researching, Teaching, and Writing with Hooks: A Queer Literacy Sponsorship. College English, 85(3), 230-242. 

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Related Reads:

  • What is an Argumentative Essay? How to Write It (With Examples)
  • How to Paraphrase Research Papers Effectively
  • How to Cite Social Media Sources in Academic Writing? 
  • How Long Should a Chapter Be?

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How Do You Write An Introduction to An Assignment? (With Examples of Assignment Introduction)

Whether you’re in school or college, you can’t avoid academic writing. It’s essential to write assignments to complete your course and graduate from it successfully. As a student, you must have discussed your assignments and academic writing projects with your friends, seniors, and mentors. Most assignments aim to gauge students’ knowledge about the subject and how well they express themselves while solving a problem or presenting their ideas and opinions. 

Writing an assignment introduction paves the way of how a reader or a teacher perceives an entire assignment and can be considered a face of an assignment. Our assignment help experts are here to offer you the best tips on how to write an assignment introduction.

How to introduce an assignment?

As they say – well begun is half done. Our assignment writers agree and believe in this adage. Countless times, you must have skipped a video because you didn’t find its first 5 seconds interesting or catchy enough to hold your attention. Or you must have chosen to watch a movie because you liked its trailer. Similarly, an introduction is a bait for your readers to read your assignment, report, essay, or dissertation with interest. It’s the first impression you will cast on your professors.

GoAssignmentHelp assignment assistance experts who handle hundreds of ‘ do my assignment ’ requests every month share that most students find it difficult to write an introductory paragraph that is clear and concise. Here, we will simplify the process of writing an introduction for the given assignment for you.

A good introduction to an assignment example is always one that gives a clear idea to the readers about what your assignment topic is or what are you going to talk about in the rest of the copy. An old trick is to talk about general ideas about the topic and narrow down your discussion to the specific problem or aspect of the topic you are going to discuss.

An introduction is a guide to your assignment. It should include:

  • Some background about the assignment topic, and
  • An outline of opinions and arguments you are going to present.

An assignment introduction example or two can perhaps give you a better idea of what needs to be done.

Contact our experts for a powerful introduction to your assignment!

Different Elements of the Introduction of an Assignment

Before we delve into introduction assignment examples, you must understand elements that constitute a good introduction to an assignment:

  • Importance of an assignment topic or the purpose of essay writing or dissertation writing,
  • Keywords from the essay topic or assignment question to show how well you have understood the writing task,
  • What is the proper definition of the assignment topic or the key terms it contains – and what can readers expect from the written piece,
  • Student’s reason for writing on the topic. You may get some hints on it from what your teacher mentions on the assignment list or what he/she shares in the class about it,
  • A quick bird-eye’s view of your approach on the assignment topic,
  • Key points of your discussion that you will elaborate in the body of the paper,
  • Quick discussion on previous studies, articles, news, or other works on the topic, and
  • What are some of the limitations of the topic?

You don’t have to include everything in an introduction – just enough to make your reader or teacher curious about the topic. The following example of introduction for assignment starts with a central issue, goes on to add some background, and then, presents the argument the assignment writer elaborated further in the essay. It ends with a smooth transition statement meant to transport the reader to the next part of the essay.

How to write an introduction for a report?

When you are stuck with how to start a writing assignment, writing an introduction can solve most of your problems. Different types of assignments have different types of introductory paragraphs. The student introduction assignment example mentioned above is suitable for an essay. Now, we will see an example of an assignment introduction for a report.

Note that this kind of assignment introduction contains:

  • A Background: A quick mention of previous studies and articles on the topic gives your teachers a perspective on what is already known about the topic, key issues that need to be addressed, and what you are going to discuss in your report.
  • An Objective or a Thesis Statement: A hypothesis or a thesis statement is based on earlier findings and previous works on the topic. It provides a structure to your report. Check how the assignment writing service expert has mentioned the purpose of the study and a quick outline of the entailing discussion in one statement – right after the background.
  • Importance of the Study: If you’ve not already highlighted the importance of the study yet, you may include a few more lines to mention the gaps in the topic research and how your paper is going to bridge those gaps.

Consult our assignment writers for fresh ideas and introduction samples for any type of assignment!

How to write an introduction for a thesis or a dissertation?

Most students come across a dissertation or a thesis writing task in their Master’s or Ph.D. degree course. A few need to write a dissertation in their Bachelor’s degree programs. But since they are new to dissertation writing, they wonder how to write an introduction for an assignment that is much longer than a normal essay writing task they have encountered yet. The truth is that writing an introduction for a dissertation is not much different from writing an introduction for an essay or a report (depending on the nature of your dissertation topic).

You can use the points mentioned above to learn how to write a good assignment introduction longer than a paragraph. The ideal length for a dissertation introduction is 5-7% of the total length of your research paper. Most Master’s dissertations are around 15,000 to 50,000 words long – depending on the subject area. Hence, their introductions can have anywhere between 750 and 2,500 words.

We provide affordable writing services for students who find it difficult to paraphrase their ideas succinctly in an introduction. Besides the general introduction, we also help students write an introduction for each chapter, which will help you include more references throughout your research paper. It will also help research paper writers to remind their readers of the purpose of the dissertation again and to retain their interest.

You must also read :  Tips and Examples of The Conclusion Section of Assignments

Tips of Top-Rated Experts on How to Start an Assignment

Our essay writers advise students on how to write a good introduction for an assignment all the time. Besides what’s mentioned above, they also advise students to:

  • make their introduction eye-catching,
  • build up curiosity,
  • outline the arguments, and
  • maintain suspense.

Experts warn that merely stating the assignment question in other words or trying to state everything in the introduction like a summary of a story is not a good idea at all. You must follow the word limit suggested by your instructor for the assignment introduction and maintain a sharp, focused approach while penning the intro.

Need help with how to start an assignment introduction?

Introduction matters! Whether it’s a superstar or an assignment, the introduction is a key to his/its popularity. GoAssignmentHelp is a leading online assignment help service that brings you the best and most experienced assignment writers from the major cities of Canada, such as Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Winnipeg, and more. You can seek help from them for writing the best introduction for your homework , essays , dissertations , thesis , and research papers .

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How to Write An Assignment Introduction Like A Pro

How to Write An Assignment Introduction

Assignments become a crucial part of students’ academic lives as they have to encounter writing assignments daily. Writing an assignment in itself is a big and tough task, but most students face problems in writing an introduction for such assignments. 

An introduction has to be precise and complete to give a brief about your assignment, and there is a fixed word limit for writing an introduction of an assignment. That is why the most searched question about the assignment is 

How To Write An Assignment Introduction!

Table of Contents

If you want to make sure that your assignment’s introduction is eye-catching and précis, then follow the following guidelines on how to write an introduction for an assignment.

What is the Assignment Introduction?

The introduction gives an outline of the whole paper. It is the presentation of key ideas and also the purpose of your work. The introduction tells the readers about what you are going to tell in the assignment. An introduction has its own grading rules as it is counted distinctly from the body.

Significance of Writing Assignment Introduction

First, we need to understand the significance of writing a good introduction to an assignment. So you must have heard that the first impression is the last impression, and an introduction of your assignment works as a first impression for your assignment. 

Thus, if you wish to attract your examiner’s attention or your readers, you should write a good introduction for your assignment. Moreover, the important role of the introduction is to give an overview of the assignment, which helps the reader determine whether they want to read it.

Hence, before writing an assignment, it is very important to understand how to write an introduction of an assignment .

Strategies: How to write an assignment introduction

  • A good introduction to the assignment manifests the following strategies –
  • It must show the main objective and purpose of the assignment.
  • The importance of assignment.
  • The purview of the assignment’s study that is what it includes.
  • A brief description of the assignment’s content and its organization.

Characteristics of Good Introduction

Before knowing how to write an assignment introduction, the most crucial thing is to know the characteristics of a good introduction. Because then only you can write a good introduction. So following are the essential characteristics of a good introduction-

  • A good introduction is written precisely and clearly so that everyone can understand it. In short, there must not be any language errors.
  • It must be written while remembering that it should be attention-grabbing so that it can grab the attention of its readers.
  • A good introduction always shows the purpose of the study and what the study is about.
  • A Good Assignment should be grammatical error free and plagiarism free. It will be a wise decision to take help from AI Content Detector tool like Content at Scale’s AI detector.
  • Best Guide on How to Write a Case Study Assignment?
  • Useful Guide on How to Submit Assignment on Google Classroom
  • Handy Tips on How to Write an Assignment From Scratch

Elements: How to Write Introduction For Assignment

1.   background.

The first thing you have to write in an introduction is a brief background of the study. You have to give an overview of your assignment, what your assignment is about, its impact, and its area of study.

2.   Context in brief

You have to include a gist of the context of your assignment. It helps the readers to get information about the scope of the study in the assignment. But, including a summarizer tool can automate this process for your convenience.

3.   Your Contention

You have to write your stance on the question involved in the statement. It should be limited to one statement. It will help the readers understand your stance on such points and that the assignment is based on such points.

4.   Main points of study

You will write one line on the main points of your study as it will help the readers circumscribe the assignment’s limits.

5.   Definition of the Topic

The most important step in how to write an introduction for an assignment is to write a definition of the topic of the assignment very briefly. So that readers can understand the title of the study at once.

6.   Why are you writing on this topic only

It is always suggested that you write in the introduction of an assignment why you are writing on this topic only.

7.   Outline

Write briefly about the outline or structure of the assignment so that readers can read accordingly, and also it will help you to define the scope of the assignment in short.

However, students often look for how to write assignment pdf. So, below we provide the assignment introduction pdf.

How To Write An Introduction Of An Assignment Pdf

Download this PDF of how to write an introduction on an assignment:

How Long Should An Assignment Introduction Be?

It is true that students find this question while looking for an answer on the assignment’s introduction page. Let’s state that while writing an assignment, the introduction section should not be too long. Furthermore, the context should not be more than a few pages long.

Keep your assignment’s introduction simple and readable. Replace difficult words with simpler ones to fix readability issues (if any). To save time and effort, online paraphrasing tools such as Editpad or Paraphraser can be used to paraphrase text in a simple way.

If you are writing a 2000-word assignment, the introduction should be 200-250 words long.

But if you are writing a 3000-word assignment, the introduction should be 350-400 words long.

Guidelines/Tips On How To Write An Assignment Introduction

  • Always start your assignment’s introduction with a broad idea about the topic of the assignment. After giving a broader picture of the study, you have to narrow down the discussion and write the main object of the study.
  • Don’t forget to state the significance of your assignment in brief. It is the prominent part of the introduction.
  • You have to smartly write about the tasks you are dealing with in the assignment in brief.
  • Make sure you use easy and understandable language so that readers don’t find it difficult to understand the introduction; otherwise, they will not read the other parts of the assignment as well.
  • Double-check and proofread your assignment introduction to ensure it is free from spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes.

These guidelines are very important in writing a good introduction to your assignment. If you want to be well-versed in writing an assignment introduction, it is mandatory first to be acquainted with these tips and guidelines.

Assignment Introduction Example

For more clarity, you can see the following assignment example;

good introduction for an assignment

Is There Any Other Way To Write Or Get An Effective Assignment Introduction?

Yes, there is! 

It has been seen that there are several writers who are confused when it comes to the assignment’s introduction writing. And it is true that they struggle to summarise the broad issue and write an introduction without conducting sufficient research. However, because the subject experts or online assignments help provide experts who are well-versed in the field, they easily write the introduction in minutes.

  • The majority of students do not properly understand the English language. The experts who work in the writing industry have years of experience in writing assignments. That is why they always make sure to write an engaging introduction that also seems professional.
  • Furthermore, the requirements of the writer are always given priority by the professionals. After that, they write a professional article that will, without a doubt, engage the reader.
  • The expert not only helps the student in preparing the assignment’s introduction. They offer their support in completing the entire home task and guarantee that they will get an A+ grade.
  • Besides that, the professionals’ support is available 24/7/365/366 days. So you won’t have to worry about coming up with a solution for your writing task.

What Makes A Good Introduction?

As you already know that, the rules are always subject to change, and our perspectives may be different. However, the academic standards for writing an introduction are quite clear. When creating a great introduction for an assignment, you have to make sure some of the points that are given below:

  • Motivates the audience.
  • Introduces your thesis statement.
  • Defines the topic you’re talking about.
  • Emphasizes the significance of your topic.
  • Highlights the main points you want to discuss.
  • Provides your reasoning for approaching your topic.
  • Gives a high-level overview of your methodology.
  • Provides statistical information and the purpose of your methodology.

Note: Remember that even creative writing tasks require an inspiring introduction that discusses your purpose for writing.

On the other hand, writing an introduction is relatively easy. Some important things must be clear, including:

  • Your topic’s importance.
  • The goal of your paper.
  • An element of explanation.
  • A powerful opening hook sentence.
  • Include a link to your thesis statement.

Quick recap

To write an engaging assignment introduction, remember to:

  • Make their introduction interesting, 
  • outline the reasons, 
  • make the audience curious about your assignment, 
  • and keep the audience guessing.

Experts warn that rephrasing the assignment question or telling everything in the opening like a story synopsis is not a good idea. You must stick to your tutor’s specified word limit for the assignment introduction and write it with a clear, focused approach.

Since the time assignments have become a crucial part of our studies and grades, and the need to learn the concept and structure of assignments has arisen. 

An introduction is the important part of the assignment to grab readers’ attention and tell in brief about the background and information of the assignment. Thus it is very important to learn how to write assignment introductions. The introduction of an assignment should be eye-catching and alluring to capture the audience and make them read the whole assignment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. what are the 3 parts of an introduction paragraph.

Following are the three parts of an introduction:  1. Parts of an introduction 2. The opening statement 3. The supporting sentences 4. The introductory topic sentence.

Q2. What are the key elements of an introduction?

The introduction must have the following responsibilities: 1. Get the audience’s attention 2. Introduce the topic 3. Explain its relevance to the audience 4. State a thesis or purpose 5. Outline the main points.

Q3. How to write introduction for assignment?

A good introduction shows the reader that the essay will provide a relevant answer to the assignment question. As a result, the introduction should link back to the question. That is done by writing a paragraph that deals with all the key content mentioned in the assignment question.

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How to Start an Assignment Introduction Like an Expert

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Every student wonders how to start an assignment introduction because this knowledge can keep them afloat through their endless years of school, college, and university. If you're here, you probably wonder that as well. Thankfully, there is nothing complicated about writing an introduction. This is how one starts an essay that teases the topics to come and explains your work’s final goal. Its importance is absolute.

Think about it. You open someone’s essay and see a very boring assignment introduction. Chances are, it’ll inform your opinion about the whole text right then and there, and even if the body has some fascinating facts, you might stay unimpressed anyway. First impressions usually stick with people. The guide prepared by StateOfWriting’s experts will teach you how you can grab your audience’s attention from the first seconds. In it, you’ll find explanations, examples, tips, and even common grading criteria that will help you start most compellingly.

How to Start an Assignment Introduction and What to Include

The introduction plays the same role in every paper, regardless of its topic. It must briefly address the content you will explore in the body and outline the needed steps. Its more subtle purpose is triggering genuine interest in your audience, motivating them to keep reading.

5 Elements of Every Introduction

Include these components in the introduction for assignment you’re working on:

  • Hook. This would be the first sentence of your introduction. Does the word itself evoke any associations in you? When you hook someone, be it a fish or a person, you get to hold onto them. They become yours, and that’s exactly what you should strive for when writing your paper. Hit your readers with the very first line as powerfully as you can. It could be a piece of astonishing statistics that will make people gape in shock. Alternatively, you could go for an emotional approach, writing something that clenches your readers’ hearts in their chests. Whatever you choose, make it count.
  • Background. The second element you’ll need for learning to know how to write introduction for assignment is the background. Professional tips for college application essay will show you how essential it is to make it interesting. This background represents your topic — it must explain what you’re investigating and how this subject came to be. For example, we’re analysing a TV show, Devil Judge. To present its background properly, we’d mention its title, airing date, and key figures. Then we’d briefly describe its plot.
  • Justification. Next in figuring out how to write an introduction for assignment is deciding why you picked your topic. What makes it relevant to your subject? How can people benefit from reading about it? No need for much detail; just make a few references.
  • Steps. This and the next component are interchangeable. In most cases, students need either one or another, depending on your professor's request. Outline the steps you’ll be undertaking when exploring your topic. If you will analyse the plot in the first body paragraph and dissect the characters in the second one, explain it to your readers. Provide a roadmap of your intentions. This approach is more suitable for really long papers.
  • Thesis. How to write a good introduction for an assignment? By creating a powerful thesis. Most academic papers require it. It concludes your introduction, functioning as its last sentence. A thesis is a direct claim that embodies your essay’s entire essence. Even if people read it and nothing else, they should understand your work.

essential parts of an assignment introduction

Specific Moments to Cover in Your Intro

You have a general picture of how to start writing an assignment now. It’s time to learn about the smaller and more specific details you should include in your introduction!

  • Context. Always give your readers context. Disclose it carefully, bit by bit, instead of jumping straight to your main point. Using our TV show example, saying “Devil Judge is about revenge and power abuse” would be a bad start. It dumps too much information on a person and discloses too many relevant points. Be gradual and untangle your topic.
  • Overview. When writing an introduction for an assignment, include a content overview. As mentioned above, it could be present as steps or a thesis. Either way, just demonstrate your plans to your readers — no introduction can function without it.
  • Your perspective. Share your opinion about your topic. It doesn’t mean that you should use personal pronouns, just show what your position is by focusing your readers’ attention on a specific angle. Going back to our example, we could mention how the affection of Judge Kang toward his deceased brother coloured his perception of Ga On, who closely resembled him physically. This would narrow the focus down, displaying what we want to explore.
  • Your goal. This aspect is closely linked to the previous one. Specify the end point of your essay by teasing the conclusion you plan to achieve.

Avoid These Mistakes When Writing Your Introduction

  • Repetitions. Some students choose to repeat their title word by word in their paper. It’s not a good idea! Your assignment introduction sentence starters should be more unique. Come up with new words and phrases instead of engaging in self-plagiarism.
  • General statements. Avoid vague sentences that suit any topic. An individual and relevant introduction will help make your paper look special. Be specific.
  • Rambling paragraphs. Don’t try to introduce all possible information in your first paragraph. Being specific doesn’t mean talking non-stop. You should briefly present your ideas in the introduction and develop them in the body.
  • Personal pronouns. Never use personal pronouns unless your task allows them. This covers “I, my, we, us, our,” etc.

what to avoid in an assignment introduction

5 Tips from Our Academic Experts

StateOfWriting’s British experts have written more essays than they can ever count. This extensive experience fuels their professionalism: they know how to create amazing papers, and they shared some key introduction-related insights with you.

  • Create an introduction last. How to start an assignment for university? By writing it last. Yes, it may sound surprising, but this is how you can ensure you don’t need to rewrite anything later. An introduction has to reflect your whole paper. You should understand your findings and conclusions before crafting it.
  • Size matters. Introduction shouldn’t take more than 10% of your total word count.
  • Keep a balance between teasing and informing. Remember our assignment introduction writing tips from above? It’s important to share just the right details with readers.
  • Edit this intro. Re-read your introduction a couple of times. Clean it thoroughly, removing all accidental mistakes and typos.
  • Seek help. If any of these rules frustrate you, simply buy assignment online from professionals. Our writers could give you extra tips or take over the task completely.

Grading Criteria to Guide You on How to Write an Assignment Introduction

StateOfWriting’s experience spans across various fields. We know how college professors operate and what they expect to see in students’ papers. Take a look at their common grading points below. Remember them when you work on your introduction and adjust it accordingly.

  • Conciseness. Professors want a short yet succinct introduction that covers all the necessary points without being overly long or overwhelming.
  • Relevance. An introduction must be relevant to the subject and prompt. If the connection is loose, some points may be removed.
  • Suspense. Not all professors pay attention to this aspect, but you’ll benefit from intriguing your audience and instilling a sense of anticipation in them.
  • Research. Most essays require the use of credible academic studies. Cite at least the most important one in your intro to demonstrate your thoughtful approach. Get help with assignments if you’re struggling with this part.
  • Thesis. All professors award separate points for a strong thesis statement.

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Practical Example of Effective Essay Introduction

We will provide you with a practical assignment introduction example to secure your theoretical knowledge. One of our top writers created it on the topic we already mentioned, the Devil Judge show. Find its analysis below and use this text as a template for your introduction!

The Dangers of Affection Transference in ‘Devil Judge’ Losing a loved one and then suddenly seeing a stranger with their face is the sharpest and most overwhelming experience. It can bring devastation and joy simultaneously, and this topic lies at the heart of ‘Devil Judge.’ This Korean show aired in 2021; it was written by Moon Yoo-Seok, who worked as a judge for over two decades (Livson, 2023). Kang Yohan, one of the protagonists, has lost his beloved older brother ten years before the show's start. When he meets Ga On, a junior judge sent to spy on him, he feels torn because Ga On bears a striking physical resemblance to his brother. The topic of affection transference is interesting because it is easy to use as a form of emotional manipulation. Moreover, the research in this area is lacking. As Joilis (2022) notes, when a person automatically attributes the qualities of their loved one to someone else over their resemblance, they face the risk of being emotionally compromised. Kang Yohan feels drawn to Ga On because he reminds him of his brother, and he becomes a victim of unwilling manipulation by starting to perceive Ga On as a part of his family sooner than naturally.

Analysis of Successful Assignment Introduction

Hook: The essay begins by thrusting the readers into a complicated emotional scenario and shortly describing the feelings it evokes. Background: In the next several sentences, we explore the meaning of ‘Devil Judge’, address its main characters, and show our willingness to focus on one specific theme, affection transference. Justification: The paper underlines how transference can be emotionally harmful to people and notes how scarce research is in this area, elevating our study's value. Thesis: We make a final claim that unites the show's plot with our chosen psychological phenomenon and introduces the points we’ll tackle, such as the resemblance between Ga On and Yohan’s brother, accidental manipulation, and the strengths of their feelings.

good assignment introduction example

FAQ on How to Write an Introduction for an Assignment

1. How many words should my introduction have?

The average introduction should be between 7% and 10% of your final word count. So, if your essay has 600 words, dedicate 60 of them to your first section.

2. What sentence should I start my introduction with?

It could be a shocking statement, statistics, a quote, and even a question.

3. What should I do when writing an introduction for a report?

Stay precise and objective. In this task, you don’t need to develop an individual position on a specific topic, just summarise it properly.

4. How to write an introduction for a case study?

Address the details from this case study. Depending on your prompt, mention the situation and offer ways of analysing or resolving it.

5. What should I do when writing an introduction for a dissertation?

This introduction will be longer. Follow our tips above, but be more detailed. Demonstrate your plan of action and research questions.

6. How to write an introduction for a maths assignment?

The rules don’t change based on assignments. Be formal and thoughtful, and introduce your topic properly by mentioning some of its background.

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Introductions

What this handout is about.

This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for creating effective introductions, and provide some examples of less effective introductions to avoid.

The role of introductions

Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. Usually when you sit down to respond to an assignment, you have at least some sense of what you want to say in the body of your paper. You might have chosen a few examples you want to use or have an idea that will help you answer the main question of your assignment; these sections, therefore, may not be as hard to write. And it’s fine to write them first! But in your final draft, these middle parts of the paper can’t just come out of thin air; they need to be introduced and concluded in a way that makes sense to your reader.

Your introduction and conclusion act as bridges that transport your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis. If your readers pick up your paper about education in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, for example, they need a transition to help them leave behind the world of Chapel Hill, television, e-mail, and The Daily Tar Heel and to help them temporarily enter the world of nineteenth-century American slavery. By providing an introduction that helps your readers make a transition between their own world and the issues you will be writing about, you give your readers the tools they need to get into your topic and care about what you are saying. Similarly, once you’ve hooked your readers with the introduction and offered evidence to prove your thesis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. (See our handout on conclusions .)

Note that what constitutes a good introduction may vary widely based on the kind of paper you are writing and the academic discipline in which you are writing it. If you are uncertain what kind of introduction is expected, ask your instructor.

Why bother writing a good introduction?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper.

Your introduction is an important road map for the rest of your paper. Your introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. You can let them know what your topic is, why it is important, and how you plan to proceed with your discussion. In many academic disciplines, your introduction should contain a thesis that will assert your main argument. Your introduction should also give the reader a sense of the kinds of information you will use to make that argument and the general organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. After reading your introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they read the main body of your paper.

Ideally, your introduction will make your readers want to read your paper. The introduction should capture your readers’ interest, making them want to read the rest of your paper. Opening with a compelling story, an interesting question, or a vivid example can get your readers to see why your topic matters and serve as an invitation for them to join you for an engaging intellectual conversation (remember, though, that these strategies may not be suitable for all papers and disciplines).

Strategies for writing an effective introduction

Start by thinking about the question (or questions) you are trying to answer. Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first step toward that end. Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis, and your thesis will likely be included in your introduction, so it is a good idea to use the question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following question:

Drawing on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century America. Consider the following: How did white control of education reinforce slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education while they endured slavery? And what role did education play in the acquisition of freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your complete essay, and the prompt itself can also give you some clues about how to approach the introduction. Notice that it starts with a broad statement and then narrows to focus on specific questions from the book. One strategy might be to use a similar model in your own introduction—start off with a big picture sentence or two and then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass. Of course, a different approach could also be very successful, but looking at the way the professor set up the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it. (See our handout on understanding assignments for additional information on the hidden clues in assignments.)

Decide how general or broad your opening should be. Keep in mind that even a “big picture” opening needs to be clearly related to your topic; an opening sentence that said “Human beings, more than any other creatures on earth, are capable of learning” would be too broad for our sample assignment about slavery and education. If you have ever used Google Maps or similar programs, that experience can provide a helpful way of thinking about how broad your opening should be. Imagine that you’re researching Chapel Hill. If what you want to find out is whether Chapel Hill is at roughly the same latitude as Rome, it might make sense to hit that little “minus” sign on the online map until it has zoomed all the way out and you can see the whole globe. If you’re trying to figure out how to get from Chapel Hill to Wrightsville Beach, it might make more sense to zoom in to the level where you can see most of North Carolina (but not the rest of the world, or even the rest of the United States). And if you are looking for the intersection of Ridge Road and Manning Drive so that you can find the Writing Center’s main office, you may need to zoom all the way in. The question you are asking determines how “broad” your view should be. In the sample assignment above, the questions are probably at the “state” or “city” level of generality. When writing, you need to place your ideas in context—but that context doesn’t generally have to be as big as the whole galaxy!

Try writing your introduction last. You may think that you have to write your introduction first, but that isn’t necessarily true, and it isn’t always the most effective way to craft a good introduction. You may find that you don’t know precisely what you are going to argue at the beginning of the writing process. It is perfectly fine to start out thinking that you want to argue a particular point but wind up arguing something slightly or even dramatically different by the time you’ve written most of the paper. The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated argument. However, an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end. You will need to revise your paper to make sure that the introduction, all of the evidence, and the conclusion reflect the argument you intend. Sometimes it’s easiest to just write up all of your evidence first and then write the introduction last—that way you can be sure that the introduction will match the body of the paper.

Don’t be afraid to write a tentative introduction first and then change it later. Some people find that they need to write some kind of introduction in order to get the writing process started. That’s fine, but if you are one of those people, be sure to return to your initial introduction later and rewrite if necessary.

Open with something that will draw readers in. Consider these options (remembering that they may not be suitable for all kinds of papers):

  • an intriguing example —for example, Douglass writes about a mistress who initially teaches him but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery.
  • a provocative quotation that is closely related to your argument —for example, Douglass writes that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” (Quotes from famous people, inspirational quotes, etc. may not work well for an academic paper; in this example, the quote is from the author himself.)
  • a puzzling scenario —for example, Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.
  • a vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote —for example, “Learning about slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School, students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families, and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however, until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the deprivation of education in past generations.”
  • a thought-provoking question —for example, given all of the freedoms that were denied enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?

Pay special attention to your first sentence. Start off on the right foot with your readers by making sure that the first sentence actually says something useful and that it does so in an interesting and polished way.

How to evaluate your introduction draft

Ask a friend to read your introduction and then tell you what they expect the paper will discuss, what kinds of evidence the paper will use, and what the tone of the paper will be. If your friend is able to predict the rest of your paper accurately, you probably have a good introduction.

Five kinds of less effective introductions

1. The placeholder introduction. When you don’t have much to say on a given topic, it is easy to create this kind of introduction. Essentially, this kind of weaker introduction contains several sentences that are vague and don’t really say much. They exist just to take up the “introduction space” in your paper. If you had something more effective to say, you would probably say it, but in the meantime this paragraph is just a place holder.

Example: Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for enslaved people.

2. The restated question introduction. Restating the question can sometimes be an effective strategy, but it can be easy to stop at JUST restating the question instead of offering a more specific, interesting introduction to your paper. The professor or teaching assistant wrote your question and will be reading many essays in response to it—they do not need to read a whole paragraph that simply restates the question.

Example: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass discusses the relationship between education and slavery in 19th century America, showing how white control of education reinforced slavery and how Douglass and other enslaved African Americans viewed education while they endured. Moreover, the book discusses the role that education played in the acquisition of freedom. Education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

3. The Webster’s Dictionary introduction. This introduction begins by giving the dictionary definition of one or more of the words in the assigned question. Anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and copy down what Webster says. If you want to open with a discussion of an important term, it may be far more interesting for you (and your reader) if you develop your own definition of the term in the specific context of your class and assignment. You may also be able to use a definition from one of the sources you’ve been reading for class. Also recognize that the dictionary is also not a particularly authoritative work—it doesn’t take into account the context of your course and doesn’t offer particularly detailed information. If you feel that you must seek out an authority, try to find one that is very relevant and specific. Perhaps a quotation from a source reading might prove better? Dictionary introductions are also ineffective simply because they are so overused. Instructors may see a great many papers that begin in this way, greatly decreasing the dramatic impact that any one of those papers will have.

Example: Webster’s dictionary defines slavery as “the state of being a slave,” as “the practice of owning slaves,” and as “a condition of hard work and subjection.”

4. The “dawn of man” introduction. This kind of introduction generally makes broad, sweeping statements about the relevance of this topic since the beginning of time, throughout the world, etc. It is usually very general (similar to the placeholder introduction) and fails to connect to the thesis. It may employ cliches—the phrases “the dawn of man” and “throughout human history” are examples, and it’s hard to imagine a time when starting with one of these would work. Instructors often find them extremely annoying.

Example: Since the dawn of man, slavery has been a problem in human history.

5. The book report introduction. This introduction is what you had to do for your elementary school book reports. It gives the name and author of the book you are writing about, tells what the book is about, and offers other basic facts about the book. You might resort to this sort of introduction when you are trying to fill space because it’s a familiar, comfortable format. It is ineffective because it offers details that your reader probably already knows and that are irrelevant to the thesis.

Example: Frederick Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave , in the 1840s. It was published in 1986 by Penguin Books. In it, he tells the story of his life.

And now for the conclusion…

Writing an effective introduction can be tough. Try playing around with several different options and choose the one that ends up sounding best to you!

Just as your introduction helps readers make the transition to your topic, your conclusion needs to help them return to their daily lives–but with a lasting sense of how what they have just read is useful or meaningful. Check out our handout on  conclusions for tips on ending your paper as effectively as you began it!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Douglass, Frederick. 1995. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself . New York: Dover.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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  • If you are writing in a new discipline, you should always make sure to ask about conventions and expectations for introductions, just as you would for any other aspect of the essay. For example, while it may be acceptable to write a two-paragraph (or longer) introduction for your papers in some courses, instructors in other disciplines, such as those in some Government courses, may expect a shorter introduction that includes a preview of the argument that will follow.  
  • In some disciplines (Government, Economics, and others), it’s common to offer an overview in the introduction of what points you will make in your essay. In other disciplines, you will not be expected to provide this overview in your introduction.  
  • Avoid writing a very general opening sentence. While it may be true that “Since the dawn of time, people have been telling love stories,” it won’t help you explain what’s interesting about your topic.  
  • Avoid writing a “funnel” introduction in which you begin with a very broad statement about a topic and move to a narrow statement about that topic. Broad generalizations about a topic will not add to your readers’ understanding of your specific essay topic.  
  • Avoid beginning with a dictionary definition of a term or concept you will be writing about. If the concept is complicated or unfamiliar to your readers, you will need to define it in detail later in your essay. If it’s not complicated, you can assume your readers already know the definition.  
  • Avoid offering too much detail in your introduction that a reader could better understand later in the paper.
  • picture_as_pdf Introductions

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Essay Introduction Examples

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

Always have a road map for an essay introduction . Having a strong essay introduction structure is critical to a successful paper. It sets the tone for the reader and interests them in your work. It also tells them what the essay is about and why they should read it at all.

It shouldn't leave the reader confused with a cliffhanger at the end. Instead, it should generate interest and guide the reader to Chapter One. Using the right parts of an essay introduction can help with this.

Check out an effective essay introduction structure below. It’s a road map for writing an essay—just like the parts of essay introductions are road maps for readers.

Essay Introduction Structure

Attention-grabbing start

Outline of argument

Thesis statement

Some academics find the beginning the most difficult part of writing an essay , so our editors have created some examples of good essay introductions to guide you. Let's take a look at the samples below to see how the essay introduction structures come together. 

If you are unsure about your paper, our essay editors would love to give you some feedback on how to write an essay introduction. 

[1] According to Paul Ratsmith, the tenuous but nonetheless important relationship between pumpkins and rats is little understood: "While I've always been fascinated by this natural kinship, the connection between pumpkins and rats has been the subject of few, if any, other studies" (2008). [2] Ratsmith has been studying this connection, something he coined "pumpkinology," since the early 1990s. He is most well known for documenting the three years he spent living in the wild among pumpkins and rats. [3] Though it is a topic of little recent interest, the relationship has been noted in several ancient texts and seems to have been well understood by the Romans. Critics of Ratsmith have cited poor science and questionable methodology when dismissing his results, going so far as to call pumpkinology "rubbish" (de Vil, 2009), "stupid" (Claw, 2010), and "quite possibly made up" (Igthorn, 2009). [4] Despite these criticisms, there does appear to be a strong correlation between pumpkin patches and rat populations, with Ratsmith documenting numerous pumpkin–rat colonies across North America, leading to the conclusion that pumpkins and rats are indeed "nature's best friends" (2008).

Let's break down this example of a good essay introduction structure. The beginning hooks our attention from the get-go in section one. This is because it piques our curiosity. What is this strange relationship? Why has no one studied it? Then, section two gives us context for the topic. Ratsmith is an expert in a controversial field: pumpkinology. It's the study of the connection between pumpkins and rats. 

The second half of the paragraph also demonstrates why this is a good essay introduction example. Section three gives us the main argument: the topic is rarely studied because critics think Ratsmith's work is "rubbish," but the relationship between pumpkins and rats has ancient roots. Then section four gives us the thesis statement: Ratsmith's work has some merit.

The parts of an essay introduction help us chart a course through the topic. We know the paper will take us on a journey. It's all because the author practiced how to write an essay introduction. 

Let’s take a look at another example of a good essay introduction.

[1] Societies have long believed that if a black cat crosses one's path, one might have bad luck—but it wasn't until King Charles I's black cat died that the ruler's bad luck began (Pemberton, 2018). [2] Indeed, for centuries, black cats have been seen as the familiars of witches—as demonic associates of Satan who disrespect authority (Yuko, 2021). Yet, they have also been associated with good luck, from England's rulers to long-distance sailors (Cole, 2021). [3] This essay shows how outdated the bad luck superstition really is. It provides a comprehensive history of the belief and then provides proof that this superstition has no place in today's modern society. [4] It argues that despite the prevailing belief that animals cause bad luck, black cats often bring what seems to be "good luck" and deserve a new reputation.

This example of a good essay introduction pulls us in right away. This is because section one provides an interesting fact about King Charles I. What is the story there, and what bad luck did he experience after his cat passed away? Then, section two provides us with general information about the current status of black cats. We understand the context of the essay and why the topic is controversial.

Section three then gives us a road map that leads us through the main arguments. Finally, section four gives us the essay's thesis: "black cats often bring what seems to be 'good luck' and deserve a new reputation."

Still feeling unsure about how to write an essay introduction? Here's another example using the essay introduction structure we discussed earlier.

[1] When the Lutz family moved into a new house in Amityville, New York, they found themselves terrorized by a vengeful ghost (Labianca, 2021). Since then, their famous tale has been debunked by scientists and the family themselves (Smith, 2005). [2] Yet ghost stories have gripped human consciousness for centuries (History, 2009). Scientists, researchers, and theorists alike have argued whether ghosts are simply figments of the imagination or real things that go bump in the night. In considering this question, many scientists have stated that ghosts may actually exist. [3] Lindley (2017) believes the answer may be in the quantum world, which "just doesn’t work the way the world around us works," but "we don’t really have the concepts to deal with it." Scientific studies on the existence of ghosts date back hundreds of years (History, 2009), and technology has undergone a vast evolution since then (Lamey, 2018). State-of-the-art tools and concepts can now reveal more about ghosts than we've ever known (Kane, 2015). [4] This essay uses these tools to provide definitive proof of the existence of ghosts in the quantum realm. 

This example of a good essay introduction uses a slightly different strategy than the others. To hook the reader, it begins with an interesting anecdote related to the topic. That pulls us in, making us wonder what really happened to the Lutzs. Then, section two provides us with some background information about the topic to help us understand. Many people believe ghosts aren't real, but some scientists think they are.

This immediately flows into section three, which charts a course through the main arguments the essay will make. Finally, it ends with the essay's thesis: there is definitive proof of the existence of ghosts in the quantum realm. It all works because the author used the parts of an essay introduction well.

For attention-grabbing introductions, an understanding of essay introduction structure and how to write an essay introduction is required.

Our essay introduction examples showing the parts of an essay introduction will help you craft the beginning paragraph you need to start your writing journey on the right foot.

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good introduction for an assignment

good introduction for an assignment

How To Write A Solid Assignment Introduction

By: Derek Jansen | December 2017

Henley MBA Introduction Chapter

I’ll kick off this post by making a bold assertion:

The introduction chapter of your assignment is the single most important section in your entire assignment.

Yip. Not the analysis chapter. Not the recommendations chapter. The introduction chapter. Yip, that short 200/300/400-word chapter that so many students rush through to get to the meatier chapters.  Why do I say this? There are a few reasons:

It creates the first impression.

Apart from the executive summary (which some assignments don’t have), the introduction creates the very first impression on your marker. It sets the tone in terms of the quality of the assignment.

It introduces your industry.

You might have decades of experience in your industry – but your marker won’t. This means that the simplest concepts can be misunderstood (and thereby cost you marks) if not explained right at the beginning of your assignment. A good introduction lays the foundation so that the marker can understand your upcoming arguments.

It defines and justifies your topic.

The introduction, if developed correctly, clearly outlines what the assignment will be about (and what it won’t) and why that’s important (i.e. a justification). In other words, it makes it clear what the focus of the assignment will be about, and why that is worth investigating. This clarity and justification of the topic are essential to earning good marks and keeping you focused on the purpose of the assignment.

It clarifies your approach.

Beyond the what and why, a good introduction also briefly explains how you’ll approach the research, both from a theoretical and practical perspective. This lays a clear roadmap both for the marker and for yourself. For the marker, this improves the readability and digestibility of the document (which is essential for earning marks). And for you, this big-picture view of the approach keeps you from digressing into a useless analysis.

In short, a good introduction lays a solid foundation and a clear direction for the rest of your assignment. Hopefully, you’re convinced…

Henley MBA Help

The 5 essential ingredients.

In this post, I’ll outline the key components of a strong introduction chapter/section. But first, I want to discuss the structure.

Some assignment briefs will provide a proposed structure which combines the introduction and analysis chapters. I always encourage my clients to split this up into two chapters, as it provides a clearer, more logical structure. You’ll see why once I discuss the core components.

#1 – The Four Ws

A logical starting point is to assume the marker knows nothing about your business . Make sure you cover the basics:

  • Who – what is the name of the business? If its multiple words, you should take the opportunity to introduce an acronym here. Then, stick to the acronym throughout the rest of the assignment. It’s also good practice to provide a list of acronyms in the appendix.
  • What – explain what the business does, in simple English. Avoid industry jargon and explain the basic operating model of the business.
  • Where – explain where the business operates from and where its customers operate. If you have multiple offices and serve multiple markets, a visual representation can save you some words.
  • When – mention the age of the business, and how many staff it employs. You can also note the ownership structure (private company, listed entity, JV, etc).

If you’re only going to focus on one country/branch/department, make mention of this now. Also, be sure to justify why you’re focusing on that (for example, due to limited access to data).

If done right, you will have now painted a very clear (but concise) picture of the organisation for the marker. The next step is to discuss the context that the business operates in.

#2 – A brief discussion of the context.

Now that you’ve introduced the business, you need to move towards identifying the key issue(s) that will form the focus of the assignment. To do this, you need to lay a context, which will then lead to the issue(s). This will vary between assignments, and could be something like:

  • The entry of new competitors resulting in reduced market share (STR, SM)
  • A merger leading to a culture clash and poor performance (MP)
  • A corporate scandal resulting in reputation damage (R&R)
  • Changing regulation leading to the opening of a new potential country market (IB)

In other words, you need to present a (brief) story of how the key issue(s) or opportunity has arisen – X has lead to Y, which caused Z.

#3 – Identification of the key issue and research question(s).

With the context set, you need to clearly state what the key issue(s) or opportunity is, and why this is worth investigating (for example, due to the financial impact if left unresolved). This is pretty straightforward, but it is a critical step often missed by students, and results in the marker questioning the quality of the entire assignment.

With the key issue identified, its time to lay out your research question(s). In other words, state in question format, what question(s) your assignment will seek to answer.

For example:

  • “What has changed in Organisation X’s competitive context, and how should it best respond to ensure sustainable competitive advantage?”
  • “Should Organisation X internationalise to Country Y?”
  • “What segments exist within Industry X and which segment should Organisation Y target?”
  • “Which digital business model should Organisation X adopt?”

By stating your research question(s) up front, you are providing a very clear, focused direction for your assignment, thereby reducing your risk of getting distracted by the shiny objects that will invariably pop up along the way. You are stating clearly what you will and won’t focus on, and ring-fencing the assignment to a manageable breadth. This is critically important for earning marks, as it allows you to go deep into a highly relevant set of theories and develop meaningful insights, rather than superficially fluttering with numerous less-relevant ones.

What’s critically important is that you achieve alignment between the context, the issue(s) and the research question(s). They should all flow in a logical fashion, as shown below. 

good introduction for an assignment

If you achieve this alignment, you have a rock-solid foundation for your assignment, and your marker will be crystal clear regarding your direction, and why you chose that direction.

#4 – A brief outline of your theoretical approach.

Now that you’ve made it clear what your assignment is aiming to achieve (i.e. what research question(s) it wants to answer), it is very good practice to briefly mention:

  • How you will approach the analysis.
  • What key theory you will draw on.

In other words, you should give the marker an indication of how you approached the analysis, and on what theoretical basis. For example:

“The report begins by briefly looking at the organisation’s broader strategy, as well as values using Schwartz’s model (1994). It then reviews stakeholders using Mitchell et al.’s framework (1997) and identifies a key group with which reputation needs to be managed to achieve strategic alignment. It then analyses antecedents, reputation, and outcomes of the said group using Money et al.’s (2012) RELATE framework. This is followed by proposed strategic actions.”

As you can see, this excerpt clearly outlines how the analysis was approached, and what key theory was used in the relevant sections. This gives the marker a big-picture view of the assignment, which aids the digestibility of the document.

#5 – A brief outline of your fieldwork.

Now that you’ve communicated the approach, structure and underpinning theory, it’s best practice to make a quick mention of your fieldwork. Yes, you’re typically supposed to collect some primary data (for example, undertake some semi-structured interviews or a survey), as well as secondary data (for example, review industry reports, company data, etc), for your assignments – especially in Stage 2 and 3 of the program. 

In this final section, you should very briefly outline what you did in this respect so that the marker can rest assured that your assignment is not an opinion piece. A quality assignment draws on multiple data sources to make well-informed, data-backed arguments. Show that you’ve done this, and be sure to refer the reader to the appendices for evidence of this work (for example, interview transcripts, survey results, etc.).

Lastly, make mention of your relationship with the business, and your broad responsibilities. Remember to keep this in third-person language. For example:

“The author is employed as the [INSERT YOUR TITLE] and is responsible for X, Y and Z.”

Let’s recap.

In this article, I’ve hopefully convinced you of the critical importance of writing a strong introduction chapter. I’ve also presented 5 essential ingredients that you should bake into your intro in every assignment. By incorporating these ingredients (ideally, in this order), you will set the foundation for a strong assignment.

To recap the 5 essentials:

  • A (plain language) explanation of the organisation.
  • A brief discussion of the context.
  • Identification of the key issue and research question(s).
  • A brief outline of your theoretical approach.
  • A brief outline of your fieldwork and your professional position.

Rishen Moodley

Informative and easy to apply advice…tx D

Derek Jansen

You’re welcome, Rishen 🙂

Tara

It is a very useful and understandable explanation of writing a research paper. Thank you so much for the sharing free such a useful example.

Yours sincerely Tara

Paul Murphy

This is really good, thank you.

Thanks for the feedback, Paul. Best of luck with your Henley MBA.

Vin

Very useful guide for the MBA. You mention that it’s good practice to use a range of sources to support arguments. If an assignment task isn’t that strategic (e.g. reviewing a process for a particular team within the business), can the assignment be supported purely by ‘fieldwork’ and models/theory? Thank you.

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Write an introduction that interests the reader and effectively outlines your arguments.

Every essay or assignment you write must begin with an introduction. It might be helpful to think of the introduction as an inverted pyramid. In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point about that topic in your thesis statement. The introduction has three essential parts, each of which serves a particular purpose.

The first part is the "attention-grabber." You need to interest your reader in your topic so that they will want to continue reading. You also want to do that in a way that is fresh and original. For example, although it may be tempting to begin your essay with a dictionary definition, this technique is stale  because it has been widely overused. Instead, you might try one of the following techniques:

Offer a surprising statistic that conveys something about the problem to be addressed in the paper.

Perhaps you can find an interesting quote that nicely sums up your argument.

Use rhetorical questions that place your readers in a different situation in order to get them thinking about your topic in a new way.

If you have a personal connection to the topic, you might use an anecdote or story to get your readers emotionally involved.

For example, if you were writing a paper about drunk drivers, you might begin with a compelling story about someone whose life was forever altered by a drunk driver: "At eighteen, Michelle had a lifetime of promise in front of her. Attending college on a track scholarship, she was earning good grades and making lots of friends. Then one night her life was forever altered…"

From this attention grabbing opener, you would need to move to the next part of the introduction, in which you offer some relevant background on the specific purpose of the essay. This section helps the reader see why you are focusing on this topic and makes the transition to the main point of your paper. For this reason, this is sometimes called the "transitional" part of the introduction.

In the example above, the anecdote about Michelle might capture the reader's attention, but the essay is not really about Michelle. The attention grabber might get the reader thinking about how drunk driving can destroy people's lives, but it doesn't introduce the topic of the need for stricter drunk driving penalties (or whatever the real focus of the paper might be).

Therefore, you need to bridge the gap between your attention-grabber and your thesis with some transitional discussion. In this part of your introduction, you narrow your focus of the topic and explain why the attention-grabber is relevant to the specific area you will be discussing. You should introduce your specific topic and provide any necessary background information that the reader would need in order to understand the problem that you are presenting in the paper. You can also define any key terms the reader might not know.

Continuing with the example above, we might move from the narrative about Michelle to a short discussion of the scope of the problem of drunk drivers. We might say, for example: "Michelle's story is not isolated. Each year XX (number) of lives are lost due to drunk-driving accidents." You could follow this with a short discussion of how serious the problem is and why the reader should care about this problem. This effectively moves the reader from the story about Michelle to your real topic, which might be the need for stricter penalties for drinking and driving.

Finally, the introduction must conclude with a clear statement of the overall point you want to make in the paper. This is called your "thesis statement." It is the narrowest part of your inverted pyramid, and it states exactly what your essay will be arguing.

In this scenario, your thesis would be the point you are trying to make about drunk driving. You might be arguing for better enforcement of existing laws, enactment of stricter penalties, or funding for education about drinking and driving. Whatever the case, your thesis would clearly state the main point your paper is trying to make. Here's an example: "Drunk driving laws need to include stricter penalties for those convicted of drinking under the influence of alcohol." Your essay would then go on to support this thesis with the reasons why stricter penalties are needed.

In addition to your thesis, your introduction can often include a "road map" that explains how you will defend your thesis. This gives the reader a general sense of how you will organize the different points that follow throughout the essay. Sometimes the "map" is incorporated right into the thesis statement, and sometimes it is a separate sentence. Below is an example of a thesis with a "map."

"Because drunk driving can result in unnecessary and premature deaths, permanent injury for survivors, and billions of dollars spent on medical expenses,  drunk drivers should face stricter penalties for driving under the influence." The underlined words here are the "map" that show your reader the main points of support you will present in the essay. They also serve to set up the paper's arrangement because they tell the order in which you will present these topics.

In constructing an introduction, make sure the introduction clearly reflects the goal or purpose of the assignment and that the thesis presents not only the topic to be discussed but also states a clear position about that topic that you will support and develop throughout the paper. In shorter papers, the introduction is usually only one or two paragraphs, but it can be several paragraphs in a longer paper.

For Longer Papers

Although for short essays the introduction is usually just one paragraph, longer argument or research papers may require a more substantial introduction. The first paragraph might consist of just the attention grabber and some narrative about the problem. Then you might have one or more paragraphs that provide background on the main topics of the paper and present the overall argument, concluding with your thesis statement.

Below is a sample of an introduction that is less effective because it doesn't apply the principles discussed above.

An Ineffective Introduction

Everyone uses math during their entire lives. Some people use math on the job as adults, and others used math when they were kids. The topic I have chosen to write about for this paper is how I use math in my life both as a child and as an adult. I use math to balance my checkbook and to budget my monthly expenses as an adult. When I was a child, I used math to run a lemonade stand. I will be talking more about these things in my paper.

In the introduction above, the opening line does not serve to grab the reader's attention. Instead, it is a statement of an obvious and mundane fact. The second sentence is also not very specific. A more effective attention grabber may point out a specific, and perhaps surprising, instance when adults use math in their daily lives, in order to show the reader why this is such as important topic to consider.

Next the writer "announces" her topic by stating, "The topic I have chosen to write about…" Although it is necessary to introduce your specific topic, you want to avoid making generic announcements that reference your assignment. What you have chosen to write about will be evident as your reader moves through the writing. Instead, you might try to make the reader see why this is such an important topic to discuss.

Finally, this sample introduction is lacking a clear thesis statement. The writer concludes with a vague statement: "I will be talking more about these things in my paper."  This kind of statement may be referred to as a "purpose statement," in which the writer states the topics that will be discussed. However, it is not yet working as a thesis statement because it fails to make an argument or claim about those topics. A thesis statement for this essay would clearly tell the reader what "things" you will be discussing and what point you will make about them.

Now let's look at how the above principles can be incorporated more effectively into an introduction.

A More Effective Introduction

"A penny saved is a penny earned," the well-known quote by Ben Franklin, is an expression I have never quite understood, because to me it seems that any penny—whether saved or spent—is still earned no matter what is done with it. My earliest memories of earning and spending money are when I was ten years old when I would sell Dixie cups of too-sweet lemonade and bags of salty popcorn to the neighborhood kids. From that early age, I learned the importance of money management and the math skills involved. I learned that there were four quarters in a dollar, and if I bought a non-food item—like a handful of balloons—that I was going to need to come up with six cents for every dollar I spent. I also knew that Kool-Aid packets were 25 cents each or that I could save money and get five of them for a dollar. Today, however, money management involves knowing more than which combinations of 10-cent, five-cent, and one-penny candies I can get for a dollar. Proper money management today involves knowing interest rates, balancing checkbooks, paying taxes, estimating my paycheck, and budgeting to make ends meet from month-to-month.

In the first line the writer uses a well-known quotation to introduce her topic.

The writer follows this "attention-grabber" with specific examples of earning and spending money. Compare how the specific details of the second example paint a better picture for the reader about what the writer learned about money as a child, rather than this general statement: "As a child, I used math to run a lemonade stand." In the first introduction, this statement leaves the reader to guess how the writer used math, but in the second introduction we can actually see what the child did and what she learned.

Notice, too, how the reader makes the transition from the lessons of childhood to the real focus of her paper in this sentence: "Today, however, money management involves knowing…."

This transition sentence effectively connects the opening narrative to the main point of the essay, her thesis: "Proper money management today involves knowing  interest rates, balancing checkbooks, paying taxes, estimating my paycheck, and budgeting to make ends meet from month-to-month ." This thesis also maps out for the reader the main points (underlined here) that will be discussed in the essay.

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Essay writing: Introductions

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“A relevant and coherent beginning is perhaps your best single guarantee that the essay as a whole will achieve its object.” Gordon Taylor, A Student's Writing Guide

Your introduction is the first thing your marker will read and should be approximately 10% of your word count. Within the first minute they should know if your essay is going to be a good one or not. An introduction has several components but the most important of these are the last two we give here. You need to show the reader what your position is and how you are going to argue the case to get there so that the essay becomes your answer to the question rather than just an answer.

What an introduction should include:

  • A little basic background about the key subject area (just enough to put your essay into context, no more or you'll bore the reader).
  • Explanation of how you are defining any key terms . Confusion on this could be your undoing.
  • A road-map of how your essay will answer the question. What is your overall argument and how will you develop it?
  • A confirmation of your position .

Background information

It is good to start with a statement that fixes your essay topic and focus in a wider context so that the reader is sure of where they are within the field. This is a very small part of the introduction though - do not fall into the trap of writing a whole paragraph that is nothing but background information.

Beware though, this only has to be a little bit wider, not completely universal. That is, do not start with something like "In the whole field of nursing...." or "Since man could write, he has always...". Instead, simply situate the area that you are writing about within a slightly bigger area. For example, you could start with a general statement about a topic, outlining some key issues but explain that your essay will focus on only one. Here is an example:

The ability to communicate effectively and compassionately is a key skill within nursing. Communication is about more than being able to speak confidently and clearly, it is about effective listening (Singh, 2019), the use of gesture, body language and tone (Adebe et al., 2016) and the ability to tailor language and messaging to particular situations (Smith & Jones, 2015). This essay will explore the importance of non-verbal communication ...

The example introduction at the bottom of this page also starts with similar, short background information.

Prehistoric man with the caption "Since the dawn of man..."

Defining key terms

This does not mean quoting dictionary definitions - we all have access to dictionary.com with a click or two. There are many words we use in academic work that can have multiple or nuanced definitions. You have to write about how you are defining any potentially ambiguous terms in relation to  your  essay topic. This is really important for your reader, as it will inform them how you are using such words in the context of your essay and prevent confusion or misunderstanding.

Student deciding if 'superpower' relates to the USA and China or Superman and Spider-man

Stating your case (road mapping)

The main thing an introduction will do is...introduce your essay! That means you need to tell the reader what your conclusion is and how you will get there.

There is no need to worry about *SPOILER ALERTS* - this is not a detective novel you can give away the ending! Sorry, but building up suspense is just going to irritate the reader rather than eventually satisfy. Simply outline how your main arguments (give them in order) lead to your conclusion. In American essay guides you will see something described as the ‘thesis statement’ - although we don't use this terminology in the UK, it is still necessary to state in your introduction what the over-arching argument of your essay will be. Think of it as the mega-argument , to distinguish it from the mini-arguments you make in each paragraph. Look at the example introduction at the bottom of this page which includes both of these elements.

Car on a road to a place called 'Conclusion'

Confirming your position

To some extent, this is covered in your roadmap (above), but it is so important, it deserves some additional attention here. Setting out your position is an essential component of all essays. Brick et al. (2016:143) even suggest

"The purpose of an essay is to present a clear position and defend it"

It is, however, very difficult to defend a position if you have not made it clear in the first place. This is where your introduction comes in. In stating your position, you are ultimately outlining the answer to the question. You can then make the rest of your essay about providing the evidence that supports your answer. As such, if you make your position clear, you will find all subsequent paragraphs in your essay easier to write and join together. As you have already told your reader where the essay is going, you can be explicit in how each paragraph contributes to your mega-argument.

In establishing your position and defending it, you are ultimately engaging in scholarly debate. This is because your positions are supported by academic evidence and analysis. It is in your analysis of the academic evidence that should lead your reader to understand your position. Once again - this is only possible if your introduction has explained your position in the first place.

student standing on a cross holding a sign saying "my position"

An example introduction

(Essay title = Evaluate the role of stories as pedagogical tools in higher education)

Stories have been an essential communication technique for thousands of years and although teachers and parents still think they are important for educating younger children, they have been restricted to the role of entertainment for most of us since our teenage years. This essay will claim that stories make ideal pedagogical tools, whatever the age of the student, due to their unique position in cultural and cognitive development. To argue this, it will consider three main areas: firstly, the prevalence of stories across time and cultures and how the similarity of story structure suggests an inherent understanding of their form which could be of use to academics teaching multicultural cohorts when organising lecture material; secondly, the power of stories to enable listeners to personally relate to the content and how this increases the likelihood of changing thoughts, behaviours and decisions - a concept that has not gone unnoticed in some fields, both professional and academic; and finally, the way that different areas of the brain are activated when reading, listening to or watching a story unfold, which suggests that both understanding and ease of recall, two key components of learning, are both likely to be increased . Each of these alone could make a reasoned argument for including more stories within higher education teaching – taken together, this argument is even more compelling.

Key:   Background information (scene setting)   Stating the case (r oad map)    Confirming a position (in two places). Note in this introduction there was no need to define key terms.

Brick, J., Herke, M., and Wong, D., (2016) Academic Culture, A students guide to studying at university, 3rd edition. Victoria, Australia: Palgrave Macmillan.

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How to write an introduction

What is an introduction.

How to write an introduction

 Although the exact structure of your introduction may differ according to the type of assignment, most introductions follow a similar structure which includes 4 main parts:

  • Context: a short background that briefly leads the reader to the main issues relevant to the topic.
  • Topic: a topic statement which establishes the main focus of the paper  (e.g. to discuss X, or to critically analyse Y).
  • Outline of structure: a brief introduction to each of the main sections that will be covered in the assignment,  and the order in which they will appear.
  • Argument: a thesis statement that lets the reader know the writer’s position (or evidence-based opinion) regarding the topic. This may not be required for all types of assignments, so check the assignment instructions and, if in doubt, check with your lecturer.

What does a good introduction look like?

Essay question: Should Australia invest in a high-speed rail network between major cities?

CONTEXT:    Australia ranks as one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world (The World Bank, 2014), yet it is also home to one of the busiest flightpaths on the planet, with over 54,000 flights between Melbourne and Sydney in 2018 alone (Smith, 2019). TOPIC:    The continued growth in the number of people living and working in the major population centres leads to the question of whether Australia should invest in a high-speed rail network.  ARGUMENT:   This paper argues that a high-speed rail network between major Australian cities should be developed. Although there are considerable social and political challenges facing such an endeavour, the long-term benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.   OUTLINE OF   STRUCTURE:   This essay will firstly examine the history of the proposal to develop high-speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne. It will then outline some of the political, economic and environmental challenges that have prevented this endeavour from progressing in the past, before finally discussing the significant advantages that such infrastructure would provide for Australia. 

How do I write an introduction?

Ask yourself the following questions to check if your introduction is likely to be effective:

Have I given sufficient context?

In the example introduction above, background information is given in the first sentence. This builds context for the essay’s main topic and eases the reader into the topic statement. The background statement can be one or more sentences, depending on the overall word length and complexity of your assignment.

Have I included a topic statement?

The topic sentence in the example above is:

“ The continued growth in the number of people living and working in the major population centres leads to the question of whether or not Australia should invest in a high-speed rail network.”

  • Notice that this looks very similar to the assignment question. A good topic sentence paraphrases the assignment question to demonstrate to the marker that you are answering the question that has been asked. It should also logically lead the reader to the thesis statement.
  • An easy way to make your topic sentence clear to the reader is to begin the sentence with: “ The purpose of this paper is to discuss/critically examine/analyse….”

Have I included a thesis statement?

The thesis statement is the writer’s answer to the assignment question in one sentence. In the example above, the thesis has been expressed in the following sentence:

"This paper argues that a high-speed rail network between major Australian cities should be developed."

  • Although many assignments require you to take a position (or give an opinion) on a topic, some may only require a summary or an analysis of the literature. In such cases, a thesis statement is not needed.
  • Because a thesis statement involves giving an opinion, it will always be an “arguable” point, which means that other people may have a different opinion. The purpose of the assignment is to use evidence and logical reasoning to convince the reader that your position on the topic is valid.
  • An easy way to make your thesis statement clear to the reader is to begin the sentence with: “ This paper/essay/report will argue that ….”

Do I have an outline?

An outline is a summary of the main points of the writer’s argument or topic and acts to inform the reader of what to expect in the body. In the example above, the following two sentences form the outline:

“This essay will firstly examine the history of the proposal to develop high speed rail between Sydney and Melbourne. It will then outline some of the political, economic and environmental challenges that have prevented this endeavour from progressing in the past, before finally discussing the significant advantages that such infrastructure would provide for Australia.”

The outline is important because it helps the reader know what to expect as they read your assignment. This means they can focus on your ideas rather than trying to work out where you are going with your discussion.  If you change your structure as you are writing, always double check your introduction to make sure they match.

What is the link between the introduction and the conclusion?

Think of the introduction and conclusion as bookends, keeping the ideas in your assignment together.  In your conclusion you can summarise your main argument (or thesis), along with the key issues you raised in the background section of the introduction.

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good introduction for an assignment

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good introduction for an assignment

Read a text summary on how to write introductions and conclusions.

  • Newcastle University
  • Academic Skills Kit
  • Academic Writing

Introductions and conclusions can be tricky to write. They do not contain the main substance of your assignment, but they do play a key role in helping the reader navigate your writing. The usual advice is

  • Introduction: say what you're going to say
  • Main body: say it
  • Conclusion: say that you've said it

However, this approach can feel repetitive and is not very rewarding to write or read.

A more engaging approach is to think about the perspective of the reader and what they need to know in order to make sense of your writing. In academic writing, it is the writer’s job to make their meaning clear (unlike in literature and fiction, where it is the reader’s job to interpret the meaning) so that the reader can concentrate on deciding what they think of your work and marking it. Introductions and conclusions play an important role in explaining your aims and approach, so to help you write them well, you could think about what questions the reader has for you as they pick up your work for the first time, and when they have finished reading it.

Introductions

The introductions are the first part of your assignment that the reader encounters, so it needs to make a good impression and set the scene for what follows. Your introduction is about 10% of the total word count. It can be difficult to think what that first opening sentence should be, or what an introduction should include. 

From your reader’s perspective, they have three questions when they first pick up your assignment.

You could approach this question in a number of ways:

  • Although your lecturer knows the assignment questions they’ve set, they don’t know how you have understood and interpreted it. To demonstrate that you’ve read it accurately, you can echo back the question to your reader, paraphrased in your own words so they know you have really understood it rather than just copying and pasting it.
  • There might also be different ways to interpret the assignment, and clarifying for the reader how you’ve interpreted it would be helpful. Perhaps different angles on it are possible, there is more than one definition you could be working to, or you have been given a range of options within the assessment brief, and you need to tell the reader which approach you are taking.
  • It’s also common to give a brief overview of a topic in the introduction, providing the reader with some context so they can understand what is to follow. Of course, your lecturer is already likely to know this basic information, so you could think of it as giving the reader confidence that you also share that foundational knowledge and have got your facts right. This aspect needs to be as brief as possible, as it can be very descriptive (which will not get you higher marks) and if it extends too far, can take up too much space in your essay which would be better used for analysis, interpretation or argumentation. A rough guide is to ask yourself which information is built on later in your assignment and cut anything that doesn’t get ‘used’ later on.

The obvious answer to this question is "because you told me to write this assignment”! A more interesting response, though, is to show that you've really understood why your lecturer has set that question and why it’s worth asking. None of the questions you are set at University will be simple or straightforward, but will be complex and problematic, and many have no single clear answer or approach. In responding thoughtfully to the question “why are you doing this”, you are reflecting on why it is significant, complex and worth doing, that you've understood the complexity of the assignment you’ve been set and recognise the lecturer’s aims in setting it.

Every student who answers a particular assignment will produce a different answer, with a different structure, making different points and drawing on different information. Your reader wants to know what your own particular approach to the assignment will be.

  • You might answer this question in terms of what your structure is going to be, signalling how many sections you use and what order they appear in, signposting how you have broken the assignment down and organised it, so the reader knows what to expect.
  • You might also explain to the reader which choices and decisions you have made to narrow it down to a manageable, focussed assignment. You might have chosen to set yourself particular limits on the scope of your assignment (for example, a focussing on a particular context, timespan, or type), or which examples and case studies you’ve chosen to illustrate your answer with, and why they are appropriate for this assignment.
  • If relevant, you might also tell the reader about your methodology, the theories, models, definitions or approaches you have applied in order to answer the assignment question.

Your introduction may not include all these elements, or include them in the same balance or in this order, but if you address the reader’s three questions, your introduction will fulfil its purpose. Make sure you’re not jumping into your argument too early. Your introduction should introduce your argument but not actually do the work of making it yet; that is the job of the main body of the assignment.

Conclusions

Conclusions can feel a bit repetitive, as you need to revisit the points you’ve already made, but not include any new material. Again, the conclusion is usually about 10% of your total word count. The challenge is to make them engaging to read for your marker, but also interesting for you to write, so they feel purposeful. You cannot include any new material as conclusions should close a discussion down, not open up new avenues or leave points unresolved. If a point is important, it should be dealt with in the main body rather than as an afterthought.

As they read, your marker is focussing on each paragraph in detail, identifying the point you’re making, analysing and evaluating the evidence you’re using, and the way you explain, interpret and argue, to see if it makes sense. They’re also thinking about the quality of your work and what mark they’re going to give it, looking to see that you’ve met the marking criteria. University assignments are long enough that the reader will find it hard to give each point this kind of detailed scrutiny and keep the whole assignment in their mind at the same time. The job of the conclusion is to help them move from that close-up reading and zoom out to give them a sense of the whole.  

Again, a good approach is to think of the questions that your reader has when they reach the end of your assignment.

Your conclusion is the overall answer to the original assignment question you were set. See if you can summarise your overall answer in one sentence. This might be the first line of your conclusion. Make sure that your concluding answer does match the question you were set in the assessment.  

Having told the reader where they've got to, you will need to remind them of how you got there. To strengthen their confidence in your overall answer, you can remind them of the points you made and how together they build your conclusion.  

Although you cannot include new information in your conclusion, you can show your thinking in a new light. One question your reader may have is “where does that leave me’?  or “so what?”. You could therefore briefly discuss the significance of your conclusion. Now that you’ve demonstrated your answer to the question, how does that add to our overall understanding of this topic? What do we know, what can we do now, that we couldn’t before? If we hadn’t explored this topic, where would we be? Why is this conclusion important? This might resolve the issues you raised in the introduction when you answered the question ‘why am I doing this?’

A possible follow-on to this question is to examine what work might come next, if you didn’t have time constraints or word limits. This is particularly relevant in second and third year and masters level assignments, especially dissertations. This is a good way to show awareness of how your own thinking fits in the wider context of scholarship and research and how it might be developed. It might be a way to touch on aspects you had to cut out, or areas you couldn’t cover.

When to write the introduction and conclusion

You don’t have to write your assignment in order. If you find that the introduction is hard to start, then you could write it at the end of the process, which will ensure that it matches the assignment you’ve actually written. However, it might be a useful approach to at least begin by thinking about the introduction questions above, as it will help you in the planning process. Likewise, you could start with writing the conclusion if you have done extensive thinking and planning, as formulating your end goal might help to keep you on track (although be open to your overall answer changing a little in the process). Again, thinking about the conclusion questions above at the start of the process is a useful planning tool to clarify your thinking, even if you don’t write it until the end.

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Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide

Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.

Writing a Research Paper Introduction

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

  • Present your topic and get the reader interested
  • Provide background or summarize existing research
  • Position your own approach
  • Detail your specific research problem and problem statement
  • Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.

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Table of contents

Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

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good introduction for an assignment

This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

  • What research gap is your work intended to fill?
  • What limitations in previous work does it address?
  • What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Although has been studied in detail, insufficient attention has been paid to . You will address a previously overlooked aspect of your topic.
The implications of study deserve to be explored further. You will build on something suggested by a previous study, exploring it in greater depth.
It is generally assumed that . However, this paper suggests that … You will depart from the consensus on your topic, establishing a new position.

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

  • This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
  • We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

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good introduction for an assignment

The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

  • This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
  • This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.

  • Argumentative paper
  • Empirical paper

Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

  • A hook to catch the reader’s interest
  • Relevant background on the topic
  • Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

  • A thesis statement or research question
  • Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

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good introduction for an assignment

How to Write an Introduction for an Assignment: Easy Student Guide

Table of Contents

How to Write An Introduction For Essay

Purpose of the introduction, start with a hook, provide background information, state the purpose or objective, outline the structure of the assignment, highlight the significance, keep it concise and focused, review and revise, ensure a smooth transition, an example of introduction for assignment, what makes a good introduction for essay.

It all comes down to the purpose of your introduction. It will either catch your reader’s interest or make them feel confused. Your introduction should focus on providing certain general data or statistics before narrowing things down. It makes it essential. It works as the preface to your thesis statement by making it sound valid. For example, if your thesis statement discusses the negative effects of modern video games, your introduction part will have to provide clear stats along with the significance of this problem for society and/or educators. Also you can ask essay writing help from AssignmentBro expert writers if you don’t have time to write your paper.

It is a well-known fact that college professors start paper evaluation by taking a closer look at your introduction, thesis statement , and the final part of the paper. It is another reason why setting the clear purpose of the introduction matters for your paper’s success and recognition.

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  • Objective: The introduction should provide background information, outline the purpose of the assignment, and give a preview of what the reader can expect.
  • Engagement: It should capture the reader’s interest and encourage them to read further.
  • Purpose: The first sentence of your introduction should grab the reader’s attention.
  • Use a relevant quote.
  • Start with an intriguing question.
  • Provide a surprising fact or statistic.
  • Begin with a brief anecdote or scenario related to the topic.
  • Contextualization: Briefly introduce the topic by providing necessary background information. This helps the reader understand the context of the assignment.
  • Scope: Mention the scope of the topic, i.e., what aspects will be covered in the assignment.
  • Relevance: Explain why the topic is important or relevant to the field of study or current issues.
  • Purpose Statement: Clearly state the main purpose or objective of the assignment. What are you aiming to achieve with this assignment?
  • Research Question or Thesis Statement: If applicable, introduce the main research question or thesis statement that your assignment will address. This should be concise and focused.
  • Brief Overview: Provide a brief outline of what the reader can expect in the main body of the assignment. Mention the key sections or arguments that will be discussed.
  • Flow: Ensure that the reader understands how the assignment will be organized, which will help them follow your argument or analysis more easily.
  • Importance: Explain why the topic is significant and what the reader can gain from reading the assignment.
  • Contribution: Mention how your assignment contributes to the existing knowledge or addresses a specific problem or question in the field.
  • Length: The introduction should be proportionate to the length of the assignment. For shorter assignments, one or two paragraphs may suffice; for longer ones, the introduction can be more detailed.
  • Clarity: Avoid unnecessary details or digressions. Stay focused on introducing the main topic and setting up the context for the reader.
  • First Draft: Write the first draft of your introduction without worrying too much about perfection. Get your ideas down first.
  • Revising: After completing the rest of your assignment, revisit the introduction to ensure it aligns with the content of the main body. Make necessary adjustments for coherence and clarity.
  • Peer Review: If possible, ask a peer or instructor to review your introduction and provide feedback.

You can ask help with assignment editing at AssignmentBro.

Linking Sentence: End your introduction with a sentence that smoothly transitions into the first section or paragraph of your assignment. This will help maintain the flow of the paper.

  • Grammar and Spelling: Carefully proofread your introduction for any grammatical errors or typos.
  • Consistency: Ensure that the introduction is consistent in tone and style with the rest of the assignment.

If this kind of work sounds too confusing, you should ask yourself why this topic matters to you and why you have chosen it. Remember that your introduction should be about 10% of the total paper, not counting your thesis statement sentence. If you are not sure about your introduction’s content or do not know which structure would fit better, consider approaching assignment writing help . It is only natural to feel lost when starting with your paper.

Let us take the topic of Special Education and Dyslexia as an introduction example:

Example of Introduction for Assignment

As you can see, the introduction provides statistics and introduces the topic by leading it to a strong thesis (the last sentence).

Of course, the rules always differ, and we have our opinions that will not match everyone’s taste. Yet, the academic standards regarding how to write an introduction are quite clear. Coming up with a great introduction for assignment, make sure that it:

  • Highlights the importance of your subject.
  • Provides a definition of the topic you discuss.
  • Offers the reasoning why you approach your topic.
  • Provides an overview of your methodology or scientific approach.
  • Highlights the major points you would like to discuss.
  • Introduces your thesis.
  • Provides statistical data and the purpose of your methodology.
  • Makes the audience inspired.

Do not forget that even your creative writing tasks must have an inspiring introduction that talks about your purpose of writing.

By following the initial instructions outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to provide impactful statistics, introduce your topic effectively, and lead your readers towards a compelling thesis in your assignment’s introduction. Remember that AssignmentBro help with any subjects following all your academic needs.

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good introduction for an assignment

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The Role of an Introduction

What this handout is about:.

This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you check your drafted introductions, and provide you with examples of introductions to be avoided.

The Role Of Introductions Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. Usually when you sit down to respond to an assignment, you have at least some sense of what you want to say in the body of your paper. You might have chosen a few examples you want to use or have an idea that will help you answer the main question of your assignment: these sections, therefore, are not as hard to write. But these middle parts of the paper can’t just come out of thin air; they need to be introduced and concluded in a way that makes sense to your reader.

Your introduction and conclusion act as bridges that transport your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis. If your readers pick up your paper about education in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, for example, they need a transition to help them leave behind the world of Chapel Hill, television, e-mail, and the The Daily Tar Heel and to help them temporarily enter the world of nineteenth-century American slavery. By providing an introduction that helps your readers make a transition between their own world and the issues you will be writing about, you give your readers the tools they need to get into your topic and care about what you are saying. Similarly, once you’ve hooked your reader with the introduction and offered evidence to prove your thesis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. (See our handout on conclusions.)

Why Bother Writing A Good Introduction?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.  The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper. This impression is especially important when the audience you are trying to reach (your instructor) will be grading your work.

Your introduction  is an important road map for the rest of your paper. Your introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. You can let them know what your topic is, why it is important, and how you plan to proceed with your discussion. In most academic disciplines, your introduction should contain a thesis that will assert your main argument. It should also, ideally, give the reader a sense of the kinds of information you will use to make that argument and the general organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. After reading your introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they read the main body of your paper.

Ideally, your introduction will make your readers want to read your paper.  The introduction should capture your readers’ interest, making them want to read the rest of your paper. Opening with a compelling story, a fascinating quotation, an interesting question, or a stirring example can get your readers to see why this topic matters and serve as an invitation for them to join you for an interesting intellectual conversation.

Strategies For Writing An Effective Introduction

Start by thinking about the question (or questions) you are trying to answer.  Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first step toward that end. Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis, and your thesis will be included in your introduction, so it is a good idea to use the question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following question:

Education has long been considered a major force for American social change, righting the wrongs of our society. Drawing on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century America. Consider the following: How did white control of education reinforce slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education while they endured slavery? And what role did education play in the acquisition of freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your complete essay, and the prompt itself can also give you some clues about how to approach the introduction. Notice that it starts with a broad statement, that education has been considered a major force for social change, and then narrows to focus on specific questions from the book. One strategy might be to use a similar model in your own introduction —start off with a big picture sentence or two about the power of education as a force for change as a way of getting your reader interested and then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass. Of course, a different approach could also be very successful, but looking at the way the professor set up the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it.

Decide how general or broad your opening should be.  Keep in mind that even a “big picture” opening needs to be clearly related to your topic; an opening sentence that said “Human beings, more than any other creatures on earth, are capable of learning” would be too broad for our sample assignment about slavery and education. If you have ever used Google Maps or similar programs, that experience can provide a helpful way of thinking about how broad your opening should be. Imagine that you’re researching Chapel Hill. If what you want to find out is whether Chapel Hill is at roughly the same latitude as Rome, it might make sense to hit that little “minus” sign on the online map until it has zoomed all the way out and you can see the whole globe. If you’re trying to figure out how to get from Chapel Hill to Wrightsville Beach, it might make more sense to zoom in to the level where you can see most of North Carolina (but not the rest of the world, or even the rest of the United States). And if you are looking for the intersection of Ridge Road and Manning Drive so that you can find the Writing Center’s main office, you may need to zoom all the way in. The question you are asking determines how “broad” your view should be. In the sample assignment above, the questions are probably at the “state” or “city” level of generality. But the introductory sentence about human beings is mismatched—it’s definitely at the “global” level. When writing, you need to place your ideas in context—but that context doesn’t generally have to be as big as the whole galaxy! (See our handout on understanding assignments for additional information on the hidden clues in assignments.)

Try writing your introduction last.  You may think that you have to write your introduction first, but that isn’t necessarily true, and it isn’t always the most effective way to craft a good introduction. You may find that you don’t know what you are going to argue at the beginning of the writing process, and only through the experience of writing your paper do you discover your main argument. It is perfectly fine to start out thinking that you want to argue a particular point, but wind up arguing something slightly or even dramatically different by the time you’ve written most of the paper. The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated argument. However, an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end. You will need to revise your paper to make sure that the introduction, all of the evidence, and the conclusion reflect the argument you intend. Sometimes it’s easiest to just write up all of your evidence first and then write the introduction last—that way you can be sure that the introduction will match the body of the paper.

Don’t be afraid to write a tentative introduction first and then change it later.  Some people find that they need to write some kind of introduction in order to get the writing process started. That’s fine, but if you are one of those people, be sure to return to your initial introduction later and rewrite if necessary.

Open with an attention grabber.  Sometimes, especially if the topic of your paper is somewhat dry or technical, opening with something catchy can help. Consider these options:

  • an intriguing example (for example, the mistress who initially teaches Douglass but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery)
  • a provocative quotation (Douglass writes that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other”)
  • a puzzling scenario (Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.)
  • a vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote (for example, “Learning about slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School, students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families, and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however, until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the deprivation of education in past generations.”)
  • a thought-provoking question (given all of the freedoms that were denied enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?)

Pay special attention to your first sentence.  Start off on the right foot with your readers by making sure that the first sentence actually says something useful and that it does so in an interesting and error-free way.

Be straightforward and confident.  Avoid statements like “In this paper, I will argue that Frederick Douglass valued education.” While this sentence points toward your main argument, it isn’t especially interesting. It might be more effective to say what you mean in a declarative sentence. It is much more convincing to tell us that “Frederick Douglass valued education” than to tell us that you are going to say that he did. Assert your main argument confidently. After all, you can’t expect your reader to believe it if it doesn’t sound like you believe it!

How To Evaluate Your Introduction Draft

Ask a friend to read it and then tell you what he or she expects the paper will discuss, what kinds of evidence the paper will use, and what the tone of the paper will be. If your friend is able to predict the rest of your paper accurately, you probably have a good introduction.

Five Kinds Of Less Effective Introductions

1. The place holder introduction.  When you don’t have much to say on a given topic, it is easy to create this kind of introduction. Essentially, this kind of weaker introduction contains several sentences that are vague and don’t really say much. They exist just to take up the “introduction space” in your paper. If you had something more effective to say, you would probably say it, but in the meantime this paragraph is just a place holder.

Example: Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for enslaved people.

2. The restated question introduction.  Restating the question can sometimes be an effective strategy, but it can be easy to stop at JUST restating the question instead of offering a more specific, interesting introduction to your paper. The professor or teaching assistant wrote your questions and will be reading ten to seventy essays in response to them—he or she does not need to read a whole paragraph that simply restates the question. Try to do something more interesting.

Example: Indeed, education has long been considered a major force for American social change, righting the wrongs of our society. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass discusses the relationship between education and slavery in 19th century America, showing how white control of education reinforced slavery and how Douglass and other enslaved African Americans viewed education while they endured. Moreover, the book discusses the role that education played in the acquisition of freedom. Education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

3. The Webster’s Dictionary introduction.  This introduction begins by giving the dictionary definition of one or more of the words in the assigned question. This introduction strategy is on the right track—if you write one of these, you may be trying to establish the important terms of the discussion, and this move builds a bridge to the reader by offering a common, agreed-upon definition for a key idea. You may also be looking for an authority that will lend credibility to your paper. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and copy down what Webster says—it may be far more interesting for you (and your reader) if you develop your own definition of the term in the specific context of your class and assignment, or if you use a definition from one of the sources you’ve been reading for class. Also recognize that the dictionary is also not a particularly authoritative work—it doesn’t take into account the context of your course and doesn’t offer particularly detailed information. If you feel that you must seek out an authority, try to find one that is very relevant and specific. Perhaps a quotation from a source reading might prove better? Dictionary introductions are also ineffective simply because they are so overused. Many graders will see twenty or more papers that begin in this way, greatly decreasing the dramatic impact that any one of those papers will have.

Example: Webster’s dictionary defines slavery as “the state of being a slave,” as “the practice of owning slaves,” and as “a condition of hard work and subjection.”

4. The “dawn of man” introduction.  This kind of introduction generally makes broad, sweeping statements about the relevance of this topic since the beginning of time. It is usually very general (similar to the place holder introduction) and fails to connect to the thesis. You may write this kind of introduction when you don’t have much to say—which is precisely why it is ineffective.

Example: Since the dawn of man, slavery has been a problem in human history.

5. The book report introduction.  This introduction is what you had to do for your elementary school book reports. It gives the name and author of the book you are writing about, tells what the book is about, and offers other basic facts about the book. You might resort to this sort of introduction when you are trying to fill space because it’s a familiar, comfortable format. It is ineffective because it offers details that your reader already knows and that are irrelevant to the thesis. Example: Frederick Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, in the 1840s. It was published in 1986 by Penguin Books. In it, he tells the story of his life.

Works Consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

All quotations are from Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, edited and with introduction by Houston A. Baker, Jr., New York: Penguin Books, 1986.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout (just click print) and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to write Introduction for Assignment: A simple reference guide for students

  • July 24, 2024
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statement of purpose

Wondering how to write a good introduction for an assignment that will create the right impact? Look no further as this blog will help you master writing the perfect introduction that will immediately grab the attention of those reading it.  

What is the significance of an introduction for assignment?

What are the effective strategies for writing a good introduction for assignment:, the key elements of an introduction for assignment:, what are the most important aspects of an introduction assignment for students, what are the salient features of an introduction assignment for students, what is a good introduction to an assignment example, pro pointers from experts on how to write a good introduction in assignment:.

It is commonly known that an assignment for an introduction is important and forms an important part of your overall grades. It focuses on the topic you are writing about, its purpose, and the main concepts you will highlight. A good Assignment Introduction example will concisely contain all of these and help your readers navigate your assignment better. 

Before we get started on how to write a good introduction in assignment, we must first understand its main focus areas that will help you create the right structure: 

statement of purpose

This is the most important part of your writing strategy for your introduction for assignment writing , as it is the clarity of your argument that will appeal to the person assessing it. 

For this, you will have to ensure that you explain the objectives of your given topic and why it is relevant in your field of study. This is an essential element of your introduction.

For this, you will have to make sure your assignment introduction is concise and brief. This is because it cannot be very long as it will not retain the attention of your readers. 

This is another element you need to take care of in your assignment introduction, as it will add more credibility to your paper. It will also help the person reading your assignment understand better. 

This is another important part of your writing strategy, as you will have to link your assignment introduction page, with the rest of your paper. This will enhance its overall structure and improve its readability. 

For a compelling assignment introduction, you will have to include certain elements to make it more interesting. We have listed some of them for you to follow: 

You need to take care of the details you provide in your introduction for assignment, as its accuracy will encourage the reader to explore your paper better.

Engaging Content:

The content you write should be attractive and eye-catching so it makes the person assessing your paper want to read further.

Goal-oriented:

Your introduction for assignment should expressively state your intentions and goals, which you are aiming to achieve with your paper. 

No plagiarism:

This is a crucial part of your assignment and it starts right from your introduction. You will have to be careful to maintain the originality of your words.

An Introduction for Assignment has to have some key parts that will guarantee your success in the paper. These include: 

Contextual background:

This aspect will position your assignment in the correct background so that it marks the accuracy of your research. This is vital to your assignment as it introduces your perspective to your teachers. 

Subject description:

This is where you will have to showcase your complete understanding of your topic so that it reflects how informed you are about it. It also inspires your reader to investigate your arguments further. 

Your stance on the topic:

This will complement the description you provide, and present your opinions distinctly as a scholar. It also sets the tone of your paper and explains its scope within the boundaries of the given topic. 

Summary of your research:

Your research may be for or against the topic, which is why you will need to explain the methods, data, or analysis you have used for your assignment. You will have to do this concisely. 

Focal points of the analysis:

This is an important tactic in writing a good introduction to an assignment. Here, you solely focus on the key points of your assignment which will help your readers understand your beliefs regarding the topic. 

Structure of your arguments:

Here, you will have to state the nature of your arguments and the explanations you are presenting in your assignment introduction. This will add to the clarity of your paper. 

Relevance of the topic:

This aspect will explain what is the need for your topic, with respect to your academic field. It is important to address its current issues and the possible solutions with which they can be resolved.

statement of purpose

Ideally, a good introduction for assignment has certain features that make up its overall structure. These are commonly accepted in several universities and are used by many students. They are: 

Hook sentence:

This is an opening sentence, which is needed to grab the attention of your target audience, which can also be written as a question. Its main function is to generate curiosity about your topic and encourage people to read further. 

Thesis statement:

This is written according to the school of thought your assignment’s topic belongs to. It presents the established knowledge in that field and provides ample scope for your thoughts and ideas in your assignment. 

Structure outline:

 For this, you will have to provide a couple of sentences where you will explain the frame within which your assignment will be and how you are planning to structure the concepts you will be explaining. 

Paper objectives:

Here, you will need to state what you are trying to achieve with your introduction for assignment. This will help the reader connect your research to the scope of the topic.

Research methodology:

Research is the lifeline of your assignment and in your assignment’s introduction, you can mention the main points of your research and how you will use it in the paper. 

Importance of the study:

This is an important feature of your paper where you will have to link the relation of your topic and the suitability of the research you have done to your academic field for your readers.

Here is an assignment introduction example. This is solely for your reference and should not copied in any way.

Among the rapid developments occurring in the field of technology, cybersecurity has emerged as an important area of study. This paper will discuss the need for securing sensitive information in the digital domain as one of the essential aspects of cybersecurity. It shall also discuss the potential threats faced by business organizations as well as individuals, and how the integrity of their digital systems can be maintained more efficiently. The paper will also navigate the origins of cybersecurity and discuss optimum solutions for improving digital security. Through this, I aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the need for cybersecurity in our world. 

Along with the characteristics and importance of an Introduction for Assignment, here are some tips on how to write a good introduction in assignment: 

  • Create anticipation:

Being brief is key when it comes to an introduction for assignment, as it builds the suspense of what you have written. This also makes the person checking your assignment read ahead. 

  • Mention key points

The introduction must include all the main points of your assignment’s structure. However, you must see that you do not overwrite or include unnecessary details as it will reduce the reader’s curiosity about your paper. 

  • Use appealing language

Using the right or the appropriate words for a Good introduction for assignment is crucial so that it appeals to your reader. By using complex words and phrases, you can affect your reader’s interest. 

  • Check for errors

Factual or grammatical mistakes can occur while writing, but you will have to review your introduction to remove them. These do not reflect well on your assignment and can make you lose marks. 

  • Write precisely:

By overwriting your introduction, you will not be getting an advantage in your assignment. Instead, you will be hampering the flow of its structure. This can also confuse your readers about what you are trying to say. 

We have presented all the necessary details, which will be useful in writing concise introductions that will enhance the quality of your research. 

We also wish you the very best in your academic endeavours and hope that you will share this with others who need it. 

If you have any feedback or suggestions about this blog, feel free to write your comments, so that we can add them to help more students achieve their educational goals. 

How can I begin writing an Introduction for assignment for a report? 

For a report, you need to introduce the topic you are writing about and explain what is its purpose. Through this, readers are informed about what they will be reading. 

A good introduction is a brief paragraph at the beginning of your assignment that includes the scope of the topic and an outline of how you are presenting with research. 

What are the three main components of an introduction for assignment? 

The structure of an assignment can be broadly divided into its hook, thesis statement, and the contextual background of your given topic. 

Do I need to introduce myself in an assignment? 

You can write your assignment in the first person and state yourself as the writer. However, you should not bring the focus on yourself as it negatively impacts your introduction. 

How to write a good introduction in assignment for my university?

To write a good introduction in assignment for your university, you must adhere to the topic and ensure that you do not overwrite about it. 

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IMAGES

  1. 10 Easy Steps: How to Write Introduction in Assignment

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  2. How to write an academic introduction / Academic English UK

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  3. How To Write Introduction For An Assignment?

    good introduction for an assignment

  4. How To Write Introduction For An Assignment?

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  5. How to Write an Introduction for an Assignment

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  6. How to Write a Research Paper Introduction: Tips & Examples

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COMMENTS

  1. How to Write an Essay Introduction

    Table of contents. Step 1: Hook your reader. Step 2: Give background information. Step 3: Present your thesis statement. Step 4: Map your essay's structure. Step 5: Check and revise. More examples of essay introductions. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about the essay introduction.

  2. How to Write an Essay Introduction (with Examples)

    Here are the key takeaways for how to write essay introduction: 3. Hook the Reader: Start with an engaging hook to grab the reader's attention. This could be a compelling question, a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or an anecdote. Provide Background: Give a brief overview of the topic, setting the context and stage for the discussion.

  3. How to Write an Introduction, With Examples

    5 Write a rough draft of your introduction without pressure. It's normal to clam up when writing a rough draft of your introduction. After all, the introduction always comes first, so it's the first thing you write when you finally begin. As explained in our guide to writing a rough draft, the best advice is not to pressure yourself.

  4. How Do You Write An Introduction to An Assignment? (With Examples of

    A good introduction to an assignment example is always one that gives a clear idea to the readers about what your assignment topic is or what are you going to talk about in the rest of the copy. An old trick is to talk about general ideas about the topic and narrow down your discussion to the specific problem or aspect of the topic you are ...

  5. How to Write An Assignment Introduction Like A Pro

    1. Background. The first thing you have to write in an introduction is a brief background of the study. You have to give an overview of your assignment, what your assignment is about, its impact, and its area of study. 2. Context in brief. You have to include a gist of the context of your assignment.

  6. How to Start an Assignment Introduction

    It's not a good idea! Your assignment introduction sentence starters should be more unique. Come up with new words and phrases instead of engaging in self-plagiarism. General statements. Avoid vague sentences that suit any topic. An individual and relevant introduction will help make your paper look special. Be specific. Rambling paragraphs.

  7. Introductions

    1. The placeholder introduction. When you don't have much to say on a given topic, it is easy to create this kind of introduction. Essentially, this kind of weaker introduction contains several sentences that are vague and don't really say much. They exist just to take up the "introduction space" in your paper.

  8. Introductions

    In general, your introductions should contain the following elements: When you're writing an essay, it's helpful to think about what your reader needs to know in order to follow your argument. Your introduction should include enough information so that readers can understand the context for your thesis. For example, if you are analyzing ...

  9. How to Write an Introduction: 3 Tips for Writing an Introductory

    How to Write an Introduction: 3 Tips for Writing an Introductory Paragraph. An introductory paragraph summarizes the main points of an academic paper or essay, preparing readers for what's to come. Read on for tips on how to write an introduction that hooks your readers.

  10. How to Write a Great College Essay Introduction

    Good example. I wiped the sweat from my head and tried to catch my breath. I was nearly there—just one more back tuck and a strong dismount and I'd have nailed a perfect routine. Some students choose to write more broadly about themselves and use some sort of object or metaphor as the focus.

  11. Essay Introduction Examples

    The second half of the paragraph also demonstrates why this is a good essay introduction example. Section three gives us the main argument: the topic is rarely studied because critics think Ratsmith's work is "rubbish," but the relationship between pumpkins and rats has ancient roots. ... project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread ...

  12. How To Write A Solid Assignment Introduction

    A brief discussion of the context. Identification of the key issue and research question (s). A brief outline of your theoretical approach. A brief outline of your fieldwork and your professional position. In this post, I'll outline the 5 key components of a strong introduction chapter/section in a mark-earning Henley MBA assignment.

  13. Essay Introductions

    Write an introduction that interests the reader and effectively outlines your arguments. Every essay or assignment you write must begin with an introduction. It might be helpful to think of the introduction as an inverted pyramid. In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point ...

  14. The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay

    The essay writing process consists of three main stages: Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline. Writing: Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion. Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling ...

  15. Introductions

    Gordon Taylor, A Student's Writing Guide. Your introduction is the first thing your marker will read and should be approximately 10% of your word count. Within the first minute they should know if your essay is going to be a good one or not. An introduction has several components but the most important of these are the last two we give here.

  16. How to write an introduction

    Although the exact structure of your introduction may differ according to the type of assignment, most introductions follow a similar structure which includes 4 main parts: Context: a short background that briefly leads the reader to the main issues relevant to the topic. Topic: a topic statement which establishes the main focus of the paper (e ...

  17. Writing Introductions and Conclusions

    The introductions are the first part of your assignment that the reader encounters, so it needs to make a good impression and set the scene for what follows. Your introduction is about 10% of the total word count. It can be difficult to think what that first opening sentence should be, or what an introduction should include.

  18. How Do I Write an Intro, Conclusion, & Body Paragraph?

    Part I: The Introduction. An introduction is usually the first paragraph of your academic essay. If you're writing a long essay, you might need 2 or 3 paragraphs to introduce your topic to your reader. A good introduction does 2 things: Gets the reader's attention. You can get a reader's attention by telling a story, providing a statistic ...

  19. Writing a Research Paper Introduction

    Table of contents. Step 1: Introduce your topic. Step 2: Describe the background. Step 3: Establish your research problem. Step 4: Specify your objective (s) Step 5: Map out your paper. Research paper introduction examples. Frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

  20. Learn How to Write an Introduction for an Assignment

    Review and Revise. First Draft: Write the first draft of your introduction without worrying too much about perfection. Get your ideas down first. Revising: After completing the rest of your assignment, revisit the introduction to ensure it aligns with the content of the main body. Make necessary adjustments for coherence and clarity.

  21. The Role of an Introduction

    Introductions. This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you check your drafted introductions, and provide you with examples of introductions to be avoided. The Role Of Introductions Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write.

  22. Learn How To Introduction For Assignment With Examples

    Here is an assignment introduction example. This is solely for your reference and should not copied in any way. Among the rapid developments occurring in the field of technology, cybersecurity has emerged as an important area of study. This paper will discuss the need for securing sensitive information in the digital domain as one of the ...