introductory paragraph

Your essay must begin with a good introductory paragraph. Such a paragraph must consist of at least three, and usually more, closely related sentences which clearly introduce your subject and which deal with the subject of the essay. You must avoid such statements as "Virgil is one of the world's greatest writers" (no short college essay could possibly treat that subject, and most college students are not so well-read in world literature as to be competent to make that statement, anyway) or "Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564" (you aren't going to be writing a biography of Shakespeare, after all). Everything in your introduction must clearly introduce the subject of the essay and not appear to be irrelevant to that subject. Include in these sentences facts that are relevant to your subject or give a view which opposes your position plus some evidence which you plan to develop fully later.

The introductory paragraph must also include the name of the author and the title of the work on which you are writing. If, as may happen on the final examination, you are writing on several works by several authors so that listing all of them may be cumbersome, you may mention only the authors' names in your introduction.One of the sentences in your introduction must be a THESIS SENTENCE or THESIS STATEMENT (i.e., the central purpose or the controlling idea or assertion in your essay, a statement of what you intend to prove). The thesis sentence helps you decide what must be included in your essay and what must be omitted. Unless an essay has a thesis, it has no purpose for being. If you are unable to state your controlling idea in a single sentence, you are not ready to write your essay. (Writing Center tutors can help you talk through your ideas to come up with a thesis. For other prewriting ideas you can try on your own see Writing Process.)

The thesis statement is not an announcement that you are going to say something ("I am going to write on the character of Odysseus in The Odyssey"). Nor is it a vague assertion about a broad topic ("In his adventures Odysseus displays several important virtues"). The problem in this last example is that the reader is not told what specific virtues you have in mind. You thesis must be a concrete statement in which you set forth an assertion in a single, uncomplicated sentence ("Homer characterizes Odysseus as the ideal Greek king"). Since most essays are written to support your opinion, it might be helpful to think of the thesis as an arguable statement--one that someone may take exception to or argue about. At the very least, the thesis must make a point that calls for support.

Finally, the introductory paragraph must indicate the order of your argument to show how and in what order you will present evidence to support your thesis. If the purpose of the essay is to prove that Odysseus is a heroic figure, the thesis should simply read, "Odysseus is clearly a heroic figure." In another sentence you need to indicate the kinds of evidence you intend to cite and the order in which that evidence is to be presented (e.g., "Odysseus's heroic qualities include courage, cunning, and loyalty to family"). If your subject is an especially complicated one, you may not be able to indicate the order in a single sentence, and you should not try to do so if that sentence becomes unduly complicated. In such cases you should feel free to indicate the order of your essay in several sentences.

In any case, readers of your essay must know by the time they finish reading your introductory paragraph (1) the author and the title of the work on which you are writing, (2) your thesis statement--i.e., the point that you are making, and (3) the way in which you are going to organize the body of your essay. An introduction which does not make these matters clear is inadequate.