Essays: Sentence and Thesis Statement
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(also bring the punctuation worksheets from last time)
INTRODUCTIONS
An introduction serves as a contract between a writer and his or her readers. In the introduction, a writer makes specific commitments that must then be fulfilled. The most important of these is the thesis statement, which commits the writer to a specific focus. In effect, it provides the reader with an accurate expectation of what the writer plans to do-the main idea that the writer plans to develop. In general, a good introduction accomplishes three purposes: 1. It attracts the reader's interest. 2. It provides the reader with background information. 3. It focuses the reader's attention on the main idea of the essay.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 1. Be clear and direct (clarity is more important than cleverness). 2. Provide the background information your reader needs to understand your subject. 3. Avoid trite expressions, such as "In the world today" or "For as long as man has existed." 4. End your introduction with a clear statement of your thesis. from Harris, J. and Moseley, A. (1989). "Writing Introductions." In: Contexts: Writing and Reading, 2nd ed., 164-167.
MORE ABOUT THE THREE PARTS OF THE INTRODUCTION Expository introductions have three basic parts. This is also true for introductions to five paragraph essays. Naturally, introductions for research articles and term papers are a bit more complex, but they share the same basic structure. Swales (1990) describes the structure of introductions for academic research article introductions as follows: Move ①: Establishing a territory Stepⅰ-- claiming centrality and/or Stepⅱ-- making topic generalizations and/or Stepⅲ -- reviewing items of previous research Move ②: Establishing a niche StepⅰA -- counter-claiming or StepⅰB -- indicating a gap or StepⅰC -- question-raising or StepⅰD -- continuing a tradition Move ③: Occupying the niche StepⅰA -- outlining purposes or StepⅰB -- announcing present research Stepⅱ--
(also bring the punctuation worksheets from last time)
INTRODUCTIONS
An introduction serves as a contract between a writer and his or her readers. In the introduction, a writer makes specific commitments that must then be fulfilled. The most important of these is the thesis statement, which commits the writer to a specific focus. In effect, it provides the reader with an accurate expectation of what the writer plans to do-the main idea that the writer plans to develop. In general, a good introduction accomplishes three purposes: 1. It attracts the reader's interest. 2. It provides the reader with background information. 3. It focuses the reader's attention on the main idea of the essay.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 1. Be clear and direct (clarity is more important than cleverness). 2. Provide the background information your reader needs to understand your subject. 3. Avoid trite expressions, such as "In the world today" or "For as long as man has existed." 4. End your introduction with a clear statement of your thesis. from Harris, J. and Moseley, A. (1989). "Writing Introductions." In: Contexts: Writing and Reading, 2nd ed., 164-167.
MORE ABOUT THE THREE PARTS OF THE INTRODUCTION Expository introductions have three basic parts. This is also true for introductions to five paragraph essays. Naturally, introductions for research articles and term papers are a bit more complex, but they share the same basic structure. Swales (1990) describes the structure of introductions for academic research article introductions as follows: Move ①: Establishing a territory Stepⅰ-- claiming centrality and/or Stepⅱ-- making topic generalizations and/or Stepⅲ -- reviewing items of previous research Move ②: Establishing a niche StepⅰA -- counter-claiming or StepⅰB -- indicating a gap or StepⅰC -- question-raising or StepⅰD -- continuing a tradition Move ③: Occupying the niche StepⅰA -- outlining purposes or StepⅰB -- announcing present research Stepⅱ--