Presenter: Armenuhi Ananyan

1. Building Strong Introductions
Presenter: Armenuhi Ananyan,
Writing Consultant at the Math and
Writing Center

2. Outline
• Getting Started
• Core Structure and Components of Intros
• DOs and DON’Ts
• Q&A

3. Getting Started
Brainstorming
Planning
Researching

4. Recipe for a Delicious Introduction

5. Which of these sentences are good
hooks?
• In this paper, I will tell about Orwell’s Animal Farm.
• The idyllic setting of life on the farm provides little clue of the
harsh realities Orwell (1945) portrays in Animal Farm.
• The day of his birth began with Hurricane Charlie pounding at
their door.
• He was born on August 9, 2004, the day of Hurricane Charlie.
• I have seen the seven wonders of the world, and if there is an
eighth, I have seen it, and if a ninth, it (Saroyan,1975, p. 236).
• I want to tell that I have seen all the wonders of the world
though I don’t know the exact number of the wonders.

6. Types of Hooks
Startling Fact or Statistic
Thought-Provoking Question
Strong Opinion
Anecdote or Personal Experience
Description

7. Background
• Context
• Brief History of the Topic
• Explanation of the Importance of the Topic
• Explanation of the Controversy of the Topic

8. Thesis Statement
• Fact vs. Opinion
• Answer to a question you have posed
• Solution to a problem you have identified
• Statement that takes a position on a topic

9. Thesis Statement (contd.)
• Topic + Comment = Thesis Statement
The shift from print to online news provides
unprecedented opportunities for readers to
become more engaged with the news, to hold
journalists accountable, and to participate as
producers, not simply as consumers.
- Jacobs (as cited in Hacker & Sommers, 2011, p.81)

10. DOs and DON’Ts
• DON’T lose the link between the introduction and the
rest of the paper
• DO support arguments with evidence in the body
• DON’T answer all the questions in the introduction
• DO pose questions to spark curiosity
• DON’T make infeasible promises in the introduction
• DO accomplish your promises
• DON’T add words to meet word limit
• DO avoid redundancies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjqdj-gR8o

11. Recap
• When should you write the intro?
• What are the components of intros?
• How can you grab readers’ attention?
• What kind of statement is the thesis?
• Do you have questions?

12. References
• Hacker, D. & Sommers N. (2012) Rules for writers.
(7th ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
• Lunsford, A. A. (2011). The St. Martin’s
Handbook. (7th ed.). New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's.
• Saroyan, W. (1975) Selected short stories.
Moscow: Progress Publishers.
• Shmoop (2014, July 8). What Not to Do in an
Introduction [Vidio File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjqdj-gR8o

13. THANK YOU!