Library Research Guide |
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The introduction gives the reader a preview of your paper. It is general information that gives the reader an overview of where you intend to go in your paper. This is the reader’s first taste, so you want to entice them to read your paper through the introduction. Introductions have a specific format for presenting information. They include the time of the event, the place of the event, the thesis statement, the significance of the topic, and finally a transition sentence (this can vary) to the body of the paper. The introduction may also include background on the topic that is necessary for your reader to know before reading the thesis statement.
Sample Introduction:
Ernesto “Che” Guevara has become a pop culture icon. Even in the United States, tee- shirts with his stern face and star-clad-beret appear in the mainstream. Where most North Americans know little of Che’s background, Latin Americans nearly worship him as a liberator (significance/importance). From an affluent Argentinean family, Che had every opportunity to live comfortably. Yet, he chose to purposely educate himself among the poor on an annual motorcycle trip through Latin America (place). The poor of Latin America suffered from the brunt of inconsistent governmental policy. Che’s motorcycle tour in the 1950s (time), while still in medical school, allowed him to encounter the conditions brought about by inequitable economic, political and social government policies. It was the inequitable condition of the common person that sparked his revolutionary beliefs. Ernesto “Che” Guevara was thrust into a revolutionary life by witnessing the hardships of the people he encountered on his motorcycle trips through Latin America as a young man (thesis). Che’s stories of the oppressed and exploited are tragic and tug at the heart strings of even the most callous man (transition sentence).
After you complete your paper, you will rewrite the introduction and choose the best draft of the two.