The introduction is one of the most critical parts of a thesis, and yet most students do not know how to write one. Students do not understand the structure of the introduction or what material to include in the introduction. This lack of knowledge ruins the flow of the introduction and distracts people from its purpose. The goal of this introduction is to teach people how to write an introduction.
Even after reading numerous papers, many students do not appreciate the structure most commonly used for an introduction. This structure is often referred to as a reverse triangle, but this description is somewhat ambiguous. The first paragraph starts with a strong lead-in to get everyone excited about the work. It is followed by a few sentences highlighting the most important topics. These topics are each addressed in a separate paragraph or section later in the introduction. The first paragraph ends with a "hook" sentence that briefly states the main hypothesis or goal. The next sections address the topics outlined in the first paragraph. The final paragraph outlines the hypothesis that is being tested and the work that will be done in the thesis. In a thesis proposal, this paragraph becomes the thesis statement. The final sentence of the introduction is a ÒteaseÓ that highlights the importance of the work.
Even when students understand the structure of an introduction, they do not always include the correct material. Each paragraph needs to have a topic sentence and be focused on one topic. Section headings usually help to keep the introduction focused. Do not discuss a topic unless it is directly related to the work and aids in interpreting the results, or unless it provides knowledge required to understand the results.
The goal of this introduction was to illustrate how to write an introduction. We hypothesize that by reading this introduction and understanding its structure you will write a stronger and clearer introduction.
SECOND PARAGRAPH
A
paragraph that talks only about the structure of the introduction
THIRD PARAGRAPH
A paragraph that talks only about what to include
FINAL PARAGRAPH/THESIS STATEMENT
Goal of the work
What we expect to find
For specific comments and ideas about introductions see http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWtoc.html
Now let's dissect the introduction from a real article:
Meharg A. A., Scrimgeour C., Hossain S. A., Fuller K., Cruickshank K.,
Williams P. N., and Kinniburgh D. G., 2006. Codeposition of Organic
Carbon and Arsenic in Bengal Delta Aquifers. Environ. Sci. Technol.
pdf of article