The Hook
This is the name for the very first sentence or two of an introduction, meant to grab the reader's attention.
What is the Hook (or Opener)
A good thesis must take a clear, firm stance on an issue, meaning it must be this.
What is Arguable?
The overall shape of an introduction, moving from broad general information to a narrow, specific claim.
What is the Funnel (or Inverted Triangle) structure?
Starting an essay with the cliché: "Since the dawn of time, humans have wondered...
What is being Overly Broad (or Generalized)?
The introductory tone expected in most formal, research-heavy college assignments.
The introductory tone expected in most formal, research-heavy college assignments.
A brief, compelling story or real-world example used to open an essay, often effective in persuasive writing
What is an Anecdote
The thesis statement is almost always placed here in a standard academic introduction.
What is the Last sentence (or sentences)?
These sentences provide the reader with essential background knowledge, placed between the hook and the thesis.
What are Context (or Background) sentences
The error committed by the sentence: "This essay will now examine the effects of renewable energy."
What is Announcing (or writing a placeholder introduction)
The primary factor that dictates whether an anecdote or a statistic is the better choice for an opening hook.
What is the Audience (or Purpose)?
A question asked in the introduction for dramatic effect or to stimulate thought, not to elicit a literal answer.
What is a Rhetorical Question?
This term describes a thesis that is narrow enough to be fully proven within the confines of the paper.
What is Specific (or Focused)?
This element, sometimes included after the thesis, briefly lists the main points or organization of the body paragraphs.
What is the Roadmap (or Preview of points)?
The weakness of using a dictionary definition as an opening hook.
What is being Generic (or Unoriginal/Predictable)
This term refers to the writer's attitude toward the subject, which should be established immediately in the introduction.
What is Tone?
This type of hook grounds the essay in data, such as "One in five Americans suffer from chronic pain."
What is a Startling Statistic?
This is the claim: "The United States government is a complex system of checks and balances."
What is a Factual (or non-arguable) claim?
The failure to link the broad opening of the introduction to the specific argument of the thesis creates this problem.
What is a Lack of Flow (or Disjointedness)
The failure to define complex or technical terminology used in the context section of the introduction.
What is a Lack of Clarity (or Ambiguity)?
A type of essay, like a narrative or personal reflection, where the thesis statement may be implied or delayed instead of being explicitly stated.
What is a Creative or Narrative Essay?
The transition from a broad hook to the topic's necessary context is often called this part of the introduction.
What is the Bridge (or Background/Context)?
The term for a preliminary thesis statement that is used to guide research but is expected to change during the writing process.
What is a Working Thesis?
The structural role of context sentences in a research paper that justifies the essay's existence by pointing out a lack of previous study.
What is Identifying the Research Gap
The common mistake of starting an introduction with a detailed, unrelated side story that takes up too much space.
What is Disproportionate Length (or an Overly Long Anecdote)?
Starting an introduction by directly addressing the reader with phrases like "You might agree that..." is often discouraged in academic writing because it violates this principle.
What is Maintaining an Objective Distance (or Avoiding Second-Person Pronouns)?