Audience: ESL teachers working with upper-level students

In academic writing, a decent introduction ushers a reader into the “meat” of a piece of writing, but a great introduction makes the reader feel he or she is truly in capable hands. Help your students write introductions with increased flexibility and a more natural voice with a few tips.

Many introductions are born from the basic formula, “hook, connect, thesis.” But it takes more than a simple three-word prescription to help students write an introduction that will truly grab and hold the reader’s attention. What’s more, students need to understand that the style we teach (starting off with an interesting fact/statistic, historical background, funnel, story/description, etc.) is ingrained in American culture, and these habits will serve them well in public speaking class and even in conversation, not just composition classes. Here are a few ideas to try with an upper-level composition class.

1. Add a Step

Many textbooks teach introductions as “hook à connecting information à thesis.” Sometimes this results in a thesis that feels unconnected or “jerky” compared to the rest of the intro. To help writing sound more natural, try adding a step to the introduction equation: “hook à explain à focus à thesis.” In the “focus,” students should begin to introduce the real focus or more specific topic of the essay, but not quite get to the specificity of the thesis yet. Many essays do not even mention the real topic of the essay until this point, late in the intro but before the thesis, but textbooks rarely include this guidance for students.

2. Force Flexibility

When getting students started on an essay, give an assignment that asks for two or three totally different introductions for the same essay, using different “hook strategies.” It may help to provide examples so that students can see that this is possible. (For a personal essay on “A Person Who Influenced Me,” you could provide examples including one funnel introduction discussing the influence of mentors in general, one with historical background about what was happening in your life when you met this person, and another discussing a fascinating quote this person told you.) The next class, students can share their alternate intros with a partner and discuss which is better, and why.

3. Use the Radio

Often, stories on NPR use one of these strategies to lead into a news story. Find a few of these stories (making sure that the use of a “hook strategy” is clear) and post them on your LMS and/or play them for your students. At first, just have them listen and see if they can identify the strategy used. Then provide the transcript so they can make sense of any difficult words and discuss how the strategy used gets the attention of the listener. Continuing idea number two, “forcing flexibility,” you could also have the students write or even perform an alternative introduction, with a different strategy, for the same news story.

A few good stories to use: “From the Gridiron to the Pool: Women are Making Waves in Sports” (funnel), “The Weatherman Who Couldn’t Foresee the Storm” (historical background), and “High Schoolers and Snooze Buttons: A Public Health Crisis?” (surprising fact), all from 8 August 2015.

With plenty of good examples and practice, students can confidently write to grab the attention of their readers.

Michelle Overholt is an associate professor and EAP director at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas.

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