Lesson 2--The parts of real academic introductions and how to generate content
This Lesson's Objectives
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We already know the goal or function of academic introductions: They are designed to help academic readers/researchers by efficiently communicating the topic, the question that is being explored in the essay, and the author's answer. We know it's also common for academic writing to exist as some kind of response--to a debate, a misconception, or something that's unsettled.
Now, we need to turn this into something more tangible that we can share with our students. We need a model that we can teach with. So, we will identify specific parts of effective introductions.
Finally, we can safely assume that students are unfamiliar with our new expectations for academic introductions, so we need to learn strategies that help generate content for introductions.
Breaking it into 3 parts
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Let's begin by breaking apart the goal or function statement of academic introduction we generated during our last lesson. You will see there are three primary functions to an introduction:
- Communicating a topic
- Identifying a specific question or unsettled point to be explored and/or resolved
- The author's answer or resolution
I like to use shorter terms for each of these sections when I talk about them:
Context: the essay shouldn't come from nowhere--there is something going on in the world that spurred the writer into action. The context gives the essay relevance, and also says who its relevant to.
Problem: effective academic essays can pin down a specific question to be explored. But it's rare to see these actually stated as questions, so we will call these "problem statements."
Solution: after we ask a question or introduce something unsettled, the author should offer an answer--what we commonly call a "thesis statement."
Allow me to paraphrase these three sections: "Something is happening that raises a significant problem or question, and my thoughts on this are XYZ." It's that simple--and that easy for readers to work through.
Try this: Click Here to see if you can differentiate between the different sections of a model introduction. For instructions, just click the button you see on the text of the page. (If you are not using Google Chrome, you may need to download the textand draw two vertical lines separating the context, problem and solution sections.)
Want to see my solution? click hereto check it out!
A simple question-and-answer model
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We're beginning to notice the surprising reality that effective academic introductions aren't necessarily complicated, fancy, or impenetrably coy. They are actually fairly "clean," giving readers the specific information they are seeking. Another theme I'll touch on several times in this mini-course is that they are fairly natural, in that they mimic how real human beings stumble upon interesting ideas and think through them. Remember that an effective academic introduction is as simple as ""Something is happening that raises a significant problem or question, and my thoughts on this are XYZ."
Helpful Classroom Tip:
As I mentioned above, it's rare to see question marks in academic writing, especially lower-level humanities essays. So our first task is to turn questions into "problem statements." (Quick note: this rule, like avoiding the first-person or beginning sentences with "and," doesn't actually hold up to scrutiny--real academic writers break these rules often. I don't wish to endorse restrictions like this, but turning questions into statements is useful practice for student writers while it satisfies the requirements of many lower-level writing courses.)
But you may find that students struggle stating questions without the use question marks. In fact, I still have to focus when I frame questions as "problem statements"!
Consider the above example about donating used clothing. The question was clearly something like "Should this process [of selling donated clothing to developed nations] still be considered charity?"
Our writer offered a sentence that included a couple useful signal words that announce the problem statement: "This makes us [or readers, or donators, or concerned citizens] carefully consider whether the process is still charity."
Trick one: announce the question with a stock phrase that communicates uncertainty, instability, or controversy.
"Makes us consider," "raises a questions about," or "leads to a consideration of" all tell readers that we are about to offer a question or problem. A true problem holds an unknown solution, so any language that signals doubt or limits to our certainty could be useful for this move.
- Invites a deeper consideration of...
- Forces us to reconsider...
- Questions our assumptions about...
- Flies in the face of commonsense notions about...
- Seems to violate our understanding of....
Be prepared to offer students one or all of these stock phrases if they struggle turning questions into problem statements. This is more about organizing their ideas than feeding them the answer, since they will have to provide the information that completes the phrase. And of course, students will get better at this over time so that they can eventually do this on their own.
Trick two: use small words that signal options or differences in degree.
You will notice that there are small word changes that can help us switch between questions and statements. If I have two or more choices before me, a question form would usually include "is" or "should" in the front of the sentence, and choice signals like "or" near the end, as in "Should I stay or go?" or "Is this still charity?" A word inside of statements that signals choices might be "whether," like in the student's original example above.
- TO BE verbs / DO verbs / Other modal verbs like SHOULD or CAN......-->......WHETHER
Are child migrants political refugees or regular immigrants? The recent trend of children crossing America's southern border forces us to reconsider whether they should be treated as political refugees or regular immigrants.
If the choices are not an either/or proposition, consider useful phrases like "the degree/extent to which," as in "These details make us reconsider the extent to which the practice of selling donated clothing is still charitable."
- HOW MUCH / HOW OFTEN......-->......THE DEGREE TO WHICH / TO WHAT DEGREE
How much does media impact violent behavior? --> This leads parents and lawmakers to consider the degree to which violent media might impact violent behavior.
This seems like a lot of space devoted to a small topic, but it's been my experience that students can struggle with the linguistic gymnastics of turning questions into problem statements, and this is a skill that every student needs in order to follow our introduction scheme.
Now you try: Turn the following questions into problem statements. No question marks allowed! :) Click here for some possible solutions.
- What are the dangers of eating too much sugar?
- Should privacy be more important than safety as we consider extending current government surveillance programs?
- Is it more sustainable to buy a new hybrid car, or keep driving my compact car for a few more years?
Optional Extras
As students become more comfortable with the basic context-problem-solution pattern, it's possible to add a couple more elements that commonly appear in academic essays. These don't appear in all introductions, but they are common enough to be worth mentioning. As I will repeat in the next lesson, the first two elements are often present in effective introductions, but their position is less rigid. So consider these like decorations onto our more firmly established context-problem-solution structure.
Voices: If this is a legitimately controversial topic, there are probably other writers discussing it. Bringing them into the conversation helps frame the "sides" of the argument and poses your contribution as more of a response to this conversation, satisfying a key tenet of academic writing.
'Craig Anderson, in his lab at the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State University, has consistently demonstrated a link between violent media and negative social behavior like increased aggression or decreased willingness to help others. But this data is questioned by sociologists like Karen Sternheimer, who argue that effects in the lab aren't good indicators of real-life outcomes.'
Relevance statements: Simply, "Why does this matter?" It's especially common for writing in the humanities to announce links with deeper concerns like values or social trends, and for science writing to link a specific experiment or study with a broader question it helps to answer.
The question of media's effect on our behavior grows increasingly important as new forms of interactive technology outpace our ability to understand the potential risks they bring.
Thesis-- Reasoning statements: A thesis can appear a little bare on its own, so it's common to include reasons (due to/because) or outcomes (in order to/so that).
Because a lack of domestic freedom would contradict the argument that enhanced security is needed to protect our way of life, U.S. domestic spying programs bring too many costs to tolerate.
Thesis-- Balancing statements: One common pattern in academic writing is to avoid extreme or unreasonable positions, especially when there are legitimate, strong reasons supporting both sides of an argument. "Balancing statements" help a writer occupy a "middle" ground and acknowledge other opinions without negating their own main claim.
While it's true that hybrid vehicles offer great environmental benefits for the future, scrapping a perfectly functional and efficient car in favor of a new hybrid would result in net damage to the environment.
All of these optional extra moves can help fill out a thin introduction, or add important nuance and limits to the writer's assertions. In the next lesson, we'll examine a strategy to generate content for every basic and extra step in our introductions, and start creating introductions of our own.
Click here to see all the steps in action!
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