The Introduction Paragraph

 The first paragraph in an essay is called the introductory paragraph. It usually consists of 4 to 6 sentences.
 A good introductory paragraph should start with a hook. There are various ways to write a good hook:
After the hook, we give background information so that the reader can understand the topic. We move
from a general discussion of the topic to a specific statement. This is called "narrowing down".

NARROWING DOWN

HOOK

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

THESIS SATEMENT

An example of narrowing down may look like;

eating habits
changes in eating habits
healthy eating trends
organic food industry
problems of organic food industry in Turkey.

Put the sentences in the correct order so that you have an introduction paragraph moving from general
statements to the thesis statement.

a. Three important fields in which computers are widely used are business, education and entertainment.

b. They have become a part of everyday life and they have made everything easier and more
convenient.

c. In existence for only a few decades, personal computers have had a major impact on
modern society.

d. Throughout human existence, man has tried to develop and use new and more beneficial tools
in order to improve his standard of living.

e. The modern computer is the most recent of these life changing tools.

d/e/c/b/a
Essay Prompt: What are the effects of pollution?

Pollution is one of the biggest problems the world is facing today. There are many different types of
pollution, such as air, water, and soil pollution. Their causes are various; such as exhaust fumes, oil spills and
radiation leaks. However, they all have one thing in common: their negative effects on human beings. There are
many effects of pollution on human life, but the most important three negative effects are affecting humans' health,
psychology and economy.

Rules for Writing a Good Thesis Statement

 A thesis statement must be a complete sentence. This means it must at least have a subject and a verb with a
tense.

Incorrect: The effects of natural disasters.

Correct: The three main effects of natural disasters are environmental problems, famine and epidemics.

 A thesis statement must be a full sentence. It cannot be in the form of a question, or an incomplete sentence.

Incorrect: What are the causes of cancer?

Correct: The causes of cancer are smoking, diet and stress.

 A thesis statement must take a position. It cannot be a simple fact as a fact does not need any support so you
cannot write an essay about it.

Incorrect: A car is faster than a bicycle.

Correct: A bicycle is healthier, more convenient and economical than a car.

 A thesis statement must state the essay topic together with its supporting ideas. Supporting ideas are the
main ideas for Body 1, Body 2 and Body 3.

Incorrect: Having a flat mate is advantageous.

Correct: The gains of having a flat mate are sharing the housework, sharing the expenses and sharing your
problems.

 A thesis statement should not be too general or too specific. If it is too general or too specific, you may not
be able to prove it in one essay.
Too general: Preparing food is fun.
Too specific: A drawback of preparing food is cutting your finger.

EXERCISE 1: Read the thesis statements below and identify the problem(s).
THESIS STATEMENTS PROBLEMS
The population of the USA is higher than the population of Turkey. fact
What are the causes of failure at school? Not a full sentence
Eating sushi with chopsticks has many drawbacks. Specific/no sup ideas
Time is important. Too general
The effects of too much working. It is not a sentence
 Writing Thesis Statements in Different Forms

There is no exact way to write a thesis statement. The important point is to include the essay topic and Body 1 and
Body 2 main ideas in a grammatically correct meaningful sentence.

As it has been pointed out in the previous chapters, a good essay begins with a good outline. In outlines writing long
sentences is unnecessary so phrases are enough. They can be nouns, adjectives, verbs etc. However, when we write
the thesis statement we must be careful about the word form.

Let’s try to understand it better by analyzing the examples below:

Essay Prompt: Qualities of a Good Teacher

Supporting ideas: working hard (Body 1) & helping students (Body 2) being patient (Body 3)

*When we look at the example above, we can see that the essay is about the qualities of a good teacher. Body 1 will
focus on working hard and Body 2 will focus on helping students. Now we have to combine all these in a
grammatically correct sentence.

Version 1: The qualities of a good teacher are working hard, helping students and being patient.

Noun Phrase Noun Phrase Noun Phrase

Version 2: A good teacher should work hard, help students and be patient.

Verb Verb Verb

Version 3: A good teacher must be hardworking, helpful and patient.

Adjective Adjective Adjective

Version 4: The qualities that a good teacher should have are helpfulness, hard work and patience.

Noun Noun Noun

Version 5:
The qualities of a good teacher are that a good teacher always helps her students, she works hard and she is patient.

Sentence Sentence Sentence