Writing Introductions to Academic Texts
David Hoeflaak – Lecturer Academic Skills – MasaWriting Abstracts
ryk University - Brno

A good introduction has a clear structure
1.Background Description (situation)
uWhat is the state of the field regarding to your topic right now?
uIntroduces key terms and key words that are important to the topic
u
2.Description of Controversy (problem)
uWhat is not clear relating to the topic?
uWhere do academics / experts in the field disagree?
uWhich knowledge gaps can still be identified?
u
3.Introduction of the Thesis Statement (why is that a problem)
uBased on the identified controversy / knowledge gap, what will be your main idea / argument?
uPossibly includes a brief explanation of the main argument
u
4.Forward
uDescribes to the reader which sub-topics will be dealt with to cover the main argument
uProvided the reader with a road-map of your essay
uThe forward is based on your sub-questions
u
5.
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A Structural Overview of an Introduction



Identify the components of the following introduction:
uHistorians generally concentrate on the twenty year period between 1763 and 1783 as the period
which constitutes the American Revolution in which many ordinary working Americans played an
essential part.
uHowever, the involvement of these Americans is not often properly taken into account by historians
who most often concentrate on the roles played by key historical figures instead.
uThis paper will argue that the nature and aims of the actions of working people are difficult to
assess as their roles frequently changed depending on the phase that was played out in the American
Revolution.
uFirst the pre-revolutionary period will be assessed when working people responded to Britain’s
authority related to such issues as unjustified taxes and the scarcity of land. In the second part
of the paper the post 1776 period will be described when their actions became more revolutionary.
u

A (bad) Student Example of an Introduction:
uNowadays genetically modified food is no more a curiosity and farmers have to take stock of these
new technologies . The plants should be high-yield and the fruits and vegetables should look bigger
and healthier to entice customers in the supermarket. In the USA is 70% of food is genetically
modified, so GM food is part of everyday life. In the USA genetically modified plants growing on 50
billion hectare field, in Canada 6 billion and in Argentina and Brazil approximately 26,5 billion
hectare. The  technology is technically mature because the farmers don’t depend on ransom’s because
the researcher searching for genes which are charge for particular characteristic’s. These genes
can find in any other plants or actually in animals or human. That followed the desire gene will be
cut off via particular enzymes and build into the plants which should have the characteristic. The
GM food technology is irresistible so the main question is what impacts do the increasing GM food
technology have on the economy ?