How to Write an Introduction: Step-by-Step Guide with Examples

What is an introduction

The introduction is the initial part of a text that briefly indicates what the topic to be developed is about and gives a general idea or context.

The introduction fulfills the function of summarizing information about the text, which can be a book, an essay or other type, and serves as a guide for the reader as it provides a progressive treatment of the information through general ideas, examples, updates and problem statement, topic statement, question, or other, as the case may be.

The format of an introduction

Format refers to the order or placement of its parts, the way in which they are arranged, and also the style. It’s about organization and aesthetic.

The format is governed by the APA standards and are those that are reflected below.

• Fonts: Arial or Times New Roman. No. 12
• Line spacing should be 1.5
• The text must always be A justified text means that its edges must form straight lines, see this image, the text on the right is justified.
• Paragraphs must have a minimum of 3 lines, a maximum of 10 lines.
• Number of pages in an introduction. The average is 2 pages, but it depends on the size of the text, as an example, a 20-page assignment can have two introductory pages.

Parts or structure of an introduction

The introduction is divided into five fundamental parts and they are the following.

1. Expression of a general idea

Here is where is reflected what is going to be developed later, and, therefore, it has a broad in nature. For example, if you are going to write an essay whose main topic is the benefits of exercising, you begin with a concept of “exercise”, or if you are going to write an essay about school dropout, you start with a concept of “education”, since school dropout is the abandonment of formal education.

The introduction would start like this:

“Education is the training aimed at developing the intellectual, moral and affective capacity of people to make them capable of living in society according to norms and culture and be able to make a contribution to it while satisfying their needs with the resources that they get.”

As you can see, the subject is treated in a broad way.

2. Indication of a less general idea that must be linked to the previous one

The less general idea begins to reduce the conceptual framework, to explain this, the example continues as follows:

“Education is provided through schooling and the latter is the institutionalized educational practice where material and human resources are combined, and people are educated in a planned and organized way. Schooling is linked to an institution or school where children, adolescents, and even adults are instructed, and in this case a certain percentage of students drop out and this situation of abandonment constitutes school dropout.”

3. An update

This step consists of locating the subject within space and time, that is, in the geographical and temporal plane in which the information is produced and is relevant. For this, you can use phrases such as “currently”, “today”, “Nowadays”, etc.

The introduction would go as follows:

“Nowadays, school dropout is a problem that affects all countries in the world, especially developing countries…”

4. Presentation of an example

The topic is further specified through with an example, and it also gives the first clue about the formal characteristics of the body, such as inform in some way about the number of paragraphs or length. For example, this text must have a minimum of two paragraphs, one in about the internal causes and another about the external causes of school dropout.

“For example, in Venezuela it’s an alarming problem, since in 2020-2021 there was a figure of 23.7% of school dropouts, according to the Democratic Unit of the Educational Sector (UDSE). In some countries, the negative phenomenon is attributed mainly to endogenous causes, while, in others, to exogenous causes, as in Venezuela, where the economic and social situation greatly affects the high dropout rates.”

5. Statement

The core idea of the text is located here, and it’s preferable if it appears in the final sentence of the introduction. Here will be the topic statement, or problem statement, or question.

Academic papers generally contain a topic statement. This is where you place the central idea that allows the development of the body and conclusion.

• Topic statement: “It’s evident the importance of giving special attention and understanding to this topic in order to find a solution.”
• Problem statement: “Based on the above, there is a need for a solution to this serious problem in education.”
• Question: “Given this situation about the educational reality, what should our position be in this regard?”

What’s next

Then, the rest of the text is written.  If it is an essay, you would proceed to place a concept on school dropout and start explaining the subject you chose. You must remember that the headings “Introduction” or “conclusion” are written because all parts (introduction, body, conclusion) are joined using connectives.

See also: How to write an essay.

If it’s another academic paper, a basic one, the heading of “School dropout” comes next, and below the concept, or some other heading that corresponds according to the type of text that is being written.

Depending on the type of text, such as in a thesis, you could need to write a separate section for the statement where the problem, topic or question is approached in a much broader and more detailed way.

Example of an introduction

INTRODUCTION

Education is the training aimed at developing the intellectual, moral and affective capacity of people to make them capable of living in society according to norms and culture and be able to make a contribution to it while satisfying their needs with the resources that they get. (General idea)

Education is provided through schooling and the latter is the institutionalized educational practice where material and human resources are combined, and people are educated in a planned and organized way. Schooling is linked to an institution or school where children, adolescents, and even adults are instructed, and in this case a certain percentage of students drop out and this situation of abandonment constitutes school dropout. (Less general idea)

“Nowadays, school dropout is a problem that affects all countries in the world, especially developing countries…”(Update)

For example, in Venezuela it’s an alarming problem, since in 2020-2021 there was a figure of 23.7% of school dropouts, according to the Democratic Unit of the Educational Sector (UDSE). In some countries, the negative phenomenon is attributed mainly to endogenous causes, while, in others, to exogenous causes, as in Venezuela, where the economic and social situation greatly affects the high dropout rates.”

In some countries the negative phenomenon is attributed mainly to endogenous causes, while, in others, to exogenous causes, as in Venezuela, where the economic and social situation greatly affects the high dropout rates. (Exemplification)

It’s evident the importance of giving special attention and understanding to this topic in order to find a solution (Statement). In this case, topic statement.