First things first:
- An introduction gives context to the topic of your essay
- You can start with a fitting quote, an intriguing statistic or a provocative question
- Always relate everything back to your topic
You’ve found your topic, thought about the structure and found all of the necessary literature? Now the writing process should begin. What sounds so easy is the biggest challenge for many when writing a term paper, essay or thesis. Because as good as the plan is, getting the first sentences on paper often takes the longest – as a rule of thumb, the introduction accounts for around 10 percent of the work, but a maximum of 15 percent. We present various ways to start your text here. With these fresh ideas, the introduction to your term paper will almost write itself!
Looking for concrete examples of how to get started? Then just browse a bit at GRIN! We create a reading sample for each of our papers and in the vast majority of cases this contains the complete introduction. You can find the most creative examples if you filter specifically for theses.
Using a suitable quote as an effective introduction
A very frequently chosen and very popular method of starting an introduction is to begin with a quotation. This can either be directly related to the topic of the term paper or provide a more detailed transition to the topic. Two things are particularly important here: Firstly, the beginning of an introduction should not last forever. If you decide to start with a quote, you should then quickly find the connection to the topic and procedure of your term paper. It is not advisable to spend almost a page on the quotation.
Secondly, you should not choose a quote that you do not refer to in the text. Even if the content stands on its own, you should take your readers by the hand and show the purpose of the quote for the paper. It is equally important that the quote is meaningful. After all, it helps your readers to find a thematic introduction to the following explanations. It is therefore advisable to use a quote that arouses curiosity. This is often successful if the quote is unexpected, which in turn means that you shouldn’t choose a quote from Nietzsche, Schiller or Einstein for the hundredth time. You can be bold here and choose an unusual, little represented or highly controversial position.
As with the rest of your work, it is important that you cite a source that is as credible and reliable as possible. Newspapers or literary works are most suitable. The internet offers a multitude of websites that provide quotes on all kinds of topics. While finding inspiration in these places is certainly justified, books or newspapers are better suited as a source in a bibliography – which is why we recommend that you always look again for a more authentic source of your quote if you have found it on the Internet.
An exciting statistic: only for economic topics?
Another great way to start the introduction is with statistics. Of course, this is not suitable for all subject areas, but it can be a nice hook for your readers, especially in the social sciences or economics. Similar principles apply here as with the citations. You should explain the figures and their relevance to your readers in an understandable way and build a bridge to the topic of your term paper. You can also briefly discuss the context of the survey.
Statistics do not necessarily have to be purely informative. For example, you can also use a graphic that depicts a problematic and critical situation and use it as a hook in your introduction. This is suitable for pretty much any subject area, as there are surveys and polls on many topics. In political science or history, for example, this could be statistics on the number of death sentences carried out in the USA between 1980 and 2000. Here, you can join a recurring debate that allows you to pick up on an exciting topic and thus arouse interest for the rest of the work.
Ideally, you should also choose a reliable source here. For statistics, this can of course be the Statista.com website, but magazines, newspapers or company websites are also suitable for a credible quote. It is advisable to choose a statistic that contains a surprising aspect or ties in with a social problem and thus emphasizes its topicality. However, if you are already using a lot of graphs and figures for analysis in the wider context of your work, we recommend that you use a different method in the introduction so that the text has a little more variety for your readers.
A topical hook: potential for the unconventional
What also works well for some topics is to start with a topical hook, for example from politics or the economy. This can be an event or even a statement or decision. Has a politician recently made a questionable decision? Which court decision made the headlines? When browsing through the newspapers, you can often find current political or economic topics that are directly related to the topic of your term paper. In case of doubt, it is difficult to draw the line between this and the strategies we have already presented, as a current situation can of course also be presented in quotes and statistics. You will have to decide which format is more suitable at such a point depending on your topic.
With topical hangers, there is great potential to present a minority opinion or a provocative thesis that will make your readers wonder right from the start. This has the advantage that they engage with the topic right from the start and form their own opinions. In this way, you also encourage your recipients to form an opinion, which generally promotes interest in reading.
Especially important with this type of introduction: Have the courage to be unconventional! Just because you’re writing a historical term paper doesn’t mean you have to start with historical facts or quotations. Many current events are not new phenomena, but can easily be traced back to the Middle Ages or antiquity in terms of their motifs. In this way, you can not only cleverly introduce your term paper, but also emphasize the ever-present topicality of your topic and thus set yourself apart from your fellow students.
Provocative questions: a great way to get people thinking
What is the point of learning Latin at all? What makes the silent night sacred? Is current soccer comparable to human trafficking? Questions have the great ability to hit a nerve. Most people have their own opinion on the most important questions or quickly form one. You can take advantage of this when introducing a topic by using a question to actively encourage your readers to engage with the topic and develop curiosity.
The question should be cleverly posed, meaning that it does not have a clear answer but reveals the dialectic and history of the discourse. To this end, it makes sense to ask a question with provocative content or on topics that are generally the subject of much discussion and criticism. Of course, it is also possible to choose a question with a long historical tradition. You do not have to give an answer to the question. As with the quote at the beginning, it is important not to leave it uncommented, but you don’t have to present the answer to your readers on a silver platter.
Ideally, you can already explain the frequently cited opinions on the question posed and why this question is not so easy to answer with a brief subsequent pros and cons. At this point, it is also a good idea to integrate different subject areas and thus present the complexity of your own topic. After all, in today’s scientific world in particular, many subject areas are interlinked. It is particularly nice if the question gives your work a framework, and you come back to it at the end in the conclusion. You can then use the newly acquired knowledge that you have presented in your text to take a fresh look at the initial question and possibly provide a new perspective on the topic.
Personal experiences: When you can give up objectivity
It is true that a scientific paper should always claim to be as objective as possible and detached from the researchers and their point of view. Opinions are generally permitted, but should be presented dialectically with objective arguments. For example, you should avoid using the pronoun “I” to convey distance to your readers. However, work in the social or educational field in particular is based on experience and empirical research. This is why distancing yourself from the researcher’s personality is not so easy and not always desirable, as it can be a great benefit to present your own perspective.
For this reason, it can also be a good way to start such work by describing a situation you have experienced yourself. Here you can draw on an experience from your internship or your own life and tell your readers about it. Similar to the quote and the question, you should also embed the facts in a larger context so that even readers from outside the field have the opportunity to understand the transition to your topic.
For data protection reasons, it also makes sense to omit names of institutions or surnames and to abstract the situation from its local conditions as far as possible and transfer it to a neutral space, provided that this has no relevance to the events themselves. This also makes it easier for readers to empathize with the situation, as they have greater freedom in the design. This type of case description can be easily transferred from the specific to the general so that the transition to the rest of the introduction is ideal.
However, you should make sure that your case is not too long. It should not be the case that the introduction to a 15-page term paper is four pages long because you describe a case in the introduction on two pages. The presentation should be shortened so that you can present it to your readers briefly and crisply and at the same time get to the point of what it is supposed to illustrate. Your focus should therefore be clearly on the problem and not on the circumstances.
Tips and tricks
Of course, it always sounds easier than it is in the end. Above all, the introduction must have a concept that has a specific purpose. No quote, question or statistic should be at the beginning just for the sake of it. You should always embed it and refer to it to explain its function in the larger context. Sometimes it helps if you ask yourself how readers who don’t know the topic very well would understand it. As you know, the main function of the introduction is to introduce the reader to the topic. Since you are deep in the topic due to your research, it is sometimes difficult to take the outside perspective when writing. This is why it is often helpful to have the introduction proofread by someone from outside the field.
It is often twice or three times as difficult to get into the flow of the writing process with the introduction. It’s not uncommon for a writer’s block to set in, which means you can’t make any progress. But you can do something about this. For example, it is a good idea not to necessarily write the introduction at the beginning. It often helps to start simply, for example with definitions or similar, so that the work itself takes shape and you get deeper and deeper into the subject matter. Slowly, the first results crystallize so that you have a clear picture of the progress of the work before you write the introduction.
It is also popular to write any sentence and then simply continue writing. The sentence doesn’t have to have anything to do with the topic. It’s more about getting into writing and formulating. Of course, you can always edit and change the sentence. In any case, you shouldn’t let yourself be held up for too long. In the end, it doesn’t make sense to spend an entire day brooding over the first sentence. Sooner or later, the brilliant idea will come to you and you will get started on your own, usually when you least expect it.
Mind mapping can also be a helpful method for structuring the topic, which in turn helps you to get an overview of the topic and prepare it for the reader. To do this, you select key keywords from the term paper and make associations, which in turn are linked to new topics or events, people or places. This results in a network of information that can be written down for the introduction.
It can also be helpful to get inspiration and look at some examples of how others have solved the same problem. Of course, you can also look at previous work by yourself or fellow students. Alternatively, GRIN offers a large number of term papers from all disciplines that can be accessed completely free of charge. In most cases, as we’ve already mentioned, the introduction is included in the reading sample, so you can access thousands of papers that have all found individual solutions to get you started. There are sure to be examples that are thematically similar to your work.