Introductory Paragraph

World Literature Honors

Introductory Paragraph GENERAL

(attention grabber)
1. Attention Grabber. Write down a statement or statements to introduce the general topic of your essay –
remember, be general. Your attention grabber should be able to catch the reader’s attention and relate to
him/her immediately.

2. Background Information. Write a few sentences that inform the reader about the following: title, author,
brief summary of novel, time period, author background, etc.

MORE DETAILED
(background)

3. Lead-in / Transition sentence(s) that introduces the topic of thesis statement. Review your thesis statement.

What is the topic? ____________________________________________________________.

Now write a transition sentence that introduces the topic to your reader (you should always mention the topic
before the thesis statement).

4. Thesis statement. Now write your completed, parallel thesis statement below, which will serve as the last
sentence of your introduction.

SPECIFIC
(thesis st.)