Classically Inclined

June 1, 2011

How to write a thesis introduction

Filed under: Research — lizgloyn @ 9:15 am

Tags: hints and tips, introduction, thesis, writing

One of the things I found hardest when writing my thesis was getting the introduction sorted. By the time I came to write

it, I had an outline that I had sketched in my rolling synopsis many many moons earlier, and random ideas that I’d been

keeping in a document imaginatively titled ‘things to put in an introductory chapter’ for the last couple of months.

Suddenly I found myself faced with the task of making a plan that actually reflected what I wanted to put into an

introduction, and writing the thing.

To get my brain in gear, I thought I’d have a think about what the purpose of an introduction is, and how it should work in

the first place, and it is those thoughts that I want to share with you now. I should note that this records my own thought

process within my field of Classics, so I’d be delighted to hear about any significant differences in your discipline that might

change how you would approach this task.

Well, taking the philological turn, an introduction should introduce. It needs to explain what’s coming, and what the reader

can expect. Similarly, it needs to explain why the work that’s been done has been worth doing, and what new contribution

to knowledge this thesis/book is going to make. What does the reader get out of reading it?

(When this part is done badly, you get an incredibly dull review of the previous literature. Not that the literature review is a

bad thing to do, but the more I read, the more obvious it becomes that literature reviews in the humanities are

fundamentally padding rather than useful argumentation, designed to let thesis candidates show they know the literature

of the area rather than display their own ideas. This is probably a flaw of the thesis genre as a whole, but I wanted to

avoid that trap if at all possible.)

It should also serve as an orientation for what is to come, so the reader knows what to expect. I think that goes in two

directions. The first is providing key concepts, defining terms, explaining basic theory; for instance, here was where the

potted history of Stoicism needed to turn up (because, yes, there did need to be a potted history of Stoicism for readers

not familiar with it so that the subsequent chapters would be accessible), along with the potted history of who Seneca was

and why he matters. It’s repetitive and dull for anyone reading around the relevant literature, but for someone coming to it

from a history-of-the-family angle or anything not grounded in either Senecan or Stoic scholarship, it’s going to be an
invaluable aid. This is also the place to explain your limitations, which for me was to be very clear why my

thesis just looked at Seneca’s prose and why I don’t talk about any of his plays. (Yet.)

The second direction involves highlighting key themes and ideas that unite the chapters as a whole; the introduction

should flag up the Important Ideas in a general form so that the reader has a vague idea of the shape that the chapters

are going to take. It’s drawing together the macro implications of the micro themes that the chapters explore. This may

mean that after you’ve written the introduction you have to go back to the chapters and revise some of those new ideas in,

but that’s alright; especially in the case of the earlier chapters, that’s going to be a useful form of unification.

The very final part of the introduction is the road map – here is a list of the chapters with a paragraph summary of what

you will find in each. I think most good books I’ve read have had the helpful chapter-paragraph summary as the most

useful reader guidance tool in their kitbox, so I’m going to want to have one as well. But that comes last.

Another way to think about what you need to cover in your introduction is to consider your scope, your aims and your

methodology. That sounds a bit scary, but can be broken down into simple questions – what are you talking about? What

were you trying to find out? How were you trying to find it out? Once I’d written my introduction, I went back and made

sure I had answered those questions to the best of my ability, rather than trying to write to answer them in the first place,

which seemed the more helpful way of going about it. I should also note that methodology is a word that tends to put my

nerves on edges, because I am a text-based analysis person. My methodology – I look at texts, I analyse, what more do

you want? Obviously methodology is more important in fields where the ways of doing things are less fixed, even in

classics, but it’s still important to talk about how you did the research you are going to tell people about, and what your

guiding principles are.

To sum up – introductions lay the ground, highlight the important ideas, argue the case for the importance of the work, lay

out the stall, sell the product. They also, as subtly as possible, make it clear what a work is not going to offer – but an

introduction is not apologetic or flimsy. That said, neither is it overbearing and arrogant, convinced it’s introducing the

most important piece of writing on the topic ever written. It makes a calm, considered case for the value of what the

reader is about to read, and should whet said reader’s appetite to find out more about the details of this Important Idea.

An introduction should be an invitation, like an appetizer that makes you want to see what else the chef can do.
Edit, April 24th 2016: I have now written a companion post on how to write a thesis conclusion which you may also find

helpful.

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Comments (41)

41 Comments »

1.

Thanks you so much. your article is helpful

Comment by kokoro — April 17, 2012 @ 4:25 pm | Reply

2.

I’m pulling together all my various “To go in introduction” documents. I hit a bit of a block, googled and

found this page. It’s super helpful, thank you!

Comment by Mary — May 19, 2012 @ 2:34 pm | Reply

3.

thank you.. it helps me a lot.. :))

Comment by lovejoy — July 15, 2012 @ 9:07 am | Reply

4.

Great article! Great help to me! Just wondering, what’s the difference between an introduction and

background to the study. Which one represents the whole structure of ‘chapter one’ and which one

represents the ‘beginning of chapter one’ I will be grateful for any help you can give.

Comment by Michael — July 19, 2012 @ 11:57 pm | Reply

Interesting question! First of all, I’d separate out ‘chapter one’ from the introduction. The

introduction is where you do all the groundwork that lets you get on with your argument. In some

fields, ‘chapter one’ is actually a literature review – that is, you go through all the material

published on your subject and outline the state of play. This will depend on your discipline, and

it’s best to check with your supervisor what the expectations are in your field. To my mind, the

introduction is about laying out the foundations on which you will start building your argument in

chapter one, so it should include some broad background to the study, but shouldn’t try to make

minute points about previous scholarship which would be better addressed in the relevant

chapters as you construct your argument.

Comment by lizgloyn — July 20, 2012 @ 5:45 pm | Reply

Thanks so much!

Comment by Michael — July 27, 2012 @ 9:19 am | Reply

5.

Thanks – this was helpful!

Comment by Adelle — September 2, 2012 @ 2:25 am | Reply

6.
 Thank you so much for such a precise guideline.

Comment by Tanmayee — November 29, 2012 @ 4:10 pm | Reply

7.

Thank you so much. it is very clear

Comment by arul — January 25, 2013 @ 1:17 am | Reply

8.

Thank you for this information, It could help a lot to me while I’m doing my report in Masteral Degree at

Western Colleges @ Naic, Cavite in my subject about Methods of Research under Dr. Abner V. Pineda our

professor in this subject

Comment by Harvy L. Ilog — January 28, 2013 @ 11:54 am | Reply

9.

thank you very much!!!!

Comment by azeb — February 11, 2013 @ 10:35 pm | Reply

10.

i found this helpful a lot

thanks

Comment by mushiana khano — March 21, 2013 @ 9:40 am | Reply

11.

I like the way you explain

Comment by Marta — April 6, 2013 @ 3:47 pm | Reply

12.

thank you

Comment by Major Mashayamhara — April 9, 2013 @ 12:52 pm | Reply

13.

May I know what is the difference between abstract, introduction and literature review? I am confused and

might mix up everything. Btw, nice explaination.

Comment by nurul — June 10, 2013 @ 4:01 am | Reply

ABSTRACT is the resume, the summary made of a few lines that appears before the introduction.

Comment by coco — June 20, 2013 @ 8:34 pm | Reply

14.

I am trying to write my introduction (it should be 3 pages) for my Masters Degree thesis, but I find it so

hard to start.

Anyway, thank you for the article…its useful

Comment by coco — June 20, 2013 @ 8:37 pm | Reply

15.

tnx i have an idea for my thesis writing

Comment by efren dazo — June 27, 2013 @ 5:52 am | Reply

16.
 It’s an awesome post for all the web users; they will get benefit from it I am sure.

Comment by Shannon & Elm — July 31, 2013 @ 1:36 am | Reply

17.

This was really great. Very helpful guidelines- I am currently writing the introduction to my MA thesis.

I also find that it is helpful at the start of any thesis to keep a piece of paper of things to include in the

introduction. I find that thoughts and ideas were always cropping up. I always jotted these down on that

piece of paper. By the time you come to writing your intro, you had a sheet full of great thoughts

Comment by Kay — September 28, 2013 @ 4:50 pm | Reply

18.

you have filled in spaces I thought I would not and it just a milestone to write. thanks for the article

.sishemo

Comment by Patrick mwanaumo — October 23, 2013 @ 6:21 am | Reply

19.

thanks a lot for your article it helps me so much

Comment by nicah joo — November 3, 2013 @ 3:22 am | Reply

20.

thank you ((:

Comment by camille — November 26, 2013 @ 1:51 pm | Reply

21.
 holy molly f***ing molly it helps me a lot thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by dr. Des Von Harker — February 9, 2014 @ 9:49 am | Reply

22.

Thank you, are you a professor really or someone just is so smast T.Y

Comment by Anton Schabblertom — February 9, 2014 @ 9:51 am | Reply

23.

It helps me alot. Thank you.

Comment by April — February 21, 2014 @ 3:18 pm | Reply

24.

it’s very helpful and interesting to me

Comment by omar gassama — March 7, 2014 @ 6:35 pm | Reply

25.

good help…

Comment by mery jhedeth — March 8, 2014 @ 8:48 am | Reply

26.

thank you so much..

Comment by jeu — June 17, 2014 @ 3:03 am | Reply

27.
 this is really helpful, I am looking for your opinion and experiences for further chapters as well, pls tell

where will I get?

Comment by Ankur Bhatnagar — September 19, 2014 @ 7:22 am | Reply

That I can’t help with, I’m afraid – it will really depend on the argument that your thesis is

making, and that will vary from person to person!

Comment by lizgloyn — September 19, 2014 @ 7:59 am | Reply

28.

Staring at a blank page with a blinking cursor, approaching a thesis for the first time, and knowing the

Introduction sets the stage was somewhat overwhelming until I read your blog entry. Very helpful and

calming! Thanks!

Comment by Roger — January 4, 2015 @ 8:36 pm | Reply

29.

Thanks!

Comment by luisa — June 23, 2015 @ 1:27 pm | Reply

30.

thanks! this article really helps.

Comment by Roy Lecetivo — October 5, 2015 @ 6:29 am | Reply

31.

thanks a lot, i’m just about starting to write mine and it was very useful to bump into this article, thanks!
 Comment by Karthik — January 4, 2016 @ 5:20 am | Reply

32.

thanks it really did help me

Comment by nangah — March 10, 2016 @ 11:17 am | Reply

33.

thanks alot for this article, it has realy assisted me on how to approach my Thesis writting.

Comment by Wilson Nyaga — March 15, 2016 @ 7:35 am | Reply

34.

[…] of the most popular posts on this blog is about how to write a thesis introduction. Several years later,

this post serves as its companion, and explores how to write a thesis […]

Pingback by How to write a thesis conclusion | Classically Inclined — April 4, 2016 @ 11:27 am | Reply

35.

Thank you for this valuable article. I really want to ask you a question, is it correct if I include some quoted

passages in my general introduction? Thanks for helping me I am really confused about it.

Comment by Nina — May 7, 2016 @ 1:13 am | Reply

Hi Nina! It depends what you are quoting. It’s perfectly appropriate to use some primary or

secondary material if you want to show the sorts of things you are going to be discussing, but you

should leave any really detailed analysis or argumentation for a proper chapter of its own.

Comment by lizgloyn — May 23, 2016 @ 12:28 pm | Reply

 36.

thank you for this very helpful article you have made , this article really helped me a lot , i don’y really

know how to make an introduction because this was my first time making a thesis .

Comment by kendaryl — November 30, 2016 @ 1:31 pm | Reply

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