Writing an Effective Introduction

Abstract

This handout has two stages: a workshop version for class discussion and a polished version for reference. First, the students put into their own words the common opening gambit for academic writing. We then workshopped an introduction with me as the writer and the class as the tutor (an effective strategy for helping students recognize issues of coherence and cohesion). After prompting me with leading questions to clarify my argument, the class helped me revise each sentence by breaking the paragraph into the stages we had identified. I then gave the class a clean copy of our work as a writing reference that directly reflected their experience.