Creating An Introductory Paragraph For An MLA Research Paper

The introductory paragraph for an MLA research paper is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects to writing a first draft. No matter what the subject, the introduction always seems to give students trouble because they are unsure of how to write a college term paper and also because they are under the false impression that the introduction must be written first because it appears first in the paper. This is far from true. In fact the introduction is best saved until last because it must properly introduce every part of your body paragraphs and until you have written each of your body paragraph, you do not necessarily know what information you have to summarize for the introduction.

• When you are crafting the perfect introductory paragraph you want to think of it as one half of a frame which works in conjunction with the conclusion to tie together and support the body of your arguments. The introduction must grab the attention of the reader. In order to do this it should contain something which is all inspiring or startling like a quotation from an expert in the field or a startling statistic related to the subject matter. Things like this can really grab the attention of the reader who might otherwise ignore the information contained in your content.
• Once you have your reader hooked, as the saying goes, it is your job to then explain to them what information they are going to find in the course of reading your paper. This can be best part of as a roadmap which provides the readers with a better understanding of what information you were going to cover at which points in the text. The readers want to know where your text is heading and what information they can expect to learn. This does not mean that you have to disclose all of the supporting evidence you have located in your research but it does mean that you have to give the readers him inkling into what you are going to present.
• You also want to make sure that your structure and overall format is correct. For the research-based writing the introductory paragraph should constitutes roughly 10% of the total length of the finished product. This means that a 10 page paper should have approximately one page dedicated entirely to the introductory paragraph. This is a general rule to which students should adhere when reviewing the length for appropriateness. In addition to this the contents of the introduction should have approximately one sentence for each body paragraph. This means that should be final research paper contain 10 body paragraphs, the first paragraph should contain 10 sentences, one for each. It is this such organization that allows readers an equal amount of information for each section a will review.

Overall by following all of these tips you can be sure to craft the best and well formatted introductory paragraph for your assignment.