Friday self-study: How to write a good introduction of accademic essay

A. I am doing exercise from Jim's self-study blog:

1. Looking at the information on both the websites http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/introductions.htm http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm
   

what should a good introduction contain?

• establish the context, background and/or importance of the topic
  
• indicate a problem, controversy or a gap in the field of study
• define the topic or key terms
• state of the purpose of the essay/writing
  
• provide an overview of the coverage and/or structure of the writing

2. On the University of Manchester page, look at the suggested language for different sections of the introduction. Which verb tenses are most commonly used in each section? (write down a verb tense and an example for each…)

- Establishing the importance of the topic: use simple present and present continuous, present perfect
ex:
X is an important component in the climate system, and plays a key role in Y.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the .....
In the new global economy, X has become a central issue for ......

- Establishing the importance of the topic (time frame given): simple present, present perfect or passive voice
ex:
The past decade has seen the rapid development of X in many .......
Xs are one of the most widely used groups of antibacterial agents and have been extensively used for decades to .......

- Highlighting a problem or controversy in the field of study: present perfect, present continuous, simple past
ex:
To date there has been little agreement on what ......
There is increasing concern that some Xs are being disadvantaged ......
One major issue in early X research concerned.......

- Highlighting a knowledge gap in the field of study: present perfect, simple present
ex:
So far, however, there has been little discussion about
The experimental data are rather controversial, and there is no general agreement about

- Focus and aim: future tense, simple present, simple past
ex:
This paper will review the research conducted on ......
The aim of this paper is to determine/examine ......
The aim of this study was to evaluate and validate ......

- Outline structure: simple present, present perfect or passive voice, future tense
ex:
The main questions/issues addressed in this paper are: a), b and c).
This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with ....
The first section of this paper will examine ......

- Explaining keywords: future tense
ex:
While a variety of definitions of the term X have been suggested, this paper will use the definition first suggested by Smith (1968) who saw it as .......
Throughout this paper the term X will refer to/will be used to refer to .......
In this article the acronym/abbreviation XYZ will be used.


B. Another part of exercise:
http://www.englishforuniversity.com/search/label/Writing%20an%20introduction

1. What is the introduction a chance for you to do?

--> Introduce news, difficult issue, controversy, lack of good evidence, give outline of essay

2. Why do you think planning is important when you are writing an introduction?

--> I think planning is very important in introduction because you will go straight to your topic or something related to it. You will know what you should write when u have a clear plan. Moreover, you will know which information you should search before writing an introduction.

3. Look at the example essay question: "Is the present level of immigration in the United Kingdom beneficial to the country?" Read the introduction (below the plan). You should be able to see that the introduction contains all the elements from your answer to question 1 in the Section A. Also, notice the use of verb tenses.

---> We use simple present for real something , present perfect for the trend of that topic, future tense for the purpose of your essay.

4. I would like you to rewrite this introduction (to the same question) using the language suggestions from the University of Manchester website and post it on your blog by the end of this class. If you do not have a blog, write it on a separate sheet of paper to give to me by the end of class.

Essay question: "Is the present level of immigration in the United Kingdom beneficial to the country?"
Immigration is an emotive subject which is seldom out of the news. The recent rise in immigrants in the United Kingdom from the new European Union countries has refocused debate on this controversial issue. It is a topic which is difficult to explore because of the lack of hard data and the preponderance of anecdotal evidence. As already mentioned, immigration recently has largely consisted of Europeans but there is also a constant flow of migrants from other parts of the world, some of whom arrive seeking refuge from war or famine and some of whom claim asylum. This essay will attempt to explore the benefits to the UK of immigration by firstly examining the economic arguments surrounding the issue, and then by looking at the social issues involved.

This is my introduction
Immigration is a necessitous issue in each country generally and in the United Kingdom particularly. According to new research, immigration has contributed half of Britain's population growth in 10 years. The problem is how much beneficial the present level of immigration in the United Kingdom to the country as well as how to control it efficiently and limit its disadvantages in minimum. This essay will find out the level of immigration in Britain and which its aspest is beneficial for this country.