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IELTS essay top tip 3/10: Write a strong introduction | Langu blog

IELTS essay top tip 3/10: Write a strong introduction

IELTS Essay Top Tip 3/10: Write a Strong Introduction

IELTS Essay Top Tip 3/10: Write a Strong Introduction
Do you believe in the importance of first impressions? According to science, you should! 
 
There is a lot of psychological evidence on the importance of first impressions on your overall assessment of a person. The introduction in your IELTS essay serves the exact same purpose: it's the first contact you make with your examiner, so you want to make sure it's clear, error-free and relevant.
 
I have come across two different views on how the Writing Task 2 introduction should be structured, and we'll look at both formats in a moment, but it's generally agreed that the introduction should be either 2 or 3 sentences long. So for now, just remember this: it should be 2-3 sentences long, never longer! 
 
Now let's have a look at both approaches to how you can craft your introduction.
 

Approach #1: A 2-sentence introduction

The structure of such an introduction is simple. 
 
In the first sentence, you paraphrase the essay topic to set the context for the essay. In the second sentence, you write a thesis statement, which summarises the overall argument you will be making in the essay.  
 
Let's look at both sentences in more detail.
 
Sentence #1: set the context. The easiest, safest and most effective way to set the context of your essay is to paraphrase the essay topic. Paraphrasing means expressing the meaning of something using different words. Let's look at an example of an essay topic and how it can be paraphrased:
 
Many people believe that social networking sites (such as Facebook) have had a huge negative effect on both individuals and society. To what extent do you agree?
 
Paraphrase:
 
Social networking websites are considered by many to have adversely influenced both individual people and communities. 
 
As you can see, pretty much none of the words used in the essay topic have been repeated, but the meaning is the same. Being able to find synonyms is not always easy and requires practice, yet this is practice definitely worth including in your language learning routine. 
 
Sentence #2: write a thesis statement. A thesis statement is basically a sentence that states the main idea of your essay and helps control the ideas. For our topic, an example of a good thesis statement could be the following:
 
Social networking websites are considered by many to have adversely influenced both individual people and communities.  While I agree that sites such as Facebook have changed the way we communicate, I believe that the effect of those sites has been mostly beneficial to individuals and society.
 
Note that this thesis statement is also designed to flow nicely from the summary of the essay topic. The first half of the thesis sentence acknowledges that there is something valid in the original argument, before moving on to express that we ultimately disagree. 
 

Approach #2: A 3-sentence introduction

The structure of a 3-sentence introduction is similar to the structure above. The first two sentences in most cases can remain the same. At the end, though, we add an additional sentence.
 
Sentence #3: essay outline. Here, you should outline what you're going to do in the essay. In other words, you should describe what you're going to write about.
 
In our example, such a sentence could be:
 
Social networking websites are considered by many to have adversely influenced both individual people and communities.  While I agree that sites such as Facebook have changed the way we communicate, I believe that the effect of those sites has been mostly beneficial to individuals and society. Firstly, this essay will discuss how social networks enable people to stay in touch regardless of where they live, and secondly, it will examine how social networks have made it possible to use your personal connections in ways that were inaccessible before.
 
Professional teachers seem to be divided between which approach they believe is the right one. I am generally an advocate of the 2-sentence approach, because of some risks associated with writing a longer introduction:
 
  1. With an average IELTS essay running to around 300 words, an introduction longer than 2 sentences may become disproportionately long, affecting your coherence and cohesion score. 
  2. A longer introduction carries a risk that you will include too many of your main thoughts there, instead of introducing them in the main body paragraphs where they belong. Then you either repeat them or you miss them completely, and the essay becomes unbalanced.
  3. This open-ended approach does not work for certain people. If your writing style is less organised, you won't be able to decide in advance what exactly you're going to write.

Nevertheless, you need to decide for yourself which method suits you better. As long as your introduction is cohesive, sets the context and includes a clear thesis statement, you will do well!

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Read more:
IELTS Essay Top Tip 1/10: Don't Fall into Traps!
IELTS Essay Top Tip 2/10: Make a Solid Plan
IELTS Essay Top Tip 3/10: Write a Strong Introduction
IELTS Essay Top Tip 4/10: Most Common Mistakes in the Introduction

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The author is an experienced English and IELTS teacher, and an Oxford University graduate. She had to take the IELTS to study there and she managed to get a 9.0.
 
 
 
 
Categories: IELTS, Learning English, Posts in English