Research Report Introductions

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Research Report Introductions

• The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to
  grab the readers attention and to define your
  topic.
• The introduction consists of three parts
• The grabber, or lead statement
• Background information and a brief description of
  your animal
• Thesis Statement
• All elements must be present for a good
  introduction

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Grabbers

• You can begin your introductory paragraphs a
  number of different ways. (Remember, you are
  trying to grab the readers attention.)
• Techniques (choose one)
• An amazing or unusual fact
• A quote, proverb, or saying
• A bold opinion
• A statistic
• An anecdote or description

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Example Grabbers

• Bold Opinion An albatross is the grandest
  living flying machine on Earth.
• Statistic Almost 75 of all UFO reports turn
  out to be a weather balloon, meteors, or the
  reflection of the sun.
• Description On this night, the final night, a
  fog swirled across the desert, as thick and
  impenetrable as a sandstorm.
• Amazing fact At up to 8,800 pounds, male
  elephant seals can be up to ten times larger than
  females.
• Proverb- They say the early bird gets the worm,
  but this isnt the case with the blue whale.
• Now write a grabber of your own. Practice with
  a couple different techniques. Remember, this is
  the first sentence of your report, so make it
  memorable.

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Introductionsbackground information

• After the grabber, include a bit of information
  that isnt in the report, but that the reader may
  need to know about your animal.
• Start with a basic description of your animal,
  including type of animal, size, and habitat.

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Thesis statement

• The thesis statement is the most important part
  of your introduction. It clues the reader in to
  what will be coming in the rest of the report.
• The thesis statement is the last sentence in your
  introduction. If it is somewhere else in the
  introduction, youve written it wrong.
• Sample Thesis statements
• Guanacos are unusual animals that are useful to
  humans but threatened by hunting.
• Mountain gorillas are peaceful animals that live,
  reproduce and thrive in the mountains of southern
  Africa.

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Generic thesis

• The _(your animal) is a very
• _(adjective)_ _(type of animal)_
• that lives, reproduces, and thrives in
• a(n) _(adjective)_ environment.

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The Paragraph

• Now put your introduction together.
• Start with the grabber, follow with the
  background information, and finally write the
  thesis statement.
• Remember the thesis statement must be the last
  sentence of your introduction.

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Conclusions

• Conclusions are written like an introduction,
  only backwards.
• Start with a transition like In conclusion or
  In summary.
• First, restate (write in a different way)your
  thesis
• Next, summarize the main ideas that youve
  already covered. Again, restate these.
• Finally, finish with a snappy line that leaves
  the reader thinking about something. A call to
  action is a good approach for an animal report.
• Example If something is not done soon, the
  African hissing whale will soon become extinct.
  It would be hard to imagine the world without
  these marvelous, gentle creatures.