An introduction to a short essay — expectations and reality
The introduction regarded as a very important part of a text, having a considerable impact on its persuasive power and substantive value. In the article I examine how pupils cope with creating this part of their texts in an argumentative form known as short essay.
The research material was made up of around 100 essays on several topics, written by first form pupils from various kinds of post-secondary schools. The analyses focused on the content of the introductions, their links to the objective of each essay, the topic and main part of the text. They demonstrate that most introductions are weak in terms of their content and pragmatics; often their only significant component is a thesis though this is not always the case either. After presenting the results of the analyses, I point to the possible causes of this unsatisfactory state of affairs.