Research Report Introductions

1. Research Report Introductions • The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to grab the reader’s 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

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

3. 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 isn’t 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.

4. Introductions—background information • After the grabber, include a bit of information that isn’t 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.

5. 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, you’ve 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.

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

7. 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.

8. 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 you’ve 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.”