In the most abstract sense, the function of an introductory paragraph is to move the reader from the world of daily life into the textual and analytical space of an essay. In a more concrete sense, an ...

Extended "discourse," such as class presentations or essays written as school assignments, has a particular structure arising from particular expectations and standards. Such structure, expectations, ...

Early in their educational careers, students are taught to write introductory paragraphs that start by them introducing themselves and then merely spelling out what they mean to suggest quite ...