Introductions and Conclusions CSCI102 - Systems ITCS905 - Systems MCS Systems

2 Introductions Any report needs some clear guidelines: –Why are you writing the report? (The purpose) –Who will read the report? (The audience) –What will it cover? (The scope) –How will this be conveyed? (Clear language, logical progression of topics, use of figures, tables, equations, appendices, references, etc) –When is it required? (Time management) –Where is it required? (Physical location)

3 Introductions Your introduction serves three (3) main functions –To prepare the way ahead for your essay –To demonstrate that you have understood the question, and what that understanding is –To indicate your argument in response

4 Introductions There are two stages in an introduction that are essential: –Thesis statement –Summary of main points to be discussed In addition sometimes the following stages are also required: –Orientation to the topic –Stating the scope of the discussion –Defining your term

5 Introductions - Components The thesis statement –The thesis statement of the introduction functions the same as the controlling idea of the paragraph –It states the writer’s basic perspective on the topic of the essay or assignment Summary of main points to be discussed –The main points that the essay is going to raise can be mentioned either before or after the thesis statement

6 Introductions - Components Orientation to the topic –Sometimes the writer needs to provide the reader with brief background information or a context for the writing such as a historical perspective –This stage is not always present in an introduction

7 Introductions - Components Stating the scope of the discussion –Sometimes the writer feels that topic of an assignment is too extensive to cover in a limited number of words, so will choose to limit the discussion –You need to provide reasons why you are limiting the scope. It is not enough to simply declare that you are doing so

8 Introductions - Components Defining your terms –Some topics require you to define what you understand by certain terms in the essay question –This is particularly so if the words are highly technical or are ‘common’ words used by the community but have a specialised meaning within your discipline –Definitions also make sure that the reader (marker) understands what you mean by the term

9 Roles of Introduction - Thesis Statement Your thesis statement is the claim that you need to prove in the rest of your essay or report It will set the reader up for reading the rest of your essay and provide them with –Context –Approach Generally a thesis statement will have two parts –Your topic –Your assertions, analysis or explanation about the topic IT will be a very specific statement –Only cover exactly what you discuss in your paper –Support your thesis statement with specific evidence

10 Roles of Introduction - Thesis Statement There are several approaches to writing thesis statements –Argumentative Thesis Statements –Expository (Explanatory) Thesis Statements –Analytical Thesis Statements Generally you will be asked to write argumentative papers

11 Thesis Statements - Argumentative In an argumentative paper –You are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence This claim could be –An opinion –A policy proposal –An evaluation –A cause-and-effect statement –An interpretation This claim must be a statement that people could possibly disagree with, –The goal of your paper is to convince your audience that your claim is true –Based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence An argumentative thesis statement will tell your audience: –your claim or assertion –the reasons/evidence that support this claim –the order in which you will be presenting your reasons and evidence Questions that help in writing an argumentative thesis statement: –What is my claim or assertion? –What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion? –In what order should I present my reasons?

12 Thesis Statement - Expository (Explanatory) In an expository paper –You are explaining something to your audience An expository thesis statement will tell your audience: –What you are going to explain to them –The categories you are using to organize your explanation –The order in which you will be presenting your categories Questions that help in writing an expository thesis statement: –What am I trying to explain? –How can I categorize my explanation into different parts? –In what order should I present the different parts of my explanation?

13 Roles of Introduction - Thesis Statement Analytical Thesis Statements –In an analytical paper, you are breaking down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluating the issue or idea, and presenting this breakdown and evaluation to your audience. An analytical thesis statement will tell your audience: –what you are analyzing –the parts of your analysis –the order in which you will be presenting your analysis Questions that help in writing an analytical thesis statement: –What did I analyze? –What did I discover in my analysis? –How can I categorize my discoveries? –In what order should I present my discoveries?

14 Abstracts, Summaries or Executive Summaries Abstracts –Typically, an informative abstract answers these questions in about words: Why did you do this study or project? What did you do, and how? What did you find? What do your findings mean?

15 Abstracts, Summaries or Executive Summaries Executive summaries –Provide an overview or preview to an audience who may or may not have time to read the whole report carefully –Explain why you wrote the report –Emphasize your conclusions or recommendation –Include only the essential or most significant information to support those conclusions –Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original

16 Conclusions and Recommendations Your report or essay will typically describe some findings which have been derived from –Observation –Experiment –Calculation –Literature review From these findings, you should draw some conclusions The insights that you can extract from your basic findings are a key part of your report or essay You may also be expected to make some recommendations based on your conclusions The findings are the foundations on which the conclusions rest, while the conclusions, in turn, support the recommendation