Academic Essay Structure
Introduction Paragraph Structure
- introduce your topic,
- present background information about your topic, and
- state the paper's overall argument.
Example
Overall Introduction Structure
When organizing your ideas, consider starting with a broad claim about your topic in the world and then moving towards your most specific idea this paper's goal.
What is a Grabber?
A grabber is the first sentence in an introduction paragraph designed to introduce the essay topic and capture the reader's attention.
Review the following grabber styles that could be used to start a paper about college students' mental health and therapy dogs.
Grabber Styles
When students begin college, they face many new challenges and stressors that can negatively impact their mental health.
In 2019, the American College Health Association surveyed just over 55,000 Canadian students who revealed that their anxiety had been overwhelming during the past twelve months (American Health Association, 2019, p. 14).
Individuals who are diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders are often told that they must simply be strong and get over it, just as they would with a cold. Depression and anxiety, however, are far from being minor ailments; they are major mental illnesses that many college students experience.
The transition to college can be stressful, but do schools offer enough supports to alleviate this stress?
Reference
American College Health Association. (2019). National college health assessment [Report]. https://www.cacuss.ca/files/Research/NCHA-II%20SPRING%202019%20CANADIAN%20REFERENCE%20GROUP%20EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY.pdf
What Goes in the Background Section?
The background section of your introduction paragraph provides your reader with the knowledge needed to understand the rest of your paper and identifies the topic's significance in your field.
In this section, we recommend that you
- summarize your topic and what others have said about it,
- identify a problem or gap in existing research,
- define key terms, and/or
- indicate your topic's importance.
| Sentence from the Introduction | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Colleges try to support students by offering mental health services like counselling and peer support groups, but there is so much demand for these services that it can take a long time for students to get the help they need (Colleges Ontario & Council of Ontario Universities, 2020, p. 3). | Identifies a problem or gap at many Canadian colleges |
| Conestoga College is facing the same problem and needs to expand its mental health supports. | Narrows this problem to Conestoga College |
| One promising type of mental health service that some other Canadian colleges are implementing is therapy dog programming. | Introduces a possible solution |
| In a typical session, a therapy dog handler welcomes students to drop by to visit with their therapy dog and other students in a relaxed, social setting (St. Johns Ambulance, 2021, para. 5). | Defines key terms |
| Other Ontario colleges such as Centennial, Humber, and Geroge Brown have reported benefits to students after implementing this initiative (Geremia, 2014, para. 4; ETC Staff, 2017, paras. 1-2; Barber, 2014, paras. 4-10). | Summarizes what others have said about this topic |
References
Barber, B. (2014, December 1). Take a paws from class to pet a therapy dog. The Dialogue: George Brown College Student Newspaper. http://dialognews.ca/2014/12/01/take-paws-class-pet-therapy-dog/
Colleges Ontario & Council of Ontario Universities. (2020, February). In it together, 2020: Foundations for promoting mental health wellness in campus communities [Report].
ETC Staff. (2017, April 13). Percy the therapy dog provides stress relief to students. Humber EtCetera. https://humberetc.ca/percy-the-therapy-dog-provides-stress-relief-to-students/
Geremia, A. (2014, October 16). Therapy comes on four legs at Paws Your Stress. Centennial College. https://www.centennialcollege.ca/centennial-college-blog/2014/october/16/therapy-comes-on-four-legs-at-paws-your-stress/
St. John Ambulance. (2021). Therapy dog program. https://www.sja.ca/en/community-services/therapy-dog-program
When to Use an Argumentative Thesis
In an argumentative paper, you will be given one task where you must create an argument and persuade your reader to adopt your point of view. Your argument will typically be the last sentence of your introduction.
Some other types of analytical essays like process essays can use an adapted version of this type of thesis; they do not require an argument but have a clear focus instead.
Formula for an Argumentative Thesis
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Example 1
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming to help students emotionally, socially, and academically.
Topic: Conestoga College
Focus: Should implement therapy dog programming
Main Points: to help students emotionally, socially, and academically.
Example 2
Due to the emotional, social, and academic benefits, Conestoga College should offer therapy dog programming to support student mental health.
Main Points: Due to the emotional, social and academic benefits
Topic: Conestoga College
Focus: Should offer therapy dog programming to support student mental health.
Tips
Tip
Choose a manageable topic: a 5-page paper will need a more specific topic than a 20-page paper.
Example
Conestoga College (specific)
Canadian colleges (a bit broader)
Canadian schools (very broad)
Tip
Make sure someone could disagree with your argument.
Example
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming. (Debateable)
Therapy dog programming has many benefits. (Not debatable)
Tip 1
List points in the same order they appear in your paper.
Example
If the first point in your thesis is 'emotionally,' the first section of your paper will explore the emotional benefits.
Tip 2
Limit to 3-4 main points. In larger papers, combine similar paragraph topics into one main point in your thesis.
Example
This sample paper has two paragraphs grouped together under the main task called 'emotionally.'
Body Paragraph 1: How Therapy dog programs reduce stress and anxiety.
Body Paragraph 2: How therapy dog programs help students access other mental health supports.
Tip 3
Ensure that your points are all different.
Example
The points 'make friends' and 'be social' are too similar in the following thesis because 'make friends' could be an example in the 'be social' section.
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming to help students make friends, be social, and improve mental health.
Tip 4
Be careful that none of your points contradict your argument.
Example
An argumentative essay is meant to persuade your reader. The point 'it is expensive' in the following thesis would not convince your reader to agree with your argument to start a therapy dog program.
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming because it offers students emotional support, social support, and it is expensive.
Tip 5
Keep the list of points grammatically parallel .
Example
Everything in your list should be the same type of speech (e.g. noun or verb) or use the same grammatical structure.
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming to help students emotionally, socially, and academically.(Parallel)
Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming to help students emotionally, socially, and with their school assignments. (Not parallel)
When to Use a Statement of Intent
Papers that have more than one task and do not require an argument typically use a statement of intent. This is often seen in reports or papers that require you to answer a list of questions. The statement of intent maps out the order of the paper for your reader and is usually the last sentence of your introduction.
Formula for a Statement of Intent
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*use task words from your assignment instructions
Example 1
This report establishes a need for expanded student mental health programs at Conestoga College, assesses the benefits and drawbacks of therapy dog programming as a possible solution, and offers recommendations for the program's implementation based on this analysis.
Stem: This report
Tasks:
- establishes a need for expanded student mental health programs at Conestoga College
- assesses the benefits and drawbacks of therapy dog programming as a possible solution
- offers recommendations for the program's implementation based on this analysis
Example 2
The purpose of this report is to discuss why more mental health services are needed at Conestoga, analyze the strengths and weakness of therapy dog programming, and provide recommendations to successfully implement this type of programming.
Stem: The purpose of this report is to
Tasks:
- discuss why more mental health services are needed at Conestoga
- analyze the strengths and weakness of therapy dog programming
- provide recommendations to successfully implement this type of programming
Tips
- List tasks in your thesis in the same order they appear in your paper
- Often it can be helpful to answer your faculty's questions in your paper in the same order they appear in the assignment instructions
- Use language from your assignment instructions in your statement of intent to clearly show your instructor you are answering what they asked
- If you have more than 3-4 tasks, you can use more than one sentence or try to group ideas together