Introduction Paragraph Structure
CSS Essay: 220 to 250 words (single paragraph, having three parts)
Important: Like all paragraphs in an essay, the introduction paragraph must have
textual flow and coherence. Use linking words between sentences, wherever
required.
Attention Start your essay introduction with an indirect reference
Grabber (Hook) to the topic:
o A quotation — followed by elaboration and
linking it with the topic. (Always embed quotation
within the paragraph.)
o A well-known incident, a historical event, an
anecdote, ayaat, ahadith, poetry lines (English
only, or translation) etc.
o Do not use fact/s which later appear in the essay.
3 to 5 sentences
It gives your stance on the topic.
But extra effort to grab attention often backfires --- try
to avoid it.
Avoid readymade starting lines at any cost. The same
material is available to thousands of others as well.
Write sentences for headings and sub-headings of the
(Reflection/Gist outline.
of the outline) This should follow a logical sequence.
The sentences should be coherent with each other.
Mention all the outline in the same manner.
8-10 sentences
Concluding Write 2 to 3 sentences as the conclusion of the
Sentences (introduction) paragraph, which is the same thesis
statement that you wrote in the outline. (Expository)
Important: Do not start discussing the points/argument in the introduction.
How to give a quotation/citation in a paragraph
(Disclaimer: This is not a sample of introduction or body paragraph .)
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn;” (Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave,
1980). This means that employment in the 21 st century would require the flexible
skills of learning and unlearning new concepts continuously. But, contrary to this,
in Pakistan, the concepts learnt through education are considered final and
absolute achievement, and people think they need not learn any new skills for
employment. This rigid mindset is leading to the highest rate of “unemployment
of the educated” in the world. According to Dr. Ishrat Hussain, it is estimated that
67% of the unemployed in Pakistan are educated whereas the unemployment of
the uneducated people stands at 33% (Education vs Employment, June 2020). In
this way, the country is facing the dilemma of educated people being unemployed
due to their lack of re-skilling themselves according to the industry requirement.
Alternately, you may also write like this:
Dr. Ishrat Hussain, in his article Education vs Employment (June 2020), estimates
that 67% of the unemployed in Pakistan are educated whereas the
unemployment of the uneducated people stands at 33%.
Alvin Toffler, in his book The Third Wave (1980) writes: “The illiterate of the 21st
century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn,
unlearn, and relearn.”
Placing Thesis Statement in Introduction paragraph of different types of essays
Expository Essay Argumentative Essay Abstract
Attention grabber Attention grabber Thesis statement
Gist of the outline Thesis statement Attention grabber
Thesis statement Gist of the outline Gist of the outline
IAS Essay Topic: “Political accountability as soul of democracy.”
The day was 18th of May. The city was Kuala Lumpur. The place was
Merdeka Square. And the people who had gathered there were chanting late into
the dusk the name of their beloved leader — Mahathir! Mahathir! Mahathir!
Mahathir! They were especially excited at the victory of their leader this time as
he had forsaken the UMNO that he had fathered and contested the elections this
time from the opposition ticket. The whole nation had one goal: to correct the
judicial mistake that Dr. Mahathir had committed against Anwaar Ibrahim during
his last regime.
Example of using anecdote as Attention Grabber
Essay topic: Looming shadow of food crisis in Pakistan.
Although the proverbial rabbit had all the speed and skill to win the race
with the tortoise, it took the race as too easy and went to sleep on the way. On
the other hand, the tortoise did not have speed, but it had only one thing in its
favour — persistence. So, it kept on walking continuously and won the race.
Similarly, Pakistan has all the skill, fertile land, and the human resource to become
an agricultural giant in the region, yet it has taken agriculture as too easy, and has
not paid due attention to it. As a result, Pakistan is facing looming shadow of food
crisis right now.
Example of using Poetry lines as Attention Grabber
Essay Topic: Is youth bulge a liability or an asset for Pakistan?
Essay
Shape without form, shade without color/ Paralyzed force, gesture
without motion (T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men). These lines by T.S. Eliot may be
applied to the situation of youth in Pakistan. Although they have a ‘shape’, they
have not been equipped with enough skills to give this youth bulge a ‘form’. They
do give the feeling of a ‘shade’, but one is unable to perceive their ‘color’. Due to
the continuous neglect of this segment of Pakistan’s populace, youth has become
a ‘paralyzed force’. At best, what the youth in Pakistan today is that it is a force —
a ‘gesture’ — but it has no ‘motion’ towards the progress of the country.
Is peace possible in a world full of weapons?
On the delayed hearing of the destructive success of his phenomenal
creation, the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer’s mind went through imaginary scenes
of destruction. He envisaged the charred human bodies, turned into ash, into
hallows. His imagination saw the vast scale destruction that his bombs had
inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He knew it then that he had changed the
world forever: “I am become death; the destroyer of worlds”. But there was no
turning back after that. The arms race that his creation had kicked off could not
be switched off — almost like the nuclear chain reaction. We live in a world of
Oppenheimer’s dystopia, surrounded by weapons, yet singing songs of peace!
(Dedicated to Isb Ob 56 and Rwp Ob 46.)
Introduction paragraph: 220 – 250 words
Attention grabber: 70 - 90 words
(Practice method: Make attention grabbers for all the TEN topics from any CSS Essay paper.)
Gist/reflection of the outline: 100-120 words
(Practice method: Take any outline from Essay Discussion Forum and practice writing its
gist/reflection in less than 120 words.)
Thesis statement: 35-45 words
(Practice method: Write Thesis Statement/s for the outlines that you attempt for practices.)
Example of using a well-known incident as attention grabber.
Topic: Changing world order and Pakistan’s foreign policy
While witnessing the burning and then falling of the two towers of world
trade center in New York on 11th September 2001, the people gathered there
could not imagine the long-lasting effects that the tall, vanished shadows of those
two buildings could have on world’s future. The site of the demolished buildings
was later turned into a monument of the incident. But the thousands of buildings
that USA destroyed in the world as a revenge, could never have any
remembrance. The world changed forever that day. However, the change did not
stop even after the revenge was a bit satiated, although its direction changed the
world order later on. Pakistan’s foreign policy has also been changing according
to the demands of the changing world order.
Topic: Universal human equality is utopic.
The traffic signals were switched off, yet the traffic was not moving. The
traffic police had stopped all kinds of traffic in the scorching heat of mid-
summer noon. The stoppage went on for more than half an hour when the
public witnessed a motorcade of black shining cars with national flags on them
preceded by long columns of security vehicles. The whole show of state power
took just a minute to pass when the kilometers long lines of traffic were finally
let go. A VVIP was using the road, so the public had to wait for him to pass.
What does this indicate? Universal human equality is just a farce.
