Academic Writer
academic writer: organization: introductions: questions
Questions
It is sometimes possible to start the text with a question
or questions in the opening paragraph. If you decide to start a paper by asking a
question, then you probably want to offer some form of answer in your conclusion. AVOID direct
questions addressed to the reader. For example, it is NOT good
practice to start an academic essay with words like 'Have you ever thought about...' Be
careful of using language which is too informal.
EXAMPLE 1
| Evaluating a self-access language learning centre
(SAC): why, what and by whom? This paper will suggest four key issues which need to be addressed when considering the development of such an evaluation model. These four issues are then related to the three questions posed in the paper title: why evaluate a SAC; what elements of a SAC to evaluate; and, who should conduct such an evaluation. The paper concludes by reflecting briefly on the SAC's role as a post-industrial initiative. |
EXAMPLE 2
| Is consciousness a matter of this lifetime
only? How did we get here? It's a question both basic and profound. A child might give a guileless answer: First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. How did we get here? Each of us begins as a primal cell, as the sum of egg and sperm. Genetically complete and raring to go, this single cell contains the biological software necessary to create a human, written in three billion base pairs of DNA, twisting through 23 pairs of chromosomes. So much is known about how our physical existence starts. However, the origin of our consciousness is another matter. Does consciousness originate in this lifetime? Or is it part of a continuum, something inherited from previous lifetimes? Some major religions such as Buddhism have always stressed the possibility of reincarnation. Meanwhile, circumstantial evidence accumulated from Near Death Experiences (NDE's) and Out of Body Experiences (OBE's) suggests that many people have memories of past lives. |
Find out about other types of Introductions
Academic Writer 2000