The first sentence of an Introduction of either a lecture or a reading is a General Statement that is designed to introduce a more general topic to the reader. It prepares them for the second sentence, the Thesis Statement, which tells the reader or listener the main ideas of the material. Listen and look at examples of the General Statement and Thesis Statement from exercises in Listening Skills 1 and 2 which you have already done.
Number 1
- The majority of people in the world are right handed.
- The listening talks about how people's lives are affected by their left-handedness and what some of the causes of being left-handed are.
Number 2
- In an ecosystem, organisms cooperate with each other in a cycle.
- The listening talks about what trophic relationships in a food chain are and how they occur in marine ecosystems.
Number 3
- Recently, the disappearance of bees is threatening agriculture.
- The listening talks about how plants are helped by bees through the pollination of flowers and how bees communicate the location of flowers they find.
Number 4
- Sociology and Biology are two different subjects.
- The listening talks about how the discipline of Sociobiology was created and what Sociobiologists research and study.
Number 5
- A lack of cleanliness can cause illness in patients.
- The listening talks about how it was discovered that cleanliness is related to illness and what modern hospitals do to make sure they are clean enough.
Notice that the General Statement does not introduce a great deal of information and simply prepares the reader or listener for the Thesis Statement.
All Thesis Statements follow a similar pattern using noun clauses to introduce the main ideas. Noun clauses are a form of subordinate clause that begins with question words such as what, why, who or how and is often used in reported speech.
- The listening talks about how people's lives are affected by their left-handedness…
- The listening talks about what trophic relationships in a food chain are…
- The listening talks about how plants are helped by bees through the pollination of flowers…
- The listening talks about … what Sociobiologists research and study.
It's important that these are proper noun clauses, and not questions.
Review the Reading and Listening introductions you worked with previously. Over the next four weeks, these materials will be built each week in order to create a complete Reading and Listening. Similarly, you will be provided with a complete essay which uses the complete Reading and Listening as source material. Below is an example of an Introduction using those materials. Read it and see how the first and second sentences make up the General and Thesis Statements.
Contrast Between Chinese and Western Medicine
Chinese and Western cultures existed quite independently from each other in the past, and, as a result, many aspects of each have evolved such that they are quite different, especially in areas like medical systems. There are many contrasts between these two systems, but the majority involve first how patients' illnesses are viewed and diagnosed then what subsequent forms of treatment physicians use and what overall goals they have.
Exercise
Please open the exercise to continue.