1. When a paper is fully drafted, good writers go back and revise their introductions. 1

2. Think about how long your Introduction should be. 10-11 page paper? >2 paragraphs <6 paragraphs

3. Overall, Introductions are shaped like a funnel: Get audience attention and establish context Provide background to the problem that will be addressed Provide reasons why the work must be done Provide a purpose statement and a roadmap

4. How do you draft an attention-getting sentence that quickly establishes the context? In today’s society, everyone is looking for alternative energy sources. ✗ In the difficult months since the economic downturn of Fall 2008, the wind energy industry in the U.S. has received a vast amount of government funding. ✓ With our roadway infrastructure aging and beginning to crumble, a need for better and more durable roadways is needed. ✗ Hydrocephalus* is a medical condition in which abnormal absorption of cerebral spinal fluid (fluid in the brain) leads to increased pressure within the skull; this condition currently has no cure. ✓ In looking at the prototype, we see immediately that the drive train is askew. ✗✗✗

5. Get our attention by using compelling statistics and evidence in an Introduction: Claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined, heart failure is the number one cause of death in the US (Davis, 2009). One of the most serious forms of heart failure is congestive heart failure (CHF). Every year, over 500,000 Americans are diagnosed with CHF. Of them, about 100,000 people find themselves in the disease’s latest stage, leaving them with only two options, heart transplant or death. While hospitals have devised strong systems for matching up heart donors with those needing a transplant, the fact remains that donor hearts are in extremely short supply, so these hearts can be used for only about 2,000 people per year (Vinas, 2008). That statistic means that approximately 49 out of 50 people who find themselves in the disease’s latest stage die due to a lack of donor hearts. For that reason, researchers are going to great lengths to create artificial replacement hearts.

6. What are the challenges of a 5-6 paragraph Introduction? Context Logically organized reasons backed up with evidence A clear purpose statement and roadmap of the coming document

7. Position the purpose statement near the end of your Introduction section (paragraph five or six). While axial flow blood pumps have fewer inhibiting factors than other technologies, a major hurdle remains ahead that must be overcome before this technology can be hailed as the new permanently implantable blood pump. That hurdle is hemolysis (Myers, 1994). Hemolysis is the destruction of red blood cells due to blood trauma; a certain amount of hemolysis happens naturally, and the body can manage it. However, a level of hemolysis higher than the body’s normal level can lead to death (Anai, 1995). Unfortunately, hemolysis creation and the way an axial flow blood pump works are inextricably linked. Because of this, an axial flow blood pump always will produce some level of hemolysis. The purpose of this report is to analyze several components that contribute to hemolysis to determine whether this damage to the red blood cells can be reduced to a level that is acceptable to the body.

8. Provide a final paragraph that is a roadmap laying out the structure of the coming report. To know if axial flow blood pumps have the potential the medical community hopes they will have, one must analyze the causes of hemolysis. To provide a foundation for that causal analysis, first this report describes the parts of an axial flow pump in the source areas and explains what those parts do. With this background knowledge, the actual analysis of the contributing parts is conducted. The primary sources of hemolysis in an axial flow blood pump are the impeller, bearings, and the seal, so each of these components are carefully analyzed. Finally, the analysis of the damage done to blood cells by these components reveals that with some recommended mechanical adjustments, the hemolysis can be reduced to an acceptable level. We conclude, then, that the axial flow blood pump is likely to emerge as one of the most promising mechanical, fully implantable blood pumps in current research.

9. Another sample roadmap paragraph shows bullets for each major part of the report. To know if axial flow blood pumps have the potential the medical community hopes they will have, one must analyze the causes of hemolysis. This report provides such an analysis through several steps: First, we describe the parts of an axial flow pump in the source areas and explain what those parts do. With this background knowledge, the actual analysis of the contributing parts is conducted. Second, we carefully analyze the primary sources of hemolysis and the degree of hemolysis produced in each component of the axial flow blood pump -- the impeller, bearings, and the seal. Third, the analysis of the damage done to blood cells by these components reveals that with some recommended mechanical adjustments, the hemolysis can be reduced to an acceptable level. We conclude, then, that the axial flow blood pump is likely to emerge as one of the most promising mechanical, fully implantable blood pumps in current research.