How can i outline the the main features of my topic without listing them?

Hey.
Im writing an essay on world war one about the difficulty Australian soldiers experienced, and im not really sure how to introduce my main features in the intro without listing them. Im not that experienced in writing essays, so has anyone got any ideas that may help?
Thanks.

What's wrong with listing them? That's usually how your introduction would go -- a thesis statement followed by a summary of your main points, which will read like a list. You can dress it up a bit so it doesn't sound so much like a list, but it will still tend to be, at core, a very list-like set of sentences. Why don't you write up a draft of your intro, and post it here? That way we can help you make sure your style flows nicely.

Yes, let us see your introduction, including a list of arguments, and then we can let you know if there is a more creative way to introduce them. You do want to do the list in sentence form, rather than by using bullet points, but otherwise listing is fine.