A good essay often begins with a remarkable section. Most essay introduction is commonly used by readers to check the tone of the piece. By this, they decide whether to continue reading or not.
Most great writers know how to begin their essays with an excellent introduction paragraph quickly. However, to the casual writer, this may be an uphill task. This post aims to guide essay writers on how best to approach the introductory paragraph of their essay.
Table of Contents
Knowing the Contents of an Excellent Essay Introductory Paragraph
An excellent essay introductory paragraph is both informative and engaging. The primary objectives of your essay introduction are to:
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- Get the interest and attention of your reader.
- Create some background and context for your topic.
- Create the purpose and focus of the essay.
First Step: Get Your Reader Hooked
When writing an essay, the first sentence is always crucial. The first sentence primarily sets the tone for the entire article. The first sentence helps the reader decide whether or not they would enjoy your column.
Therefore, you should put a lot of thought into coming up with a creative and engaging first sentence. Ensure the sentence is short. It should be pretty catchy, appealing, factual, and enticing. Your initial essay sentences should make your readers yearn for more.
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Avoid starting your essay with specific penalties. Do not begin your essay with lengthy and dense sentences. You can start with a catchy, concise, and clear sentence. You should ensure that the sentence connects to the preceding sentences. You could use the following strategies when writing the hook for your essay:
- A broad summary
- A question
- A surprising statistic or fact
- A short anecdote
- A quotation
It would be best if you did everything possible to avoid generalizations and clichés such as:
- Definitions from the dictionary
- Sweeping claims using such words as “everywhere” or “always.”
When writing academic essays, you need not worry much about writing a creative or exciting hook. Instead, your first sentence should take the reader straight to the piece. It should give the reader a good sense of the essay.
In trying to write the introduction for your essay, you should try to use an opening sentence to introduce the topic. The first sentence gets used to introduce the essay’s theme compellingly and concisely.
Your sentence should make a bold claim about your topic. This bold claim should focus on the importance of your essay topic. However, it is important here not to begin with a cliché or to over-generalize.
Read More: Essay Introduction Paragraph Examples
The opening sentence should create an excellent idea of the general purpose of the essay. This sentence should also outline the approach of the piece without giving excess information.
Second Step: Create a Context for Your Essay Topic
After your opening sentence, it is time to create a backdrop for the subject of the essay. The background information on the topic comes next. This background information helps your reader understand the essay topic as well as your perspective. Depending on the subject matter of your essay, you could include:
- The definition of uncommon words.
- A geographical, historical, or social context.
- A summary of present scholarly research, theories, or debates.
You should give broad and clearly-focused information that is relevant to the argument of the essay.
At this point, do not provide excess details. You could throw in several positions that can be revisited later on in the essay. Your interpretation and evidence of the subject matter will be used in the essay’s main body.
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The amount of space needed for the essay background entirely depends on the scope and topic of the essay. One great example of writing this way is to introduce the subject with a few engaging sentences. You can then go on to outline the social context that the essay aims to address.
Third Step: Create Both the Position and Purpose of Your Essay.
Next, you proceed to beat down the essay’s focus and demonstrate its purpose. This next sentence will act as the thesis statement of the piece. The thesis sentence is one or more sentences used to summarize the general argument and focus of the essay.
This section of the essay’s introduction is essential. It creates the boundaries of the piece. It also makes the reader aware of the part of the topic addressed by the writer.
The essay thesis statement is used to lend strong support for the main argument of the essay. However, in analytical or expository essays, the thesis statement has a different purpose. It gets used to outline the central themes that the piece will analyze and demonstrate.
You could choose not to use a direct argumentative statement. The thesis will still take a pretty clear position. In a nutshell, the thesis statement is used to show the focus of the essay’s perspective.
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Fourth Step: Check Your Essay and Revise
While you research for more content for your essay and write it down, you may want to put off writing the opening sentence of the introduction. As you get to know more about the piece, your essay could change its direction or focus.
Therefore, experts often recommend that the introduction of your essay should not be the first thing you write. It is an excellent idea to postpone writing your essay introduction until later. Sometimes, you could write your essay introduction as the last thing in your essay.
Furthermore, if you write the essay introduction as the last thing, first or somewhere in the middle of the essay, you should check it. It is important always to check its cohesion with the essay’s contents. The introduction should flow smoothly to the main body of the piece.
The introduction should also agree clearly with the context of the article. And while you are at it, ensure that you have only included relevant and necessary information. You should ensure that the introduction connects to the main body of the essay.
Read More: What Not to Write in an Essay about Yourself?
Conclusion
The introduction of an essay is one of the essential parts. Therefore, writers must come up with creative ideas for their introductory paragraphs.
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