How to Write an Introduction for an Essay
An essay introduction is one of the key components of nearly any academic paper, regardless of the subject it’s targeted on. It enables you to catch the audience’s attention, give a general background to a topic and present the core idea of your essay. However, not all the students know how to write an introduction for an essay that way, so even the simplest essay writing can become a pain.
In this article, we’ll explain why the essay introduction really matters, what makes it great, and how to write a catchy intro paragraph for your target topic. Additionally, you’ll discover the universal constructions and words that can greatly help you to write an excellent intro section for your essay.
6 Best Sentences to Start an Essay
As you might already know, the main goal of an introductory section is to let your reader know about the subject of your paper and the basic points it covers. In other words, it uncovers the specific purpose or main argument of an essay.
Traditionally, the introduction is built in the form of an upside-down triangle, with the “broadest part” on top and the “sharpest point” at the bottom. The first sentences of your essay should be more general, while the middle and end of the intro section should narrow down the topic, present the points you’ll accomplish in this paper, as well as direct to the main thesis of your essay.
Of course, making the introduction for an essay might seem really challenging at first, as it makes the first impression about your paper. One of the best practices for writing essay introductions suggests creating a so-called “hook” to get your readers engaged with the topic discussed. So, let’s now review the most popular sentences to start an essay that is widely used in essay writing.
#1 Starting with a Shocking or Surprising Fact
If you doubt how to start an essay, the most effective and probably, most popular way to draw people’s attention is by presenting a catching fact related to the target topic. People naturally want to learn about the things that can get them impressed or call out a certain emotion. So, offering an interesting fact that no one knew before can be a great hack to get your readers “hooked” right from the first sentence.
#2 Make Use of Statistics Data
Another undeniable fact we can make use of is numbers. Drawing catching statistics can help you to set up the right topic for a discussion, as well as give readers some hints to the main thesis of your essay. At the same time, by attracting people’s attention to numbers, you can encourage them to read on to discover the rest of your story.
#3 Pose a Question
An original way to reach out to your target audience is to start your introduction section with a question. While not everyone can make a catching story or find the appropriate fact to the essay topic, anybody can create a catching rhetorical question to raise a certain topic for a discussion. This method works exceptionally well for persuasive essays and newspaper articles, as it requires the least time to engage. What is more, this can also be a great hack if you’re looking for how to conclude an essay!
#4 State Your Point Clearly
Apart from the facts, stats and questions, you can also create a strong introduction with the exact idea you’ll uncover in your paper. This hack is used for a specific audience who doesn’t want to spend too much time getting into your point. Such a strong intro section, however, can give them a brief, accurate preview of what to expect in the main body of your essay.
#5 Tell a Story
If you’re looking for less formal and more creative ways to start an essay, then telling a catching story can be a thing. You can easily make readers dive into the topic with a certain story from your life, a specific experience, or even the stories that happened just in your imagination. However, before adding it to the intro paragraph, make sure it is related to the essay topic you’ve selected!
#6 Provide a Definition
Assuming that your essay is concerned about a specific thing or phenomenon, you can start your introductory section with a general explanation of the subject. That can be extremely useful in cases where the essay topic is narrowly specialized and is not known to large audiences. But don’t go too much into details – after all, that’s only an introduction to your main thesis, not comprehensive research.
Which Words to Start an Essay Should You Use?
However, there are some really great constructions and words to start an essay, which can help to set the right tone for discussing any essay topic.
Though you’re free to insert these sentences into your copy, the professional writers also suggest slightly modifying its content according to the essay context. What is more, you can also reconsider the sentence idea and create unique wording to express your thoughts.
Summary
Having uncovered the best practices on how to start an essay, you will surely create an excellent introductory paragraph for your paper. The list of basic sentences and standard words presented above can greatly simplify your essay writing process and help you to build a perfectly structured article for nearly any topic.
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