The “hook” is the first sentence of your essay introduction. It should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of why it’s interesting.
You have a strong introduction - now make sure the rest of your essay is just as good.
A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay. Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.
As you research and write, your argument might change focus or direction as you learn more.
Well done!
When you’ve finished writing the essay body and conclusion, you should return to the introduction and check that it matches the content of the essay.
This introduction example is taken from our interactive essay example on the history of Braille.
- An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
- Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
- A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.
Everything in the introduction is relevant to the main body of the essay.
Everything in the introduction is relevant to the main body of the essay.
The “hook” is the first sentence of your essay introduction. It should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of why it’s interesting.
This introduction to a literary analysis essay, about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, starts by describing a simplistic popular view of the story, and then states how the author will give a more complex analysis of the text’s literary devices.
To write a good hook, avoid overly broad statements or long, dense sentences. Try to start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.
Checklist: Essay introduction
A good introduction paragraph is an essential part of any academic essay. It sets up your argument and tells the reader what to expect.
Particularly in longer essays, it’s helpful to end the introduction by signposting what will be covered in each part. Keep it concise and give your reader a clear sense of the direction your argument will take.
This introduction to a short expository essay leads into the topic (the invention of the printing press) and states the main point the essay will explain (the effect of this invention on European society).
Everything in the introduction is relevant to the main body of the essay.
The “hook” is the first sentence of your essay introduction. It should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of why it’s interesting.
This introduction to a literary analysis essay, about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, starts by describing a simplistic popular view of the story, and then states how the author will give a more complex analysis of the text’s literary devices.
To write a good hook, avoid overly broad statements or long, dense sentences. Try to start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.
Checklist: Essay introduction
A good introduction paragraph is an essential part of any academic essay. It sets up your argument and tells the reader what to expect.
Particularly in longer essays, it’s helpful to end the introduction by signposting what will be covered in each part. Keep it concise and give your reader a clear sense of the direction your argument will take.
This introduction to a short expository essay leads into the topic (the invention of the printing press) and states the main point the essay will explain (the effect of this invention on European society).
In school life, when a student is given to write as essay, it usually intimidates him because writing an essay is considered one of the toughest things of any language. An essay can be on a number of topics such as oneself, one's family, pets, a season, the country, a festival, a tour. These essays are assigned to students in their formative years. Ever since then, the first thing they are taught is how to write a good introduction. Many grammar and language books provide with the introduction essay examples. These essay introduction samples are of much help to students who are learning how to write an essay. The teachers also tutor them on the subject. However, no teacher or book is more important than individual writing practise. The more one practises writing and reads more books, the more expert can he be in the field of writing essays. This habit comes in very handy in later years when one is pursuing his master degree or a PhD where thesis writing is the main area of getting marked and a thesis with an exceptional introduction is viewed more favourably than the others. Thus, writing an essay introduction is probably one of the most important things in an essay because it is the first thing which the reader goes through. A catchy essay introduction will attract the reader and capture his attention for the rest of the piece. The introduction to an essay should be in proportion to the length of the essay. This piece will explain the meaning, construction of introductions to essays as well as provide some examples of essay introductions.
The introduction for an essay should be captivating as well as informative so as to put in the picture of the issue discussed in the essay. Below are some tips for writing an introduction to essay:
Examples of introduction for essays can be found all over the internet as well as in many guide books widely available in the market. Below is one of sample essay introductions for the convenience of students:
Introduction to essays can be generated by essay introduction generator, usually online services, which provide an introduction for an essay for a charge. However, it is always to the credit of the author if the introduction is written by the author himself. Any good essay written for a thesis is checked for plagiarism which can be penalized if the work is not original. To be on the safe side, one should attempt writing a good introduction for his essay
WHAT IS AN INTRODUCTION IN AN ESSAY?
“The best things in life are free, but the second best are very expensive" - Coco Chanel
- A good essay introduction should not begin with a dictionary meaning or the like. It's a cliché and does not impress the reader. Beginning an introduction with a famous quote or an anecdote or a small story which is witty as well as pertaining to the subject of the essay is always welcome by the readers. It makes the introduction interesting which immediately adds flair to the essay.
- The introduction should introduce the essay in few lines and explain any keywords which are essential to know about. This is usually done so words are not wasted in the body of the essay.
- Essay introductions should not include any thorough discussion of the topic. Only in the end of the introductory paragraph, the author should start off the essay.
- If it is an argumentative essay, the introduction should not begin with the author's opinion on the subject of the essay. Instead, he should present the issue and then talk about the different opinions, finally presenting his own. It is only in the body where he should substantiate his views with adequate proof, citing examples and statistics.
- Introduction examples for essays can be: a line from any novel, a line from a poem, a famous saying of an author/ poet, an example, an anecdote which can be real-life or taken from any source.
- The introduction should first address the basics of the subject such as "what", "why", "how". Making the reader familiar with these answers helps them to evaluate the essay better.
One of the best pieces of tragedy written by the greatest playwright ever, William Shakespeare, was Macbeth. Concerning a war hero, whose ascend to the throne was predicted by the witches he had met by chance and his journey towards his demise is what Macbeth is all about. An equal important character is Lady Macbeth, his wife, whose dilemma is unravelled throughout the play which brings to light her debatable character. Macbeth is best read in original by Shakespeare as abridged versions distort the actual essence of the drama.
A powerful introductory paragraph should meet all of these requirements:
Answering these questions in 2-3 sentences each will help you ensure that you provide your readers with complete information about the topic of your essay. However, be sure to keep these sentences concise and straight to the point.
As you now know how to start a good introduction and have some clear introduction examples to get you started, let’s quickly go through the key takeaways of what you should and shouldn’t do when writing your introduction.
Generally, there are no strict rules about how long an introductory paragraph should be. Experienced essay writers will usually shape the lengths of their introductions with the overall length of the paper in mind. For example, if you are writing a paper following the standard five-paragraph essay structure, you would want to keep your opening clause concise and have it fit into a single paragraph. However, when writing longer papers, let’s say a 30-page paper, your introduction can take up multiple paragraphs, and even several pages.
What Makes a Good Introduction
In a nutshell, the introduction paragraph of an essay is the first paragraph of the paper. Therefore, it is also the first thing your reader will see in your essay.
“This is a story I want to tell you about the time I almost set myself on fire in my car while going 200 miles per hour and trying to get away from the cops.” – Fortunately, I don’t have such a story to tell, but I bet that I grabbed your attention. “How did I do that?” – you may wonder. Well, that’s what we call an effective hook. Basically, it is a catchy opening line that grabs a reader’s attention and makes them want to read further. A powerful hook and an engaging introduction are two key elements for success when writing an essay. If you may also be wondering how to write an introduction for an essay, continue to read on! This is the ultimate guide for writing a perfect essay introduction to get your readers engaged.
Your main goal is to gradually move from general information about your subject matter to something more specific (i.e. your thesis statement). To make this process more simple, think of your introduction as of an upside-down triangle. In this triangle, the attention grabber (read hook) is at the top, followed by a broader explanation of the topic, and ending with a very specific claim. Here is a simple tip for how to write an essay introduction following this “upside-down triangle” strategy: