In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point about that topic in your thesis statement. The introduction has three essential parts, each of which serves a particular purpose. The first part is the "attention-grabber." Aug 13, · Share a shocking or amusing fact. One way to start your essay is with a shocking, unexpected, or amusing fact about the topic you’re covering. This grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read further, expecting explanation, context, and/or elaboration on The introduction usually starts by providing some background information to your particular topic, so the reader understands the key problem being addressed and why it is an issue worth writing about. However, it is important that this is brief and that you only include information that is directly relevant to the topic
Essay Introductions | UMGC
Every essay or assignment you write must begin with an introduction. It might be helpful to think of the introduction as an inverted pyramid. In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point about that topic in your thesis statement. The introduction has how to start a essay introduction essential parts, each of which serves a particular purpose. The first part is the "attention-grabber.
You also want to do that in a way that is fresh and original. For example, although it may be tempting to begin your essay with a dictionary definition, this technique is stale because it has been widely overused. Instead, you might try one of the how to start a essay introduction techniques:. Offer a surprising statistic that conveys something about the problem to be addressed in the paper. Use rhetorical questions that place your readers in a different situation in order to get them thinking about your topic in a new way.
If you have a personal connection to the topic, you might use an anecdote or story to get your readers emotionally involved. For example, if you were writing a paper about drunk drivers, you might begin with a compelling story about someone whose life was forever altered by a drunk driver: "At eighteen, Michelle had a lifetime of promise in front of her.
Attending college on a track scholarship, she was earning good grades and making lots of friends. Then one night her life was forever altered…". From this attention grabbing opener, you would need to move to the next part of the introduction, in which you offer some relevant background on the specific purpose of the essay.
This section helps the reader see why you are focusing on this topic and makes the transition to the main point of your paper, how to start a essay introduction. For this reason, this is sometimes called the "transitional" part of the introduction.
In the example above, the anecdote about Michelle might capture the reader's attention, but the essay is not really about Michelle. The attention grabber might get the reader thinking about how drunk driving can destroy people's lives, but it doesn't introduce the topic of the need for stricter drunk driving penalties or whatever the real focus of the paper might be.
Therefore, you need to bridge the gap between your attention-grabber and your thesis with some transitional discussion. In this part of your introduction, you narrow your focus of the topic and explain why the attention-grabber is relevant to the specific area you will be discussing. You should introduce your specific topic and provide any necessary background information that the reader would need in order to understand the problem that you are presenting in the paper, how to start a essay introduction.
You can also define any key terms the reader might not know. Continuing with the example above, we might move from the narrative about Michelle to a short discussion of the scope of the problem of drunk drivers, how to start a essay introduction.
How to start a essay introduction might say, for example: "Michelle's story is not isolated. Each year XX number of lives are lost due to drunk-driving accidents. This effectively moves the reader from the story about Michelle to your real topic, how to start a essay introduction, which might be the need for stricter penalties for drinking and driving.
Finally, the introduction must conclude with a clear statement of the overall point you want to make in how to start a essay introduction paper. This is called your how to start a essay introduction statement. In this scenario, your thesis would be the point you are trying to make about drunk driving. You might be arguing for better enforcement of existing laws, enactment of stricter penalties, or funding for education about drinking and driving.
Whatever the case, your thesis would clearly state the main point your paper is trying to make. Here's an example: "Drunk driving laws need to include stricter penalties for those convicted of drinking under the influence of alcohol.
In addition to your thesis, your introduction can often include a "road map" that explains how you will defend your thesis. This gives the reader a general sense of how you will organize the different points that follow throughout the essay.
Sometimes the "map" is incorporated right into the thesis statement, and sometimes it is a separate sentence. Below is an example of a thesis with a "map. They also serve to set up the paper's arrangement because they tell the order in which you will present these topics. A final note: In constructing an introduction, make sure the introduction clearly reflects the goal or purpose of the assignment and that the thesis presents not only the topic to be discussed but also states a clear position about that topic that you will support and develop throughout the paper.
In shorter papers, the introduction is usually only one or two paragraphs, but it can be several paragraphs in a longer paper. Although for short essays the introduction is usually just one paragraph, longer argument or research papers may require a more substantial introduction. The how to start a essay introduction paragraph might consist of just the attention grabber and some narrative about the problem. Then you might have one or more paragraphs that provide background on the main topics of the paper and present the overall argument, concluding with your thesis statement.
Below is a sample of an introduction that is less effective because it doesn't apply the principles discussed above. Everyone uses math during their entire lives. Some people use math on the job as adults, and others used math when they were kids. The topic I have chosen to write about for this paper is how I use math in my life both as a child and as an adult, how to start a essay introduction.
I use math to balance my checkbook and to budget my monthly expenses as an adult. When I was a child, I used math to run a lemonade stand. I will be talking more about these things in my paper. In the introduction above, the opening line does not serve to grab the reader's attention. Instead, it is a statement of an obvious and mundane fact. The second sentence is also not very specific. A more effective how to start a essay introduction grabber may point out a specific, and perhaps surprising, how to start a essay introduction, instance when adults use math in their daily lives, in order to show the reader why this is such as important topic to consider.
Next the writer "announces" her topic by stating, "The topic I have chosen to write about…" Although it is necessary to introduce your specific topic, you want to avoid making generic announcements that reference your assignment. This technique is not as how to start a essay introduction and may distract the reader from your larger purpose for writing the essay. Instead, how to start a essay introduction, you might try to make the reader see why this is such an important topic to discuss.
Finally, this sample introduction is lacking a clear thesis statement. The writer concludes with a vague statement: "I will be talking more about these things in my paper. However, it is not yet working as a thesis statement because it fails to make an argument or claim about those topics. A thesis statement for this essay would clearly tell the reader what "things" you will be discussing and what point you will make about them.
Now let's look at how the above principles can be incorporated more effectively into an introduction. My earliest memories of earning and spending money are when I was ten years old when I would sell Dixie cups of too-sweet lemonade and bags of salty popcorn to the neighborhood kids. From that early age, I learned the importance of money management and the math skills involved. I learned that there were four quarters in a dollar, and if I bought a non-food item—like a handful of balloons—that I was going to need to come up with six cents for every dollar I spent.
I also knew that Kool-Aid packets were 25 cents each or that I could save money and get five of them for a dollar. Today, however, how to start a essay introduction, money management involves knowing more than which combinations of cent, five-cent, and one-penny candies I can get for a dollar. Proper money management today involves knowing interest rates, balancing checkbooks, paying taxes, estimating my paycheck, and budgeting to make ends meet from month-to-month.
The writer follows this "attention-grabber" with specific examples of earning and spending money. Compare how the specific details of the second example paint a better picture for the reader about what the writer learned how to start a essay introduction money as a child, rather than this general statement: "As a child, I used math to run a lemonade stand.
Notice, too, how the reader makes the transition from the lessons of childhood to the real focus of her paper in this sentence: "Today, however, money management involves knowing….
This transition sentence effectively connects the opening narrative to the main point of the essay, her thesis: "Proper money management today involves knowing interest rates, balancing checkbooks, paying taxes, estimating my paycheck, and budgeting to make ends meet from month-to-month. Introduction Paragraphs—Put Some Sizzle in Your Introduction. Introduction Paragraphs—Seven Strategies. Introduction Plus Thesis—How to Combine. The discount for Federal employees and their spouses and eligible dependents will be applied to out-of-state tuition and specialty graduate programs.
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, time: 4:21How to Write an Essay Introduction | 4 Steps & Examples
In such a pyramid, you begin by presenting a broad introduction to the topic and end by making a more focused point about that topic in your thesis statement. The introduction has three essential parts, each of which serves a particular purpose. The first part is the "attention-grabber." Aug 13, · Share a shocking or amusing fact. One way to start your essay is with a shocking, unexpected, or amusing fact about the topic you’re covering. This grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read further, expecting explanation, context, and/or elaboration on The introduction usually starts by providing some background information to your particular topic, so the reader understands the key problem being addressed and why it is an issue worth writing about. However, it is important that this is brief and that you only include information that is directly relevant to the topic
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