Making or Breaking Introductions

Having trouble starting an essay? Here are some helpful tips on how to write a killer introduction.

What Everyone Gets Wrong About Introductions, and Why They Don’t Know Where to Start

Before we actually get into the structure of the introduction, let’s go through the main reason why an introduction exists. No, it’s not to summarize or set up your paper, contrary to popular opinion.

No, the purpose of an introduction is to powerfully convince the reader that you’re worth reading, and to continue on.

Throughout these guides, you’re going to notice that I throw around the word ‘literacy’ frequently. I don’t refer to literacy as whether you can read and write — literacy in my mind is three values.

1. Construction: Does the writer know how to construct/generate structures of the English language?
2. Awareness: Is the writer aware of their audience, and how their writing will be read?
3. Ambiance: Is the writer capable enough to encourage engagement, and separate themselves from the competition?

Writing an introduction takes on a completely different meaning when you’re aiming for literacy. You should find that an introduction is not about the essay, it’s about setting your reputation for the rest of the paper.

Whoever your audience is — a teacher or professor, other scholars, your peers — they will form the opinions that frame the rest of the essay in your introduction. Likely, they will already have their expectation of your writing by the third sentence — meaning that your success on the essay is completely decided by the time they finish your introduction.

This is why a poor introduction can ruin the rest of an essay, even if the rest is crystal perfect. It’s because the reader is asking the same questions, no matter what time of essay you’re talking about, questions like:

• Do they know what they’re talking about?
• Are they credible?
• Does their hook or starting sentence clearly link to their aims, or is it just thrown in?
• Why should I care?

Keep these questions in mind as you’re crafting your introduction. And do not write to the reader — assumptions will make your paper seem condescending or completely off-topic. This includes

• first-person and second-person language, which many English speakers (in fact, the vast majority of native speakers) have extreme difficulty in handling.
• Don’t talk about yourself (unless this is a lab report or study), and don’t talk about the reader. Just focus on the content, and you’ll do just fine.
• If you’re writing a 5-paragraph essay, make sure that you consistantly reference the same themes throughout the paper that you established in the introduction. This is called a “motif”, if you want to get into the semantics of literacy.

Hook, Line, and Sinker: Convincing the Reader You’re Worth Reading

Possibly the most misunderstood attribute of an essay, the hook’s purpose is not to reel the reader in, it’s about you. It is the expectation-setter of the expectation-setter, the introduction of the introduction. Here are some structures to better understand what you’re talking about.

If your essay revolves around a theme with greater significance, start the essay by referencing that greater significance and then bringing in the text/supporting sources and how they relate to that greater significance.

For example — say that your essay is about Shakespeare. If your greater significance talked about the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, then reference history, or “ever since […]” etc.

If your essay is argumentative, don’t just state your claims. Take them a step further by describing some impact that no one thought of that relates directly to your cause. This will drive up interest and also make your essay appear unique (because it will be).

This works for any subject — a truism, law, or comparison of precedent (i.e. history, past studies)

Literacy, like all skills, is a marker of professionalism and authority. Stand on the shoulders of giants. Use precedent. And do not use any of the following. Please. For your own sake.

• NEVER, never use a definition as a hook. It’s elementary, and probably has no relation whatsoever to your topic, unless you’re at a spelling bee. And I assume that you are not writing for the judges of the Scripps Spelling Bee. So please, please, please, just don’t do it. Jokes aside, a definition is probably the worst of things on my “never use” list. Just don’t do it. It makes you look like you have no idea of what you’re talking about. The reader also probably knows what the definition of your word is, and if they do, it feels pretty dumb to read a paper where the author assumes you don’t know the definition. And then your reader will start judging the rest of your paper as well.
• A quote. Do not open with a quote, especially if you don’t know how to frame the author’s name within the quote. Moreover, the quote should clearly relate to the essay, and the author should relate to the essay too.

General Essay Structure: An Outline of a Generic Introduction & Greater Significance

Finally, here is a general roadmap on how an introduction should look. As a general rule, most essay introductions adhere to the following structure. Again, read my thesis guide if you need advice on how to construct a thesis. I won’t be covering it here.

[Hook] — -[relating sentence] — -[overall theme or greater significance of thesis (without directly referencing thesis yet)] — -[qualifier] — -[thesis]

There’s also an optional wrap-up sentence after the thesis, if you want to describe your thesis in further detail and it’s getting too long.