6/30/ · Start your essay with a “contrary to” or “fill the gap” sentence Like introducing the topic in the opening sentence of an essay, setting yourself up to contradict a common belief is another common way to begin your paper. It allows you to position yourself against other critics and can add a lot of clout to your argument if used well 6/7/ · An effective method of beginning an essay is to use historical present tense to relate an incident from the past as if it were happening now. "Ben and I are sitting side by side in the very back of his mother’s station wagon. We face glowing white headlights of cars following us, our sneakers pressed against the back hatch door The content and style of an introduction to an essay will depend on the purpose of your writing. If the essay title is in the form of a question, then the introduction will need to outline your
Beginning the Academic Essay |
The writer of the academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence. The beginning of the essay is a crucial first step in this process. In order to engage readers and establish your authority, the beginning of your essay has to accomplish certain business. Your beginning should introduce the essay, focus it, and orient readers.
Introduce the Essay. The beginning lets your readers know what the essay is about, the topic. The essay's topic does not exist in a vacuum, however; part of letting readers know what your essay is about means establishing the essay's contextthe frame within which you will approach your topic. For instance, in an essay about the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, the context may be best way to start an essay particular legal theory about the speech right; it may be historical information concerning the writing of the amendment; it may be a contemporary dispute over flag burning; or it may be a question raised by the text itself.
The point here is that, in establishing the essay's context, you are also limiting your topic. That is, you are framing an approach to your topic that necessarily eliminates other approaches. Thus, when you determine your context, you simultaneously narrow your topic and take a big step toward focusing your essay. Here's an example. The paragraph goes on.
But as you can see, Chopin's novel the topic is introduced in the context of the critical and moral controversy its publication engendered. Focus the Essay. Beyond introducing your topic, your beginning must also let readers know what the central issue is. What question or problem will you be thinking about?
You can pose a question that will lead to your idea in which case, your idea will be the answer to your questionor you can make a thesis statement. Or you can do both: you can ask a question and immediately suggest the answer that your essay will argue. Here's an example from an essay about Memorial Hall. The fullness of your idea will not emerge until your conclusion, but your beginning must clearly indicate the direction your idea will take, best way to start an essay, must set your essay on that road.
And whether you focus your essay by posing a question, stating a thesis, or combining these approaches, by the end of your beginning, readers should know what you're writing about, and why —and why they might want to read on. Orient Readers. Orienting readers, locating them in your discussion, means providing information and explanations wherever necessary for your readers' understanding. Orienting is important throughout your essay, but it is crucial in the beginning. Readers who don't have the information they need to follow your discussion will get lost and quit reading.
Your teachers, of course, will trudge on. Supplying the necessary information to orient your readers may be as simple as answering the journalist's questions of who, what, where, when, how, and why.
It may mean providing a brief overview of events or a summary of the text you'll be analyzing. If the source text is brief, such as the First Amendment, you might just quote it. If the text is well known, your summary, for most audiences, won't need to be more than an identifying phrase or two:.
Often, however, you will want to summarize your source more fully so that readers can follow your analysis of it. Questions of Length and Order. How long should the beginning be? The length should be proportionate to the length and complexity of the whole essay. For instance, if you're writing a five-page essay analyzing a single text, your beginning should be brief, no more than one or two paragraphs. On the other hand, it may take a couple of pages to set up a ten-page essay.
Does the business of the beginning have to be addressed in a particular order? No, but the order should be logical. Usually, for instance, the question or statement that focuses the essay comes at the end of the beginning, where it serves as the best way to start an essay point for the middle, or main body, of the essay, best way to start an essay. Topic and context are often intertwined, but the context may be established before the particular topic is introduced, best way to start an essay.
In other words, the order in which you accomplish the business of the beginning is flexible and should be determined by your purpose. Opening Strategies. There is still the further question of how to start.
What makes a good opening? You can start with specific facts and information, a keynote quotation, a question, an anecdote, or an image, best way to start an essay. But whatever sort of opening you choose, it should be directly best way to start an essay to your focus. A snappy quotation that doesn't help establish the context for your essay or that later plays no part in your thinking will only mislead readers and blur your focus.
Be as direct and specific as you can be. This means you should avoid two types of openings:. After working your way through the whole draft, testing your thinking against the evidence, perhaps changing direction or modifying the idea you started with, go back to your beginning and make sure it still provides a clear focus for the essay. Then clarify and sharpen your focus as needed.
Clear, direct beginnings rarely present themselves ready-made; they must be written, and rewritten, into the sort of sharp-eyed clarity that engages readers and establishes your authority. CopyrightPatricia Kain, for the Writing Center at Harvard University. Skip to main content. Best way to start an essay Menu Utility Menu Search. Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. Home FAQ Writing Support Schedule an appointment English Grammar and Language Tutor Senior Thesis Tutors Departmental Writing Fellows Writing Resources Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Meet the tutors.
When Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening was published incritics condemned best way to start an essay book as immoral. One typical critic, writing in the Providence Journalfeared that the novel might "fall into the hands of youth, leading them to dwell on things that only matured persons can understand, and promoting unholy imaginations and unclean desires" A reviewer in the St.
Louis Post- Dispatch wrote that "there is much that is very improper in it, not to say positively unseemly. Further analysis of Memorial Hall, and of the archival sources that describe the process of building it, suggests that the past may not be the central subject of the hall but only a medium. What message, then, does the building convey, and why are the fallen soldiers of such importance to the alumni who built it? Part of the answer, best way to start an essay, it seems, is that Memorial Hall is an educational tool, an attempt by the Harvard community of the s to influence the future by shaping our memory of their times.
The commemoration of those students and graduates who died for the Union during the Civil War is one aspect of this alumni message to the future, but it may not be best way to start an essay central idea.
This means you should avoid two types of openings: The history-of-the-world or long-distance opening, which aims to establish a context for the essay by getting a long running start: "Ever since the dawn of civilized life, societies have struggled to reconcile the need for change with the need for order. Get to it. The funnel opening a variation on the same themewhich starts with something broad and general and "funnels" its way down to a specific topic.
If your essay is an argument about state-mandated prayer in public schools, don't start by generalizing about religion; start with the specific topic at hand.
Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment Moving from Assignment to Topic How to Do a Close Reading Overview of the Academic Essay Essay Structure Developing A Thesis Beginning the Academic Essay Outlining Counterargument Summary Topic Sentences and Signposting Transitioning: Beware of Velcro How to Write a Comparative Analysis Ending the Essay: Conclusions Revising the Draft Editing the Essay, Part One Editing the Essay, Part Two Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines.
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, time: 9:308 Ways to Start an Essay (with Examples) | Intro to Honors
The content and style of an introduction to an essay will depend on the purpose of your writing. If the essay title is in the form of a question, then the introduction will need to outline your 3/25/ · How to start an essay Always begin writing essays with an introduction that clearly sets out the aims of what you are about to write and references the title of the piece of work. State what the essay will try to achieve and briefly mention some of the main points you will consider In order to engage readers and establish your authority, the beginning of your essay has to accomplish certain business. Your beginning should introduce the essay, focus it, and orient readers. Introduce the Essay. The beginning lets your readers know what the essay is about, the topic
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