Why Are Introductory Sentences Important?

If you have ever written an essay, and most people have, you know how difficult it can be to get started! Those first few sentences can be difficult to construct. In this lesson, let’s take a look at some effective ways to write introductory sentences, or the first sentences of an essay.

Introductory sentences are really important, because if a reader loses interest after reading the first few sentences of your essay, he or she may not keep reading. It is really important to begin our essays in fresh, interesting ways. Of course, this is not as easy as it sounds. While you don’t want to have to do gymnastics or flash neon signs, as it were, to catch your audience’s attention, you do want to make this beginning portion of your essay interesting.

Also, the entire introductory paragraph lets your reader know what your paper is about and why it is important to read your paper. Your first paragraph clearly indicates the purpose of your essay. Without a clearly stated purpose, your reader will have no idea why he or she should take the time to read your essay.

Common Introduction Mistakes

First, we are going to take a look at ways NOT to start an essay! For instance, you never want to say: ‘Today, I am going to write about… whatever the topic is.’ Just write it! Starting this way can make your writing seem childish. Also, never say, ‘Hi, my name is… and today I am going to write about…’ Beginning writers sometimes make these mistakes, but these types of introductions are not the most effective. Remember that your introduction gives your reader a first impression of your paper. You don’t want that first impression to be that you’re not very professional or that you are unsure of how to start your paper effectively.

Another common mistake when starting essays is to skip the introduction altogether. Students are sometimes so eager to jump into their writing that they begin talking about the subject without providing an introduction at all. Imagine if you were meeting someone for the first time and you just walked up to them and began randomly talking about something without introducing yourself. The other person would probably be confused and would not be prepared for such a discussion. You get the idea!

Proper Ways to Begin an Essay

Now that we’ve gone over some ways not to start your essay, we’re going to go over some strategies for writing effective introductory sentences when starting an essay. First, when you are writing about another piece of literature, what we call literary analysis, probably the best and most straightforward way to start your paper is to begin by stating the author and title. This launches the reader right into the focus of your paper.

For instance, you might say something like: ‘In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we are introduced to two characters who are outcasts in society.’ Right away, the audience knows where this paper is headed. This type of introduction is also very useful for on demand or timed writes about literature. When time is tight, it is good to have a way to start quickly.

Another way you can start your essay is to ask a thoughtful question. Get your reader thinking about what he or she would do in a given situation. For instance, in any essay on Romeo and Juliet, you might want to start with a question such as: ‘Have you ever fallen in love with someone you knew you shouldn’t?’

You can also start essays with a brief example or anecdote – a short story. The emphasis here is on the word ‘short.’ Remember that the idea is to catch your reader’s interest, and then lead him or her to the main gist of your paper or thesis statement.

Another way you can start an essay is by establishing the situation for the reader by making a statement that resonates with the reader. For instance, you might say: ‘Americans are getting more deeply in debt every day.’ We can almost see the reader nodding his head, as in agreement – not sleep!

Along that same line, you can make an enthusiastic statement, assuming that you then back it up! For instance, you might say something like: ‘Crocodiles are fascinating creatures! Did you know that they are actually very shy reptiles?’

Instead of starting with an enthusiastic statement, you can also start by giving a statistic, and then providing more information. Just make sure that this statistic is important to the reader, and that you make it clear why they should care.

Audience is Important

We just went over a lot of great ways to start your paper. But one thing to keep in mind before you select one of those methods is your audience. It is important that your introductory sentences set the tone for your paper, and knowing your audience will help you establish that tone. For instance, if your paper is directed towards a group of eighth grade science students, a lighter Bill Nye the Science Guy tone might be best, and you might decide to start with a really cool fact about your topic to try to get those students excited.

But if your audience is your academic class, including your professor, keeping that more professional, academic tone and voice is essential. In this case, you might want to start with an observation that resonates with your audience, or by introducing the author and the book, if you are writing about literature.

Lesson Summary

It takes practice to write effective introductory sentences, but you can do it. Just remember what we talked about today. Never start off an essay by saying things like: ‘My name is…,’ or, ‘Today I am going to talk to you about…’

You want to make sure that you introduce your topic in a way that makes sense given your audience. If your essay is about literature, make sure you start with the author and title of the work of literature you’re writing about. You might also want to start with a question to get your audience thinking about your topic, or an observation that they can relate to, or an interesting fact that gets them interested.

Just remember that your introductory sentences are so important because they are the opening lines of your essay. If your first few sentences are not interesting, and do not effectively explain why you are writing your essay, your audience will probably not want to continue reading your essay.