Great Essay Tips: How to Write an Essay Introduction

By Jessica Freeman @JessFreeman30

The value of an Essay owes a lot to the content in it. As a writer, you only feel satisfied when your reader finds each and every word you put in your writing useful. Unfortunately, no matter how crucial the information you are trying to give out can be, not all readers will read the whole essay.
One question you should ask yourself is, is it their habit or do they find the Essay boring? Simple, he or she started to read your Essay because of interest, but something made him or her stop in the middle of the essay's introduction. Never forget this, no one enjoys reading an essay that is boring and completely out of topic. The worst you can do to your essay is, introduce it badly. In this article, I'm going to take you through everything you need to know about writing a great Essay introduction.

Importance of an Excellent Essay Introduction

Just like the first impression you need when approaching your potential mate or in a job interview, the introduction earns you more points than the rest of your essay. But to do this, you need to understand the main purpose of an introduction simply because you are not only trying to entice your readers to read the whole essay, but also trying to confirm to them that they are on the right page. An Introduction is a brief overview of the entire essay. It gives the reader a quick summary of what your essay is going to discuss, the usefulness of the information and most importantly, how you are planning to defend your argument. Here are some few tips on how to come with an excellent essay introduction.

Tips on How to Write an Engaging Essay Introduction

Give an example: You are looking for something that will keep your readers going on and on. So, instead of hitting the nail on the head, try to improve the value of your essay by proving that what you are talking about is somehow factual. For example, if your topic is, 'Are werewolves real?' You can briefly or in one sentence talk about a most convincing story about the werewolves having appeared in some place. This will automatically convince the reader, that there is everything he or she needs to know about the werewolves in your essay.

Your first sentence matters a lot: No matter how boring the rest of your essay may be, an interesting first sentence may earn it some credits. Before digging deeper on the intention of your essay, you can include rare facts or quotes. For example, 'Werewolves are trapped in human bodies'. This will automatically bring your reader back to the essay. It would make the reader have the desire to find out what you are trying to say especially if he or she had some clue that werewolves are just myths.

Provide some value to your argument: You are probably not trying to tell an old werewolf made-up story, so it is important that you provide your reader with some facts related to your statement. You must tell the reader that what you are talking about is worth researching on. For example, you can try and check out other works that had been done on the topic, grab some statement, for instance by some researcher who had touched on the subject before and integrated it in your sentence.

Preview your paper's structure: Most of the time, readers depend on your introduction to provide them with a brief overview of what the essay has in store for them. In fact, this is the main reason you are writing the introduction. You should be able to preview the rest of your essay in a way; your reader will get a clue of what awaits him. You don't have to talk about what each and every paragraph is talking about. What you need to do is to provide a summary of what awaits your readers. For example, for instance if you have the following paragraphs: Proofs that werewolves exist, how to identify a werewolf and more, you can summarize it like this, 'The essay will take you through everything you need to know about werewolves'.

Come up with an arguable and unique thesis: Essay is one of the best tools, researchers use to find and prove facts. Even if it is more than a reality or a fiction, it is important that you come up with something that will leave a mark on your reader. The reader should not feel as he or she has every answer to anything you consider questionable. What you are trying to do is make the reader question the existence of werewolves. For example, you can state something like this, stories of werewolves, ''in the past they were just stories until a woman claimed her husband turned into one. What would have driven the woman to think that is true?''. This will encourage your reader to go on and on.

Additional tips
  • Stay on topic
  • Interpret an assigned question correctly
  • Take a time to understand your thesis before you begin writing.
  • Avoid plagiarism
  • Your sentences should be clear and understandable
  • Avoid long sentences
Conclusion

A good introduction means a lot to your reader. Your reader doesn't need to go through everything in your essay to judge the quality of your writing or the value of your argument. By just reading the first sentence, he or she gets a clue of what to expect. So, it is vital that you pay close attention to every sentence you put in it. Apart from trying to entice the reader, you are trying to engage him or her, meaning that if your introduction is not interesting, chances that he or she will complete reading the whole essay are low. Keep in mind that essay introduction is a summary of your Essay's intention. So, it is vital that you stay on topic. The information you are providing should be researchable and most importantly, relevant to your argument. Lastly, keep everything short for easy understanding. With all these tips, I'm sure your reader will not only complete reading your essay, but will also try and find any other work you've published.