How to write introduction for your essay

1. Research your topic
2. Write a catchy hook
3. Present necessary background
4. Narrow it to a certain specific point
5. Create a persuasive thesis
6. Stay brief and concentrated
7. Don’t use banalities
8. Be convincing
9. Consider writing the introduction part after the main part of an essay

What makes your essay great? An interesting topic, convincing points, good structure, new thoughts? Sure, but the reader will not notice any of these advantages if they get bored with your introduction at the very beginning. You can show the best skills of investigation and analysis, you can provide many exciting examples and conduct your own experiments in the main body of your paper, but will it matter if you can’t deal with the start of your essay? To make readers move further than the first couple of sentences, you should attract their attention with a proper introduction. It has a big impact on whether you get the highest grade for your work or not because the structure of the introduction allows you to show the whole point of your essay as well as your skills of formulating your thoughts. So, the inappropriate introduction can spoil your grade for an essay, therefore use this article as a great possibility to learn how to write it correctly!

The best way to start a persuasive essay

Every writing work starts with the introduction, let’s see what it is if we are talking about the essay. Introduction – is the first part of an essay, placed at the very beginning of it. It aims to catch readers’ attention with triggering phrases and interesting questions. Usually, it contains only one paragraph, but sometimes it can be longer depending on the size of your work. So, let’s figure out why such a small piece of writing has a big influence on the whole essay.

The goals of persuasive introduction of the essay

First things first, you are trying to make the audience read your essay. The introduction is the part where you get reader`s attention. If the first phrases of your paper seem to be boring, the reader will consider your whole essay to be boring too. So, it is really important to hook readers from the very beginning.

The second goal of the introduction is to present your thesis statement. You let readers know what are you going to discuss in your essay, what is the whole point of your work.

And the last one – in the first paragraph you can show your writing skills, it may attract people as well as push them away, so you should pay attention to the style of your introduction, even though it’s pretty short.

As you can see, the perfect introduction should be brief, informative, and catching in order to reach all the mentioned purposes.

The main components of essay introduction

There are three important elements that have to be included in a persuasive introduction. First comes a hook – opening phrase that makes the first impression of the essay. Then you are introducing the topic of the essay, making your theme narrower. And the last, but the most important one – is your thesis statement.

Let’s see how to combine them properly and create a well-structured introduction. Start with something general, presenting readers the theme of your essay, getting them to know what it’s going to be about. Here belongs a catchy hook. The next part is about your thesis statement, introduce the main problems you are going to discuss, show your position about them. This part should be brief and clear. Finish your introduction with a hint of the arguments you are about to use while proving your point in the main body of an essay.

Steps of working on persuasive essay introduction

When you know the importance of a decent introduction for your essay, it’s time to learn where to start and how to deal with the writing process. There are five simple steps you have to follow for a great result. Remember that the introduction makes the first impression of your work, so it should be convincing and fascinating to make readers continue to read your essay.

1. Research your topic

Take your time and make sure you know enough about your topic before you get to writing. Conduct some extra research if it’s necessary, think about every aspect of your theme, check your arguments and facts you are going to use. Make sure you clearly understand every point, don’t neglect double-checking some important information. Claim your position for yourself, and don’t deviate from it.

2. Write a decent hook

Since readers don’t know the thesis yet, catch their attention with a wholesome hook – the first sentence of your writing. It can be some interesting question, a controversial statement, some facts they didn’t know before.

3. Bring up some context

Provide some overview of your topic to explain why your main statement is worth discussing. Mention some general details reader should know before you get straight to proving your point. It’s essential to briefly show the audience the conditions of your topic, so they can get it better. But do not overdo it, leave full explanations and theories for the main body of your essay.

4. Narrow the context to the main problem

Try to make it smooth; let everyone understand your way of thinking. Make your topic more specific; show the direction of your thoughts. Use this part as a transition between the background and the main statement.

5. State a thesis

The thesis is a key point of your work, so you should formulate it carefully. Remember some rules for a great thesis statement – it should be short, understandable, and informative. You have to present your position using one or two sentences and be ready to prove it through your work. Remember to make your thesis relevant and exciting to discuss, avoid typical phrases and clichés; they can spoil the tone of your work.

Tips for writing an essay introduction

Make it short

You have to grab people’s attention, not to bore them, right? Make your introduction just as short as you can, while including every important element in it. Keep in mind that arguments and thoughts belong to the rest of your essay, and useless, empty phrases don’t belong anywhere.

Exclude clichés

Don’t start your essay with a phrase like, “Today I’m going to explain why WW2 went this way”. It sounds unprofessional and boring; you can’t surprise anyone with such banal words. Also, don’t put a collocation “In
my essay…” at the beginning of your work, it is another cliché you need to avoid. Try something new, bold, catchy, controversial. The uniqueness of your essay will help you get the highest grade for it.

Try to write it after you made the main part

Sometimes it’s easier to get your thoughts together and write a convincing introduction when you have already written the main part of an essay. So, if you feel lost, looking on the empty page, start right with the body, get done with it, and then move to the introduction.

Be persuasive

Don’t settle with some simple common things everyone knows. Find new arguments, look at things from different angles, conduct an investigation, and discover new facts. Take every point of your essay seriously, and don’t leave any statement without arguments. Make readers excited to follow your thoughts, use your best writing, and analyzing skills. By doing this, you will definitely create a persuasive essay with a great introduction.