You don’t need us to tell you what you have already heard zillions of times in your life; first impressions are the most lasting. We will, however, enlighten you with the fact that the same rule applies to your essays. When it comes to penning down pieces of writing, you have to make sure the opening lines – the starter of the essay or the introduction – is gripping. The beginning of the essay sets the tone for readers, and at that moment, they make a subconscious decision to go on reading or not. It is an art that needs to be mastered: if you want your professor to grade you well in your essay, then win them over with the help of a transfixing starter. Here’s how you can do it:
- Literary Quotes
- A Mysterious Start
- Eye Openers
- Anecdotes
We have never said you have to be the one to draft a hooking starter. There’s no harm in borrowing words from some of the literary masterpieces. These kinds of starters are actually perfect for English essays when writing about an author. However, it can be incorporated in all kinds of subjects; just make sure they are relevant. For instance, these quotes can be used to propel the reader forward, hint to the fact that the essay is shedding a positive light on life, or the fact that always comes back to us.
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Alchemist
“And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” – The Great Gatsby
Curiosity prompts people to do the riskiest and most dangerous things in life, while here, you just need to use it to make them like your essay. It is not necessary to give away the subject matter at the very beginning of the essay. You can start the essay with a baffling or mysterious hook, and let readers turn page after page to get to the bottom of it. For instance:
Who’d have thought that a single decision made by Oscar Wilde will change his life forever? It’s strange, that not many people know about it, not even now, centuries later….
Tell people something they don’t know, or something they have been stumbling at for their whole lives. The kind of facts that most people get wrong usually surprises them and makes them read the essay ahead, looking for information and explanation. For example:
Did you know that Courage the Cowardly Dog’s season 4 episode 07 was based on themes such as misandry, prostitution, domestic abuse, and even rape? Don’t you wonder how that happened without anyone noticing, given the fact that their target audience is kids?
Anecdotes will help you add some spice to your essays. This works particularly well for essays with a very boring subject matter. The anecdote doesn’t even have to be directly related to the topic nor does it have to set the tone for the rest of the essay. It can be used as one of the essay starters to help the writer spark the readers’ interest. One example of such beginning is:
Four years ago, my life was ruined. I was half-dead, lying in a hospital bed, with no money and no one by my side. I had officially hit rock bottom because of drugs.
Using these starters, students can convince their professors of the thoughtfulness that they put into their essays, and well, you know, getting some good grades isn’t too bad either.