[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-349001-105":53,"doc-detail-349001-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","writing-introductions-for-essays","Writing Introductions for Essays","","Guidance on writing effective essay introductions that attract readers and preview what follows. The text explains tailoring the opening to a rhetorical situation by clarifying purpose, audience, stance, and appropriate language. It outlines strategies to start with an engaging approach, including quotations, statistics or interesting facts, concessions, definitions, and anecdotes or narratives. It also covers building background information and stating a thesis using a paragraph structure shaped like an inverted triangle.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":36,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/forms/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/writing-introductions-for-essays/349001/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/writing-introductions-for-essays/349001.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Aria Callaghan","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"How should an essay introduction be tailored to the rhetorical situation?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Determine why you are writing, what the essay should accomplish, your stance, and what your audience will find persuasive. Choose language and evidence that fit the assignment and audience expectations.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What opening strategies does the text recommend?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Use engaging approaches such as a well-chosen quotation, attention-grabbing statistics or interesting facts, a concession that acknowledges opposing arguments, an expanded definition, or an anecdote/narrative that creates a vivid scene.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What should come after the opening in an introduction?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Provide background information that introduces the topic and supports why the thesis matters, then state the thesis clearly while avoiding long summaries of other arguments.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},349001,1790574334,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":35,"category_name":36,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":47,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":73},962084926284,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Writing Introductions for Essays  \nEssay introductions should attract the reader and provide some information about what is to come. However, how you begin your essay depends on your rhetorical situation, which refers to your academic purpose and audience. The introduction typically provides your argument and context for that argument by explaining how your work fits into a larger conversation, addresses specific questions, or explores a new aspect of the subject.  \nConsider your rhetorical situation.  \nUnderstanding the assignment is imperative to your success. Consider why you are writing, what your writing should accomplish, and what your stance on your topic is. Think about the purpose of your assignment. Is your instructor evaluating your creativity, critical thinking skills, writing ability, or knowledge of a topic? In your essay, are you supposed to persuade, explain, or entertain? Are you asked to analyze, compare, prove, or describe something? Think about whom your audience is. You will want to present evidence your audience will find persuasive and avoid repeating information they already know. You also need to choose the appropriate language.  \nOpen your essay in an engaging way.  \nThe opening of your essay should generate interest about the topic. Often students are advised to begin broad, and they take this to mean that a sweeping statement—like “Sports mean manythings to many people”—makes a good opener. But such sweeping claims do little to help readers focus their attention on your argument. Instead, consider an opening strategy that will engage your audience in your subject, disposing them to listen to the argument.  \nA Quotation  \nBecause this method is often overused and poorly used, make sure to choose an appropriate quotation that directly or indirectly relates to your topic. Your explanation should provide relevant background and contextual information.  \nOpening a Political Discussion with a Quotation  \nIf there is a single point of consensus in this heated political moment, it is that everyone loves the Constitution.“Conservative or liberal, we are all constitutionalists,” Barack Obama wrote in The Audacity of Hope. Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, who emerged as a principal antagonist of the President’s during the government shutdown, has often said much the same thing. The Founding Fathers, Cruz said,“fought and bled for freedom and then crafted the most miraculous political document ever conceived, our Constitution.” ~Jeffery Toobin,“Our Broken Constitution,” The New Yorker, December 9, 2013  \nStatistics or Interesting Facts  \nProvide attention-grabbing facts that will draw in your audience and show the importance of your essay.  \nOpening a Historical Essay with a Statistic  \nDespite the 1.5 million people who died in the Armenian Genocide in 1915, there, unfortunately, is still political and historical debate over whether genocide even occurred.  \nA Concession  \nStart your essay by acknowledging an opposing or different argument or approach than you will take in your essay to strengthen your credibility, gain common ground with your reader, and demonstrate the strength of your own position.  \nOpening a Critique with a Concession  \nIn spite of all of our teachers’ and bosses’ warnings that it is not a trustworthy source of information, we all rely on Wikipedia. Not only when we cannot remember the name of that guy from that movie, which is a fairly low-risk use, but also when we find a weird rash or are just feeling a little off and we are not sure why. ~Julie Beck,“Doctor’s \\#1 Source for Healthcare Information: Wikipedia,” The Atlantic, March 5, 2014  \nA Definition  \nAvoid simple dictionary definitions and instead provide an expanded definition that shows how the term applies to your essay.  \nOpening a Scientific Essay with a Definition  \nBeavers transform ecosystems unlike most species. By building damsand felling trees, they shape their environments. Beavers not only provide ecological be","cbCaimAEUFqYn6Tw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimAEUFqYn6Tw","pdf",457090,"English","# Writing Introductions for Essays\n## Tailor the Opening to the Rhetorical Situation\n## Open an Engaging Way\n## Common Opening Strategies: Quotation, Facts, Concession, Definition, Anecdote","[{\"question\":\"How should an essay introduction be tailored to the rhetorical situation?\",\"answer\":\"Determine why you are writing, what the essay should accomplish, your stance, and what your audience will find persuasive. Choose language and evidence that fit the assignment and audience expectations.\"},{\"question\":\"What opening strategies does the text recommend?\",\"answer\":\"Use engaging approaches such as a well-chosen quotation, attention-grabbing statistics or interesting facts, a concession that acknowledges opposing arguments, an expanded definition, or an anecdote/narrative that creates a vivid scene.\"},{\"question\":\"What should come after the opening in an introduction?\",\"answer\":\"Provide background information that introduces the topic and supports why the thesis matters, then state the thesis clearly while avoiding long summaries of other arguments.\"}]","Writing Introductions for Essays | PDF",1790081144]