8 Ways To Start An Essay With Examples

08
WAYS TO START AN
ESSAY
08
Introduce your topic
This is the most common way to start an essay. Simply introduce
your topic. As an option, you can also include some of your
essay’s sub-points. It’s an introduction to your essay topic, not a
thesis statement, so no need to go too heavy on your argument.
Mention the core topic your essay will discuss and (optional) the
essay’s focus as well.
“Reading is inevitably a complex, comparative process.” –

Edward W. Said
“Teaching, more even than most other professions, has been

transformed during the last hundred years from a small, highly
skilled profession concerned with a minority of the population,
to a large and important branch of the public service.” –
Bertrand Russell
“Aristotelian courage involves two distinct feelings, fear and

confidence.” – David Pears
“In White Teeth, Zadie Smith demonstrates the problems of

living in a post-modern world, as her characters constantly
collide with each other in the pursuit of meaning and truth.” –
Tracey Lorraine Walters
“Issues relating to land and land rights of the dispossessed tribes

in India have become environmental, social, cultural, and
political issues today.” – R. Sreelatha
“Lesbian scholarship has not had much use for psychoanalysis.”

– Teresa de Laurentis
“In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “The Trial of Thomas-Builds-the-

Fire,” Thomas breaks a vow of silence he took twenty years
earlier.” – Jeff Berglund
Start with a quote
Quotes are a fun way to start because they take some of the pressure
off you as a writer. Let someone else do the hard part of hooking your
reader’s attention! Quotes have a narrative element that will lend your
essay an engaging, creative opening.
“‘Our problem is that we don’t learn our history!’ One often hears that
said in the Black community.” – John McWhorter
“‘Doctor, does not the cleaning of the teeth by dental instruments ruin
them?’ …Questions such as these are constantly asked the practicing
dentist.” – Victor Charles Bell
Set up a mystery
The human brain hungers for curiosity to be satisfied. When you write
an opening sentence that includes a mystery that’s asking to be
solved, your reader will want to close the curiosity loop. This is a
slightly more advanced way to start your essay, but take guidance
from these authors as they show you how to add a little mystery to
your hook.
In an inventory of American ideas, the thematic of the “tragic

mulatto/a” seems to disappear at the end of the nineteenth century.” –
Hortense J. Spillers
“We are in the midst of the planet’s sixth great extinction, in a time
when we are seeing the direct effects of radical global climate change
via more frequent and ferocious storms, hotter and drier years
accompanied by more devastating wildfires, snow where there didn’t
used to be snow, and less snow where permafrost used to be a given.”
– Camille T. Dungy
“In the midst of the 1950s recasting of femininity, the image of the
madwoman took a startling new form in American popular culture:
the female multiple personality.” – Marta Caminero-Santangelo
Tell a story
Pretend you’re a film director setting the stage. What elements does
your viewer need to see in order to understand what’s about to
happen? Consider playing around with different elements like time,
place, characters, conflict, a recurring keyword/image/theme, or
mysterious objects can all be a part of the “opening scene.”
“In July 1861, as his army consolidated its hold on northwestern

Virginia, Union Gen. George B. McClellan assured Confederate leaders
of his hope for a limited war.” – Kenneth W. Noe
“Colorado’s mountains can be treacherous in the winter, and in

December 1961 a bus crashed on an icy road in the middle of the
night.” – Carole McGranahan
Begin with "I"

In high school you're taught never to include “I” in essays, as if they
were being written by some formless being. To use the “I” in essays is
to claim ownership over our ideas and experiences.
“I’m going to start this discussion of forms and influences by returning

to some early influences for a couple of reasons.” – Lydia Davis
“My title is a bilingual acrostic of the name of our author.” – Douglas

Hofstadter (an essay about language)
“I have never yet known, or indeed known of, a contemporary

American writer who did not admire The Great Gatsby.” – George
Garrett
“In this essay I examine the location of rural dwellers in the political
economies of the post-independence states of Africa.” – Robert Bates
Ask a question
Questions are nice essay introductions because they ask the reader to
think about your topic. Engaging your reader is the goal of your
opening essay paragraph: if they are not engaged right out of the
gate, the rest of your essay, no matter how well-written will feel boring.
Spending more time writing your introduction is smart, and leading
with a question can help you immediately snap up your readers
attention. They will want to see how you answer the questions (close
the curiosity loop) and will be more compelled to keep reading with
interest.
“Is there violent protest music music in the United States today that
leads to social activism?” – Cameron White and Trenia Walker
“The ‘big picture’ question that this paper takes only a small step
towards answering is: ‘How important is income as a factor in
promoting the preservation of biodiversity?” – David Martin
Stamp of authority
Worried about writing a powerful opening for your essay? Let
someone more experienced than you do the talking! Calling on an
authoritative figure to open your essay is a perfect way to set up your
topic and removes the pressure from you needing to sound “smart.”
This is a very common and easy way to write the hook for your paper.
“According to Emile Bréhier, the distinguished philosopher and

historian of philosophy, the major task faced by French thinkers of the
early twentieth century was to re-situate man in what he aptly
describes as the ‘circuit of reality.’” – Edward W. Said
“Psychologists speak of movement responses to the Rorschach

inkblot cards.” – Rudolf Arnheim
Short Startling Statement
Introducing your essay topic with a short, startling statement can be
extremely powerful. This is a more creative essay opening that
requires some skill. Sometimes the shorter sentences are the hardest
to write well!
“No one has perhaps ever felt passionately towards a lead pencil.” –
Virginia Wolf
“A single line is a naked thing.” – Robert Hass
“Lists can be tyrannical.” – Sasha Su-Ling Welland
Start your essay with a “contrary to” or “fill

the gap” sentence
Like introducing the topic in the opening sentence of an essay, setting
yourself up to contradict a common belief is another common way to
begin your paper. It allows you to position yourself against other critics
and can add a lot of clout to your argument if used well. You can find
countless examples of this set up in essays online; do some research
and see how authors use contradiction and fill in the gap techniques
to write strong essay openings.
“Sherman Alexie’s novel Indian Killer (1996) has been described as a

detective novel and a suspense thriller; however, these classifications
are too simplistic.” – Jan Roush
“While much effort has gone into attempts to date the Edda poems
from their language and vocabulary, and there have been
considerable arguments as to their age and place of origin, rather less
attention to the nature of their subject matter and the particular
methods of presentation.” – H.R. Ellis Davidson

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08

“Reading is inevitably a complex, comparative process.” –

“Teaching, more even than most other professions, has been

“Aristotelian courage involves two distinct feelings, fear and

“In White Teeth, Zadie Smith demonstrates the problems of

“Issues relating to land and land rights of the dispossessed tribes

“Lesbian scholarship has not had much use for psychoanalysis.”

“In Sherman Alexie’s short story, “The Trial of Thomas-Builds-the-

In an inventory of American ideas, the thematic of the “tragic

“In July 1861, as his army consolidated its hold on northwestern

“Colorado’s mountains can be treacherous in the winter, and in

Begin with "I"

“I’m going to start this discussion of forms and influences by returning

“My title is a bilingual acrostic of the name of our author.” – Douglas

“I have never yet known, or indeed known of, a contemporary

“According to Emile Bréhier, the distinguished philosopher and

“Psychologists speak of movement responses to the Rorschach

“A single line is a naked thing.” – Robert Hass

“Lists can be tyrannical.” – Sasha Su-Ling Welland

Start your essay with a “contrary to” or “fill

“Sherman Alexie’s novel Indian Killer (1996) has been described as a

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