You may know exactly how you’ll approach your essay assignment, from your research to detailing interesting facts and figures and perhaps include some charts in an effort to get a good grade. But many students aren’t sure how to start an essay. The beginning of an essay is instrumental in getting your work noticed and most importantly, to earn a high grade.

Without a strong beginning all your hard work could be in vain. So instead of putting it all at risk, we’ve included a guide to get you started – Literally. Our tips from professional writers will build your confidence in putting pen to paper. So read on to find these secrets to starting an essay.

How To Begin An Essay

The first paragraph of an essay can make or break your great so be sure to put much thought into each part. First, there are a few ways to open an essay. The main idea is to develop a good hook to have your audience asking for more. If you need to know how to write a good hook, take a look at our essay writing tips and state an interesting fact or asking a question that’s on everyone’s mind. Once you’ve accomplished this you want to give some background information to further involve the reader in your topic. Finally once they are informed on what you’re writing about, you can put a quality thesis statement that gives purpose to your paper.

Examples On How To Start Great Essay

You can apply this basic template according to any academic essay. In the following we’ll give you some ideas of opening lines for many popular homework assignments you may come across. Use our essay writing tips and put yourself in the readers seat. Lead off with some valuable information or a quotation that respects your target audiences time and they are sure to take an interest in your work. So let’s look at some examples of lead-ins for common papers.

Argumentative essay

In an argumentative essay you need to convince the audience you are right on a hot topic. These papers can be familiar political topics such as Roe vs Wade or your position on gun control. They can involve complicated subject matter such as testing mechanisms in an analytical essay.

They say that a person’s blink rate indicates their level of honesty, but science shows that women blink twice the rate as men. Does this mean men are more honest than women?

Opinion essay

An opinion essay is just that, a point of view that on a particular topic. Often times you’ll find these topics can be debated either way without a concrete answer. You can have some fun with these topics by merely finding a never ending pool of points to throw into the paper. Just be sure to backup your points with reasons and data to avoid a low grade.

Legalized marijuana makes better college students. Discover how this popular herb impacts student performance to focus on assignments.

Persuasive essay

The world is full of skeptics and what better way to show them the truth than to write a compelling paper showing them why a particular theory is correct. These papers will teach critical skills to build your emotional intelligence. Particularly if you need to know how to start an analysis essay, you’ll need to gauge your audience to find the best strategy to appeal to their rationale mechanisms. In this case we’ll start an essay with a question to persuade the audience for the need to promote a clean environment.

What would you do if you found out the world only had 10 years before climate change became irreversible?

Essay about yourself

Writing about yourself is never easy. You may be a bit shy or uncomfortable disclosing your personal life to others. Also, it’s hard to find the right tone to not come off as bragging and to be objective about your own experiences. But such tasks are very common, particularly when finding a job or entering university (see application essay below). Also, be sure to make yourself interesting without sounding like a megalomaniac. One piece of advice is to turn the focus on how another individual had an influence on you. In this case we’ll demonstrate writing about yourself and how to start off a quote in an essay.

“A penny saved is a penny earned”, this famous quote from Ben Franklin was advice that allowed me to pursue my dream of getting an education.

Expository essay

Your goal in an expository essay is to give further clarification on a particular issue. This could be a follow up on another’s work that wasn’t as clear or to give comments on an investigation on a case study. With these papers you want to ensure you first ask yourself what questions people may have and provide a succinct answer to fill in the gaps. An example of good essay beginnings for this task could be as follows:

Have you considered joining the flat earth society? This group has often been ridiculed for their theories but what if there were science behind it?

Compare and contrast essay

A popular topic in university is when you have to examine two subjects and detail how they are similar or different. These papers illustrate a student’s ability to analyze data and research details to come to conclusions. So if you are wondering how to start a compare and contrast essay being a bit controversial in the beginning may help. In our example we can start with a common argument we can see anywhere in our daily lives.

The argument of Android vs iPhone is as old as the technology itself, so which device is the most practical?

Essay for scholarship

We all know the financial burdens college tuition brings. In fact it can ruin a student if they fail to do well with their studies as they may not find a good job after leaving college. A word of the wise is if your grades are in jeopardy, enlist the help of custom essay writing services to protect the investment in your future. Applying for a scholarship is also a prudent move to reduce cost. These essays can vary in topic and are typically one page in length. The key is to demonstrate you will be successful in college so the sponsor has confidence in helping you succeed. Let’s take an example for an essay on how education is important in the world.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. These words from Nelson Mandela have a deeper meaning than the study of books and theories, but demonstrate a true dedication to having purpose and reaching one’s potential.

Application essay

Universities include an essay as part of the application kit to not only get an idea if you can write, but to get some inside information about yourself. This is often in the form of a personal statement and typically takes the form of an English Essay. Here you want to hammer away that you are ready for higher education and you’ll apply yourself to do good in the world. It’s not easy to differentiate yourself from the pack which is why a strong lead-in is vital.

As Shakespeare had stated “The pen is mightier than the sword”, and with a proper education students can unlock their future potential and bring new innovations to the world.

Informal essay

A pitfall many students fall into is that they don’t take these seriously. In fact you may start laughing when your teacher gives some example topics to write about. The idea of this work is to be fun and allow students to show their creative sides. But be creative in an educated way. Be sure to include facts and reasoning and not just random words on paper for the sake of reaction.

In the event of a pending zombie apocalypse, have you considered which 3 friends you’d have by your side?

Do and Don’t For a Good Essay Beginning

Writing a good intro isn’t rocket science but it is a skill that can always be developed. Professional academics recommend drafting a few intros to your work and selecting the one you like best. You can rework the passage, adding and rewording parts to give it strength.

Another tip is to ask your friends their opinion. Get some honest advice to see if they are interested in what would follow. In the beginning be sure to be on point. Try not to water down your meaning with unnecessary details and always be serious. If your paper comes across as comedy, you won’t be laughing when you get your grade.

How To Start Each Part Of Essay

So taking in this information, along with the examples of how to begin an essay examples let’s look at your paper as a whole. After all, the beginning is a start of something that must be consistent throughout your work. We’ve laid out some basic essay writing tips to put together a standard 5 paragraph essay. Follow this guide, and at the end, remember to review your work to spot any typos or mistakes.

How to start an essay introduction

The easiest way to do the introduction is to do it last. Once you finish with your body you can make a powerful start to your text as you’d have a better understanding the points you hit on best. Begin with a quote or fact and follow up with a catchy phrase to work as a hook. Then you are ready to place the thesis for the reader to keep in mind as they go through your work.

Start of the second paragraph

On longer papers you may have a multiple paragraph introduction to setup the paper. In the second paragraph, you build off the thesis and supply some background information or common questions that exist around your topic. Be sure they are relevant and will be answered later in your work.

Starting essay body paragraph

Your transition into the body is important to maintain the flow of the paper. Hopefully by now your audience is captivated and hungry to know more. Depending on the paper it’s time to state your research or show your teacher you understand the topic. You want to give your most important findings first. But don’t cram in all the interesting details at once or the rest of your paper may get boring. Structure your paper in a cycle of ups and downs alternating between interesting facts and mundane details which are important.

How to start a conclusion for an essay

In your conclusion you need to re-engage the reader as they’ve likely forgotten some key elements by now. Write in a brief summary of the take aways of your work and why it’s important. If your paper requires any type of decision you want to state it clearly so whoever reads your paper knows your perspective. You may also encourage the readers to take action or to further investigate areas that were beyond the scope of your work.

Motivate Yourself To Start Writing An Essay

Good essay beginnings have a mixture of passion and determination. Your working environment is of the utmost importance to produce quality work. Have a clear head when you start to write. If you have something on your mind, try to find a way to focus. You may find luck listening to certain music or vegging on the couch for a bit. Also, take some breaks during the writing process. You’ll be able to sort through your ideas and think about things you could have missed. Another recommendation is to get away from distractions and ensure you have a productive environment. Whether it be in a library or a different room. And be sure to detach yourself from your smartphone and social media. The number one time killer.

College will pile on a lot of homework and can be quite demanding at times. Fifty percent of the battle is getting started. So get into gear by setting yourself up to succeed and you’ll get the results you’re determined to get. Remember if you need assistance, our team is available anytime you need us, so reach out at any time.