How to Write an Essay Introduction

What an essay introduction needs to do

Think of the introduction as a funnel. It starts with an opening that is specific and relevant, narrows through the context a reader needs, and ends at the narrowest point: your thesis. Every sentence should move the reader one step closer to that claim. A sentence that does not belongs somewhere else, or nowhere.

Those three jobs — engage, orient, commit — fit in surprisingly little space. In a short essay the introduction is one paragraph, often five or six sentences. It does not need to preview every piece of evidence or explain the whole history of the subject. A marker reading it should finish knowing what question you are answering, why it is worth answering, and what your answer is.

How to start an essay: six openings that work

The opening line has one test: could it only belong to this essay? Suppose the question is “Should museums return objects taken during colonial conquest?” Each of the openings below can work for that question; each also has a way to go wrong. Choose the one that leads most naturally to your thesis, and support any fact you open with from a source you cite.

How much context to give

Context is whatever a reader needs to follow your argument, and no more. For the museum essay that might mean a sentence on what restitution means, a sentence placing the Benin Bronzes among other contested collections, and a sentence on why the debate has sharpened. It does not mean a history of colonialism, which the body can draw on where it matters.

Define terms only when your argument depends on a specific sense of them. “Repatriation” usually means returning objects to a country or community of origin; “restitution” stresses returning them to rightful owners. If your essay hinges on that difference, say so in the introduction. Skip dictionary definitions of words your reader already knows — they spend a sentence and signal that you had nothing sharper to say.

End with your thesis, and sometimes a roadmap

The last sentence of the introduction is usually the thesis: your answer to the question, with its main reason. For the museum essay, one defensible thesis (the opposite side could be argued just as well) is: “Museums should return objects taken by force when a community of origin asks for them, because a claim to hold heritage for the world is weakest when the world's consent was never sought.” If you need help shaping that sentence, the guide to writing a thesis statement walks through it.

In essays of several thousand words, a roadmap sentence after the thesis can help: “After examining how the Bronzes were acquired, the essay weighs the case for universal museums against claims of ownership.” In shorter essays it usually wastes words, because the topic sentences of the body already show the route.

An essay introduction example, before and after

Weak version: “Throughout history, museums have played an important role in society. Museums contain many objects from around the world. Some people think these objects should be returned, while others disagree. In this essay I will discuss both sides of this debate.”

Revised version: “In 1897 British forces removed thousands of brass and ivory works, now known as the Benin Bronzes, from Benin City, and many still sit in European and American museums. Those museums describe themselves as guardians of world heritage. Yet a claim to hold objects for everyone sounds different when the objects were taken in war. Museums should return objects taken by force when a community of origin asks for them, because a claim to hold heritage for the world is weakest when the world's consent was never sought.”

The weak version opens with a sentence that could start any essay on museums, gives no specific context, and ends on an announcement instead of a claim. The revision opens on a concrete case, uses the museums' own self-description to create tension, and commits to a position the body can defend.

How to write an essay introduction in five steps

This sequence produces a usable draft in a few minutes and a strong final version once the body is done:

1. 1Write your working thesis first, as the sentence the introduction will end on.
2. 2List the two or three things a reader must know to understand that thesis: a term, a case, the state of the debate.
3. 3Choose an opening that leads toward those facts — a case, a tension or an assumption to challenge — and write it in one sentence.
4. 4Connect opening, context and thesis in four to six sentences, cutting anything that does not move toward the claim.
5. 5After drafting the body, reread the introduction and rewrite it so it sets up the argument you actually made.

Essay introduction mistakes to avoid

Markers read the same weak openings many times over, and they recognize them in the first line. Avoid these:

• Sweeping openers such as “Since the dawn of time” or “Throughout history”, which promise more than any essay can deliver.
• Dictionary definitions of familiar words, which signal that you had nothing more specific to say.
• Announcements such as “In this essay I will discuss”, which describe the essay instead of arguing.
• Strings of rhetorical questions that leave the reader to supply your answer.
• Previewing every piece of evidence, which leaves the body with nothing new to say.
• Apologies and hedges such as “this is a very complex topic”, which weaken your authority before you begin.

Essay introductions across subjects and formats

Conventions shift by discipline. History and literature introductions often open on a specific case or passage. Social science essays tend to open on a problem or debate and may state the approach. A lab report introduction is more formal: background on the topic, the gap or question, and the aim or hypothesis, with sources cited throughout. Follow examples from your own course when in doubt.

Under exam conditions, cut the introduction to two or three sentences: one of context and a clear thesis. Markers want to see your argument quickly, and time spent on an elegant hook is time taken from the body. The guide to outlining an essay shows the quick scratch outline that suits a timed answer. Whatever the format, the opening and the ending should speak to each other; the guide to writing a conclusion shows how to close the circle.