On Introductions

WR3 | Workshops

On Introductions

Writing a good introduction is like asking someone out on a date. You’ve got to make a good first impression, it’s helpful if you look good, and if the other person just can’t see where this is going, you’re probably going to get turned down cold. In short, introduction is seduction.

Many of the introductions I’ve read, while competent and informative, are not very seductive. They have a thesis and provide context, but they don’t draw the reader in or make her want to read more. Think about your audience: will they want to continue reading your essay after completing your introduction? If not, how can you make your introduction more alluring, captivating, perhaps even shocking? Since you are writing essays on apocalyptic themes, this should not be too difficult.

One thing you might experiment with is creating an evocative or arresting image. Alternatively, you might tell a brief story or present a striking fact or statistic that will cause the reader concern or anxiety. You might ask the reader to imagine something—a possible future that waits for us if we fail to do X, Y, or Z, for example. If you write an introduction correctly, your readers will have no choice but to continue reading.

Allow me to illustrate with two ways of beginning the same essay:

Opioid deaths 1
Deaths from opioid overdose have reached a five-year high in the state of New Hampshire and are a leading cause of death in the United States.

vs

Opioid deaths 2
Pema clutched her stuffed animal while her mother OD’d on the cold hotel bathroom floor.

OR

Apocalyptic films 1
Lately, American cinema has focused on disaster, destruction, and apocalypse—a fact that is suggestive of a widespread anxiety about the relative safety of the nation.

vs

Apocalyptic films 2
In the false twilight of smoke and choking ash, ghostlike figures warm themselves by a pale fire kindled amid the rubble and twisted rebar.

As a reader, how do you respond to these rhetorical choices? Is one more effective than the other?

Today’s Workshop

In today’s workshop I would like you to exchange essays with another student and read each other’s introductions. Brainstorm together on how the introductions might be creatively rewritten in the spirit of the examples above. After a brief discussion, rewrite your introduction. This is just an experiment. Try some things out. Play with your intro. Be bold. You may discover an exciting new way to begin your essay. Of course, you are not required to keep the new introduction if you don’t believe that it makes your paper more successful. This is your essay. But who knows, you may hit on something.