Writing Introductory Paragraphs: Essays

When you write introductory paragraphs for essays, you want to introduce the reader to what you will be talking about without giving everything away. Lets start off with some weak and strong examples of introductory paragraphs.

Weak:
JK Rowling is an author. She was born in 1990 and got divorced I think in 1997. She wrote a lot of books. She won the Smarties Prize for he Chamber of Secrets book. Her books are really famous. I'm going to tell you more about her.

Strong:
JK Rowling is a popular British children's book author who was born in 1990. She wrote many popular books including the Harry Potter series in which many children and adults love. But what else did she do other than writing the Harry Potter series? Well, you're about to find out!

In the weak example, too much was given away. We would save her divorce date and the date of the Smarties prize announcement for the body of the essay, and we would never use the phrase, "I think." And the last sentence which reads, "I'm going to tell you more about her" should never be used. You should never directly say what you will be writing about, and you try to end in a nice, fun way.

Using a question like in the strong example grabs the reader's attention- that is if it is used properly. The strong example did not get too specific, but it still gave some really good details. The strong example is clearly better than the weak one.

Tools and tips to make the paragraph better:

• Start out with a question or a cliffhanger to grab the reader's attention.
• Never directly say what you will write about.
• Don't reveal too much of your essay.

I hope this post helped!