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Would you buy a box of cereal with just a plain tan box cover and no
information about what was inside? Or would you pick the cereal with
the picture of the waving wheat field on the front, the morning sun
just peeking over the horizon, and the words "100% natural whole
grains" in the top right-hand corner? Of course, the second box
would more likely inspire your confidence that the cereal inside was
worth your hard-earned money. Or what if you bought the second box which
advertised healthy cereal and found Lucky Charms inside instead? To
say the least, you might feel misled.
Effective introductions in writing function very much like marketing
packaging. They need to inspire the reader's interest and confidence
in the writing that will follow. They need to grab the reader's attention.
And they need to deliver what they promise.
When reading openings, readers want to know,
- What is this writing about?
- Am I interested?
- Is the writer an authority on this topic?
- Why should I bother to read it?
Readers want to know if an essay, book, or story is worth the investment
of their precious time. So the obligation of the writer is to convince
the reader in a couple of paragraphs that, "Yes, it is worth your
time!"
Thus, effective introductions should:
- Capture the reader's attention, confidence and interest.
- Establish focus.
- Establish authority.
- Provide context.
- Indicate purpose.
- Indicate direction.
Introductions can fail when:
- A writer starts too far back (We moved to Michigan when I
was five) rather than in the most important place (The day my father
died changed everything). Donald Hall, in Writing Well, says,
"We usually over-explain at the beginning of a paper and begin
too far back…in discussing how World War II began, we can begin
with the fall of the Roman Empire" (40).
- The writer blandly tells the reader what he or she is
going to do: "In this paper I will discuss the bombing of
Pearl Harbor. First I will…then I will…" Instead,
show the reader what the paper will be about: "Many
Americans gawked in disbelief as the bombs rained down on the beaches
of Pearl Harbor. Had this moment really come to pass?"
- The writer indicates the essay will be about one topic, yet actually
writes about a different topic. For example the writer may raise
a question about the symptoms and treatment for anxiety in the introduction,
but then spend the essay exploring how attitudes towards mental illness
have changed in the last 50 years.
- The writer does not establish authority: "I don't know
much about politics, but the trends in the last election were interesting."
- The writer never establishes a focus. There's an intriguing
quote about deer hunting as the first sentence. The second sentence
raises the question of wildlife management. The third sentence explains
how the writer worked at the Department of Fish and Game for a few
years after college. The last sentence brings up the issue of hunting
coyotes.
To help students craft effective introductions, learning support
coaches can have them experiment with the following strategies:
- Brainstorm answers to the "reader's questions" above.
- Do some prewriting or planning such as a freewrite, a mind-map,
or a list of ideas. Then identify, from the prewriting, the best place
to begin the story.
- Experiment with different ways of beginning the introduction such
as asking a question, including a relevant quote, sharing an interesting
fact or detail, giving a snippet of historical background, providing
a compelling statistic, or sharing a short narrative story.
- Explain to the reader how they learned about and got interested
in this topic.
- Brainstorm several opening sentences, perhaps five or ten. Narrow
the list to the best three. Then narrow down from the best three to
the best opening sentence. (Or, if none of the sentences work, try
brainstorming ten more.)
- Using the best opening sentence from #5 above, try writing several
opening paragraphs (3-5). Choose the best one.
- Bring in an example of what they feel is an effective introduction
and an example of a poor introduction. Have them explain the differences
they see between the two. Or have examples of both effective and poor
introductions on hand.
- Introductions can be difficult to write for some students. Other
students love writing them. The same is true of endings (or conclusions).
Pair up a student who is good at introductions but hates endings with
a student who is good at endings but hates introductions. Have them
swap tips and strategies.
With practice, most students will gain confidence in writing introductions.
A well-crafted introduction certainly makes the rest of the essay easier
to write because it lays a strong foundation for the writing that follows.
But the greatest benefit of learning to write effective introductions
is that readers will then be compelled to "buy the writer's box
of cereal," to read the piece of writing in its entirety, rather
than passing it by in favor of more colorful packaging down the aisle.
Personally, I like writing introductions better than conclusions.
Can you tell? Next time, I will share tips on conclusions!
References
Hall, Donald. Writing Well - Fourth Ed. Boston: Little, Brown
and Co., 1982.
Questions or comments? Contact the author at kyle.cushman@tui.edu.
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