A sharp opening is rewarding to write and will grab your reader's attention.
When you tackle an essay, getting that first sentence down is a relief. But some writers really want to knock the socks off their readers and wonder if they could craft better openings, ones that are so good that they compel readers to enter the text with pleasure, even if the paper addresses a topic that's as dry as toast. Fortunately, you can employ one of several techniques that work for most assignments.
Sensory Impressions
Human beings are interested in written work that encourages them to see themselves in the thick of it. Open an essay with strong sensory impressions that will appeal to your reader's need to see, feel, smell and taste the environment. Doing so will work with many topics, including scholarly ones.
For example, consider this opening sentence for a research paper on the state of education in America: "In classrooms that smell of apples, peanut butter sandwiches and brown paper bags, teachers all over America teach our children to read and write. They usually arrive early and often leave late, and when the get home, they plan the next day's lessons and grade papers."
You need not include every sense; one or two will do.
Anecdotes
Though it may seem unconventional, academic papers can bear a first sentence that sets up an opening anecdote. To the reader, they work like a hook. The trick is to leave the anecdote and in the second paragraph, immediately launch into what would be the traditional first paragraph. This way, you quickly establish a more scholarly tone. For example:
"In February of 2011, a woman in Spartanburg, South Carolina, coiled a rope around her dog's neck, angered that it had chewed on her furniture. She then hoisted it over a tree branch and lit a fire underneath the still living pit bull.
"Cruelty to animals is rampant all over the United States. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, many people don't realize there are humane ways of dealing with unwanted pets. Starting with free spay and neuter programs..."
Interesting Facts
Interesting statistics, little-known facts and obscure trivia all make compelling opening sentences. For example, for a paper on terra cotta art forms, you could open with, "Chinese scholars estimate that more than 700 horses, 130 chariots and 8,000 soldiers, all of them ancient, life-sized and made of terra cotta, rest under the earth near the mausoleum of early Chinese emperor, Qín Shihuáng Ling."
To find an interesting fact or bit of trivia, keep your eye out for any interesting fact that concerns your topic while you research your paper. Later, cast it into a sentence of your own and you will have an effective opening sentence.
Style
Long sentences, those that start with dependent clauses, pull readers forward and help to draw them in, as long as the sentence says something interesting. Fiction writers often use this technique. However, "to stop waste, and to teach others about recycling, I am writing this paper on waste management" is not going to draw anyone in. On the other hand, a more colorful sentence of the same construction probably will: "After 50 years' worth of dirty diapers, empty cans and crud had piled up in the town landfill, when a small boy could climb atop the hills of trash and see the next town over, the mayor of Neanderthal decided it was time to push for community recycling."
To create this type of sentence, establish a subordinating clause -- also called a dependent clause -- at the beginning, followed by the main clause after a comma. You can also stack up more than one subordinating clause before you get to the main clause. Subordinating clauses always start with relative pronouns -- who, whom, that, which or others -- or subordinating conjunctions such as "because," "until," "when," "whenever" or one of many others. Notice there are two subordinating clauses in each of the above examples.
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