Essay writing is one of the most challenging tasks students will have to face during their academic life. Especially, to pull the readers into the essay and make them read it completely, an effective introduction is needed. In general, there are several approaches available for writing an essay introduction but the most popular one is using a quotation relevant to the topic to hook the readers. Do you know how to start an essay with a quote? In case, you have no idea about it, continue reading this blog post. Here, we have explained the most effective ways to begin an essay with a quote. In addition to that, we have also discussed how to find a perfect quote and include that in the introductory paragraph of your essay.
Before getting to know about the essay introduction writing with a quote, first, let us learn about quotes and their types.
What is a Quote?
A quote is a short passage or phrase taken from the text or speech of other authors. In general, a quotation is a powerful tool in essay writing. There are many famous quotes available on almost all the topics like life, wisdom, knowledge, experience, etc. Relevant to your topic, you can pick the most popular quotes from any celebrities of the past or present and use them in your written assignments or speeches.
Various Types of Quotes
To begin an essay, you can use any type of quote. Listed below are the most popular examples of quotations.
Paraphrase: Reworded statements that contain the same meaning as original phrases.
Summary: Provides a brief account of the main points in the initial quote.
Direct Quotes: Includes all the spoken or written words.
Often, when writing academic essays, students use direct quotes without changing any expression. But you can use any of the above-mentioned forms effectively to avoid interfering with the original citation’s actual meaning.
Learn How to Start an Essay with a Quote
Discussed below are the important tips that would be helpful for you when you wonder how to start an essay with a quote.
Know your target audience
When searching for a quote, give more importance to the quote that is easy for your readers to understand and relate to. If you use a less popular or unfamiliar quote as a hook, then no big impact will be created in your audience when they read the introductory paragraph of your essay.
Typically, you can use a quote from a pop culture celebrity or popular personality to attract the general audience. But to connect with more specific audiences, you should choose a source that fits your target audience.
Never use a quote that is offensive to the readers unless you plan to contradict the quote. In case, the quote you use is obscure or if you think it would be unfamiliar to your readers, provide additional details on that quote. Remember, the quote you prefer should be clear and informative but it shouldn’t insult your reader’s intelligence.
Identify the context of the quote
Before using a quote in your essay, research and get to know the original context of a quotation. If you have a prior idea about the quotation, then you can easily determine whether you can use that quote in the beginning section of your essay.
Choose a quote relevant to your purpose
The quote you use in your essay must sync with the purpose of your topic appropriately. If you use any quote that is irrelevant to the topic, then it may distract your target readers instead of drawing them into your essay. So, when choosing a quote, give preference to the tone and purpose of the essay. For instance, a humorous quote will not gel well in an essay on sensitive topics.
Avoid Cliches and frequently used quotations
If you use a popular quotation in the same way as every other person, then the quotation will bore your readers. Also, it would make your readers think that you haven’t considered your target audience. So, avoid using clichéd quotes or frequently used quotations in your essay.
Connect your quote and point
Never pick a random quote and begin your essay. The quote you use should be relevant to your essay topic or thesis. Make sure to establish a connection between the quotation and the topic of your essay. Most importantly, explain how the quote supports your argument or opinion about a certain essay topic.
Say, for example, when writing an essay on topics like gender equality or feminism, to emphasize your main point, you can pick any quote from a feminist author.
Acknowledge the source
All the quotes you use in your essay require proper acknowledgment. If you use any quote in your essay, then be certain to mention from where you took that quote because acknowledging the source will enhance the credibility of your essay. When you include quotes in your essay, remember to follow a proper citation essay format.
Especially to help your readers easily find the source, we recommend you follow proper documentation formats like Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) style, etc.
Considering all these tips on how to start an essay with a quote will help you to select the right quote. No matter what quote you choose to begin the essay, before incorporating it, check whether it is related to the focus of your essay. Usually, the opening of your essay should be clear, concise, and specific. So, avoid choosing too wide or general openings that give a boring effect to your essay.
Features of a Perfect Essay Quote
Typically, quotations capture the exact words that another person uses in writing or speaking. For instance, writers ought to choose appropriate statements for their works carefully. Especially, by including a quotation that fits the main idea and the topic they have chosen in their papers, the essay writers may help the readers avoid potential distractions they face. Here, let us look at the key characteristics of a quote to be used in an essay.
Remarkable Quotations
Memorable quotes are ideal for starting scholarly papers. When beginning an introduction with a quotation, authors mostly select a relevant passage, position it at the start of the opening paragraph, and then explain how the passage relates to the topic of their essays. This is because, using brief, memorable sentences related to chosen essay topics will help the writers pique the reader’s curiosity and interest. Furthermore, the readers may recollect a certain quotation after reading the text.
Clear and Concise Quotes
Clear and concise quotations are essential for improving the essay’s quality. When writing essays, authors can begin a paragraph with a quote to attract people’s attention and lay a solid foundation for a core point, as far as the material is immediately relevant and correctly introduced to the audience. Long quotes may detract from the intended perception of essential principles. Therefore, in practice, it is important to use concise quotes to improve the clarity of a statement. Moreover, short passages will be easy for readers to understand.
Credible Statements
While composing essays, the quotes that authors use must be taken from credible sources. For instance, it is best to use quotes spoken by notable political leaders or famous persons from any relevant field. Most importantly, in an essay, to avoid plagiarism, it is essential to cite the quoted words. This in turn will help the essay writers improve the content quality and increase the authority of the essay on a specific topic.
Tips for Choosing the Right Quote for an Essay Introduction
While you are in the process of selecting a quote for your essay introduction, keep these things in your mind.
- Always give high priority to content over authority i.e. a quote’s message or thought is more important when compared to the figures behind it. This would help you to escape from the risk of not being unique by citing famous personalities like everyone else.
- Try to find out the context in which the quotes were created i.e. the situation that made an author write the quote. Describing this would give a clear idea to the readers about the internal struggles faced by the authors.
- Searching for quotes is a time-consuming process. There are multiple methods available to search for quotes. Some common methods include checking good books that contain a collection of quotes and using online search engines to formulate queries. Yet another approach is choosing relevant sources directly and searching for quotable passages in them.
Know How to Include a Quote in Essay Introduction
When writing the quotation in your essay introduction, make sure to follow these things.
- Introduce the quotation in your own words. Also, you should find out the speaker of the quotation.
- If your quote is the first sentence of your essay, then remember to explain the quote in 2-3 sentences. In addition to that, explain why you chose that quotation and why it is important for your essay.
- Thirdly, you should give an explicit association between the quotation you used and your thesis statement. Note that the quotation should not distract from your argument.
Standard Format of an Essay Quote
When you include a quote in an essay, make sure to follow this format
- Quote Introduction: Introduce a particular statement using a signal phrase.
- Direct Passage: Use quotation marks to enclose a text quote.
- In-Text Citation: Following a selected statement (if relevant), put the author’s name and the page number in parentheses.
- Analysis: After a referenced passage, write one or two sentences outlining your interpretation or analysis and how it relates to your argument.
Effective Ways to Introduce a Quote in an Essay
When you include a quote in your essay, according to your citation style, remember to include the last name of the author, page number, and date. Listed below are some possible ways through which you can introduce a quotation in your essay, as per the MLA format.
- While introducing a quotation, use a full sentence followed by a colon.
- Start the sentence with your own words and then finish it with quoted words.
- Include an introductory phrase naming the source, followed by a comma to quote the author.
- To introduce the words of an author, use a descriptive verb followed by a comma.
- If your lead-in to the quotation ends, never include a comma after that.
Examples of How to Start an Essay with a Quote
The quote you use for the introduction should not stand alone in the essay. Also, while mentioning the quote, you should punctuate it appropriately by using quotation marks around them. Failing to cite the sources of the quote may lead to plagiarism issues.
As said above, whenever you write a quote, make sure to cite the source and the name of the authors in a standard reference format.
Here are some examples of how to acknowledge the source of a quote using a proper citation style or format.
Nelson Mandela once said, “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up”.
The witch regrets leaving his cave in the forest: “This is not a quote; this is a formatting example” (Shelley 10).
In progress report 12, Steven explains “This is not a real quote; this is a formatting example” (Keyes 402).
Mark Twain (1940) once wrote, “Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life” (p. 235).
Starting Essays with a Quote- Pros and Cons
Beginning an essay with a quote contains a lot of pros and cons. Listed below are some advantages and disadvantages of opening an essay with a quote.
Pros
Using a quote at the start of your essay would help you to
- Set a proper tone.
- Grab the attention of the readers at an easy go.
- Recruit the original authors’ authority in the essay.
Cons
Here are some common disadvantages of starting an essay with a quote.
- Time-consuming to search and find an ideal quotation that matches the purpose of the essay.
- Rush the culmination.
- They are cliche.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, by now, you will have gained a better understanding of how to start an essay with a quote. If you want your target readers to read the entire essay, then make sure to grab their attention by introducing a quote relevant to your essay topic at the beginning. Remember, the quote that you use should be remarkable, concise, and properly cited. In case, it is challenging for you to find an appropriate quote and use that in your essay, approach us immediately. The finest essay writers from our team will assist you in starting an essay with a perfect quote.
