Ways to Begin Your Essay Introduction

• start with the title and author

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare shows how power may be abused.

• start with the author

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar deals with many issues that remain topical.

• start with a character

Marcus Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is an idealist.

• start with an idea

As we know from history, tyranny can be dangerous. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar proves just how much people fear it.

• start with a quote

"Beware the Ides of March" (I,ii, 21) warns a soothsayer in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

No matter which way you choose to begin, remember that the function of the introduction is to lead into and provide a context for your thesis. Of course it's good to make it interesting, so that we want to read your paper, but an interesting introduction that doesn't seem to fit with the thesis not a good introduction.