Quick Tips: Writing an Opening Paragraph

In historical papers, it can be tough opening the whole thing. You need to somehow fit in your thesis with some supporting background information about the topic, all within one paragraph. If you think that it's impossible, don't! You just need an outline to effectively show how it can be written, in little to no time (which is important on tests/exams)!

First, look at the information given to you (since every paper is based on a certain amount of information). You can get your entire background info from here; if you can remember any more than what is on there, though, that can be valuable to show your actual knowledge of the subject. For instance let's say the info was, "The ABC Revolt was in 1888, which kick started the revolution in Country D. This would lead to further uprisings until Country E took over and they became the Republic of F. (I call this the "Alphabet Soup" example.) You could then add any more info pertaining to the revolution, anything after 1888 in the country, etc.

Next, you should already have your thesis. What you'll want to do is use the statement to open up your opening paragraph with the first sentence. If it was "Evaluate the economical and political problems/solutions of the revolution in the Republic", you can use the word "evaluate" and work from there. The same goes for "compare", "contrast", "review", etc.

In the end, you should have something like this: "The Republic of F had many issues after the Revolution. After Country E took over Country F in 1888, the economy and government had begun to take hits. The society was not happy with all of the changes wrought from the Devastation Famine, and were looking for scapegoats. The US also began considering cutting ties with the country due to Emperor G's communist ideals. (Thesis).

While it's not perfect, you can see that I used my prior knowledge (the Devastation and US) and evaluated the situation of the Republic after the Revolution (focusing on issues; I didn't have to do both unless they used "and"). Remember, you can use any big pieces of evidence for your thesis in your opening paragraph; in fact, I encourage it, because it will show later on what you consider the biggest part of your argument.

However, an opening paragraph is NOT JUST A THESIS. Unless your teacher says it's alright, just a thesis alone won't be sufficient enough to open your paper. If you use this outline, you'll be able to be writing college-level essays in no time (or, at least, opening paragraphs)!

-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep