How do you start an essay with a quote

Preparing the introductory paragraph is one of the most challenging tasks in the essay writing process. When compared to other essential sections, the introduction plays a vital role because it is the opening part of an essay that has the responsibility to pull the readers inside the essay. Basically, there are different approaches available to begin the introductory paragraph in an essay but starting with a quotation is preferred the most. Because, when you start an essay with a quote that is unique and creative, your readers will find it curious to know what is there inside the essay and will end up reading the entire essay.

Never begin your essay without a catchy hook. A catchy hook is a powerful tool that has the vibes to grab the reader’s attention and generate interest in the topic. The hook can be a quote, a fact, a statistic, etc. But using a quote that is relevant to the topic is one of the most effective ways to begin an essay.

Are you aware of how to start an essay with a quote? If you don’t have any idea, then keep on reading this blog post. Here, in detail, we have explained how to find an ideal quote and open an essay with that ideal quote.

Definition of a Quote

A short phrase or a passage that is extracted from the written text or speech of other writers or speakers is identified as a Quote. It is one of the valuable tools that are used predominantly when writing essays, articles, and blog posts. The quotations can also be used when delivering a speech.

In general, there are several famous quotes available on plenty of topics such as friendship, life, knowledge, love, etc. Especially when preparing your written assignments or speeches, based on your topic, you can search and find the most famous quotes from any celebrities of the past or present.

On the whole, the quote is commonly classified into three types- Summary, Paraphrase, and Direct quotes. To start an essay, you can use any quote type. The summary gives brief details of the essential points in the initial quote. The paraphrase is nothing but reworded statements that provide the same meaning as original phrases. The words that are written or spoken are referred to as direct quotes.

Out of all these three different types of quotes, students often prefer direct quotes while writing an essay. But in order to avoid ruining the actual meaning of the original citation, you can use any of these quote types appropriately.

How to Start an Essay with a Quote

Wondering how to begin an essay with a quote? Cool! The below-mentioned tips will provide you with a clear idea of how to begin the introductory paragraph of an essay with a quote.

Give preference to your target readers

Before you begin searching for the quote for your essay, first understand the mindset of your target readers and then select a quote suitable for them. The quote that you select should be easy for your readers to relate to and understand. Never choose a quote that is insulting to your readers unless you plan to refute the quote.

In order to catch the attention of the general audience, you can pick quotes from a pop culture celebrity or renowned personality. But to engage with a specific set of audiences, find a quote from a source that matches the interest of your target readers. Remember, the quote you use at the start of your essay should be clear, informative, and shouldn’t offend the intelligence of your readers.

Avoid picking a quote that is unfamiliar to your target audience. Choosing a less popular quote will not create any impact on your readers while they read the opening paragraph of your essay. If you feel that the quote you have selected would be unfamiliar for your readers, provide more details on that quote.

Get to know the context of the quote

Don’t randomly use quotes that are appealing to you. Before you finalize a quote, identify the original context of that quote. If you have a proper understanding of that quote, then you yourself can determine whether or not that quote would be appropriate to use at the start of your essay.

Identify a quote relevant to the purpose of your essay

The quote that you have selected to use at the beginning of your essay should be relevant to the purpose of your essay. If you use any irrelevant quote at the start of your essay, then your readers will not even read your essay completely. Note that, using a quote mismatching to your essay purpose may easily distract your audience. Say, for instance, if you explain a sensitive topic with a humorous quote, then it won’t work for the readers. So, while selecting a quote, make sure to consider the purpose and the tone of the essay.

Never use clichés and popular quotations

Your readers will quickly get bored if you use popular quotes in the same way as every other person. Also, it might make your readers think that you haven’t put any effort or haven’t taken your target audience into account. So, whenever you choose a quote, say a big no to clichés and frequently used quotations.

Link your quote and point

When selecting a quote to start an essay, give preference to the quote that satisfies your arguments or main points. Your selected quote should sync with your essay topic or thesis. Also, you should remember to explain how the quote supports your opinion or argument about a particular essay topic.

Say, for example, while writing an essay on entrepreneurship topics, suitable to your main points or arguments, you can use quotes from a successful entrepreneur.

Cite the Sources

You must acknowledge the source of all the quotes that you have used in your essay. Specifically, you should mention where you took that quote and who said that quote. Note that, citing the sources would increase the credibility level of your essay.

To present the quotes in your essay, use a proper citation format or style such as Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) style, etc. The standard citation format or referencing style would help the readers to effortlessly identify the source of your quote.

By following all the above-mentioned tips, you can come up with the right quote to start an essay. No matter what quote you have selected for your essay, before including it at the start of your essay, check whether it is matching to the focus of your essay. Usually, the hook statement at the opening of your essay should be specific, clear, engaging, and concise. So, never choose unimpressive opening quotes that offer a boring feel to your essay.

How to Start an Essay with a Quote- Examples

The quote you use at the opening of the introductory paragraph should not stand alone. When writing the quote, you should use appropriate quotation marks around them and punctuate it. You may suffer from plagiarism problems if you fail to acknowledge the source of the quote.

Whenever you include a quote in your academic essay, you must cite the original source and the name of the person who wrote the quote as per the standard reference or citation style.

Here, we have listed a few examples to show the effective ways to cite the source of a quote using a proper citation style or format.

• Franklin D Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

• “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”.(Martin Luther King, Jr., “I have a dream” speech, August 28, 1963). This quote from the great Martin Luther King’s speech still remains as a dream. Even in this modern digital world, no change is born; someone somewhere is suffering from racism and discrimination issues and waiting for justice.

• Mark Twain (1940) once wrote, “Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life” (p. 235).

• “The best definition of man is: a being that goes on two legs and is ungrateful” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, 1864). It looks like human nature is a constant. Maybe Dostoyevsky would have changed his thoughts if he had a chance to live around grateful people.

Final Words

We hope you have gained a better understanding of how to start an essay with a quote. Basically, selecting a quote for beginning an essay is a tedious process that is time-consuming. But whenever you search for a quote, make sure to refer to printed books or credible online websites. The internet is loaded with a lot of fake information and the quote you pick might not be actually a quote. So, whenever you use a quote, check for the original source and the name of the person who said that quote.

For starting an essay, there are many catchy methods available but using a quote as a hook is one of the best methods to grab the attention of the readers. Remember, you may fail to impress your readers if you use a quote mismatching to the essay topic. Therefore, in order to identify an ideal quote suitable to the main points of the essay, invest more time and effort.

In case, you don’t know what quote to use in your essay, or if you are unsure of how to start an essay with a quote, call us for essay writing help. In our team, we have talented essay writers to offer reliable and cheap online essay writing services.

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