February 20, 2022 by Beth Hall
When AP Lang students begin writing timed essays, they often wonder how to write a rhetorical analysis introduction quickly. After all, 40 minutes is not much time to write an essay.
Writing an introductory paragraph for a rhetorical analysis essay can be intimidating. So, how can you impress your AP reader from the very start?
Tip #1: Don’t get stuck with writer’s block.
If you are struggling with how to start your essay and introduction, skip it (for now). Jump down a few lines and begin by writing your defensible thesis statement. After you write your thesis, move onto the first body paragraph.
Why?
The majority of the points in the AP Lang rubric come from the body paragraphs. Therefore, you don’t want to waste precious time on the introduction as you try to get past writer’s block. Once you have completed your body paragraphs, then, if time permits, you can go back and develop your introduction more if needed. Hopefully now that you have flushed out your ideas, your mind is ready to complete the introduction.
Tip #2: Include the rhetorical situation and a defensible thesis.
In your introduction, it’s very important that you reference the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation alerts your reader to what you will be analyzing in the rhetorical analysis essay. If you are feeling unsure about the rhetorical situation, check out this blog post.
Additionally, you don’t just want any thesis in your essay. You want your thesis to be defensible. Essentially, a defensible thesis should reference the rhetorical choices you intend to analyze within your essay as well as the main purpose, message, or argument (whichever one is specified in the prompt.)
For more tips about how to write a defensible thesis for a rhetorical analysis essay, check out this blog post.
#3: Avoid overused “attention grabbers.”
When you were in junior high, you might have been told to start your essay with a question. Now that you are in high school, you want to avoid this technique. You don’t want to use a rhetorical question or an opener such as “since the dawn of time.” These tactics are overused and come across as a bit cheesy.
Instead, try turning that rhetorical question into a statement or getting rid of the cliche sentence starter. Additionally, if you want to start your introduction with a hook, try a description, false assumption, or historical fact.
To see some examples of what this could look like, check out this video.
Now that I’ve shared some tips, let’s look at an example of an introduction.
Every child should have the ability to just be a kid. Florence Kelley understood that. A staunch supporter of women’s rights, Kelley was also an active voice against the harsh labor laws of the early 1900’s. In a passionate speech to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Kelley presents examples of harsh child labor laws and offers a detailed account of the hardships the children face in order to convince her audience to join with male voters to put an end to child labor.
In this example, the hook is a universal truth. After this hook, the introduction makes a reference to the passage and then gives a defensible thesis. This introduction isn’t too long, and it’s a great example of how your rhetorical analysis doesn’t have to include a lengthy or complicated introduction.
Next Steps
Now that you know how to write a rhetorical analysis introduction, do a practice “mini” timed write. After reading a rhetorical analysis passage, time yourself for 7 minutes. In that time, write an intro paragraph for a rhetorical analysis essay and apply the tips above.
You can do this activity multiple times with multiple prompts. As you practice, see if you can “cut down” the time a bit. Try to write the rhetorical analysis introduction paragraph in 5 minutes instead of 7.