AP® English Language and Composition · Big Idea 1
2.A The Menu of Introduction Moves (RHS-1.I)
An introduction has a menu of moves—anecdote, scenario, statistic, quotation, question, definition—and the right one depends on what the audience already believes, not on which sounds most dramatic.
Every introduction has to do two jobs: pull the reader in and point them toward the claim. The menu of moves gives different tools for the pull. A statistic establishes scale: one in twenty-five hospital patients gets an infection there. A scenario puts a reader inside a moment: children standing at a bus stop in the dark at six in the morning. An anecdote tells a small story about one person. A quotation borrows someone else's authority or phrasing. A question invites the reader to answer for themselves, which is why 'What time did you get up today?' lands differently than a fact ever could. A definition reframes a familiar term on the writer's terms, as in redefining a 'safe stop' as one with a lit shelter.
The choice is not about which move is most dramatic. It is about which move does the most work for this particular audience. Readers who already think they understand why their water bill rose need to be shown something they don't know, not reminded of the number they already have memorized. That means the strongest opener for them is the hidden line item, not the percentage itself, because a fact they already hold confirms their existing belief instead of unsettling it.
This is why a startling number can fail even when it's true and vivid. A statistic shows size, not direction. A reader can find one in twenty-five patients memorable and still have no idea, a hundred words later, what the writer wants them to do about it. The strongest opening move always points toward the thesis that follows it, which is the same job the closing paragraph does from the other end of the essay.
Key terms
- Scenario
- An opening move that places the reader inside a specific moment or scene rather than stating a general fact.
- Appeal to authority
- An opening move that borrows credibility from an expert or respected source to support the coming claim.
- Rhetorical situation
- The combination of writer, audience, purpose, and context that shapes which choices will be effective.
- Thesis
- The main claim an essay argues for, which the introduction's opening move should point toward.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow do a quotation, a statistic, an anecdote, a question and a scenario each hook differently?
- Worked exampleShow me four different openings for a single argument that school buses should run later.
- Worked exampleFind the best opener for a piece on water bills aimed at readers who think they know the issue.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a startling number always the strongest way to begin an argument?
Check yourself
End of topic.