The beginning

If you've only got an hour to write an essay spend a half-hour on the first paragraph and thesis statement. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. The opening is a critically important part of the essays. It's where your reader will meet your argument for the first time. It's your best （and often only） opportunity to lay out your argument, to give your reader a chance to see where you're going to try to take him. And it's reality check time for you: here's where all your grand visions for the essay start turning into reality. What you mention or don't mention in the beginning determines the main shape of your argument.