A fellow teacher and I had a discussion the other day about the odd prevalence of students wanting to start essays with quotes. It seems that they have gotten quite comfortable opening their papers with "So and so once said...insert quote here." I don't know if high school teachers are telling them that this is a good idea or if students aren't sure what else to say at the top of the page, but I have a general rule in my writing courses that we should almost never start essays by quoting someone else. I say almost never because, as with most things related to English, there isn't always a rule that applies to all situations. If a particular student is particularly sharp and has a very particular reason for using a particular quote, then I'm open to it, and other teachers probably should be as well. But here's my main reason for outlawing this introduction: it's your paper, and we want to hear from you.
You as the author have tremendous power. You have produced a work of value (hopefully), and you have a captive audience. Your ideas are literally right in front of our faces. And you want to relinquish that power by letting someone else step on your toes and have the first word? No way!
You are in charge. Whether you are making an argument or explaining how to do something or are just offering some interesting information, you are the boss of that topic. We need to hear your voice right from the start. Tom Brady doesn't walk onto the field for a game-winning drive and decide to let someone else throw the ball for a while. He is the quarterback on the field, and you are the quarterback on the page. Be clear, be strong, and get your ideas into our brains.
We certainly can use other people's words during other parts of the essay, as research support or as points of comparison to our language, but the first person we need to hear from is you. So, the next time you sit down to write an essay, put the borrowed quotes aside for a while, and write like a boss by running the show from the very first sentence.
And by the way, in case you were wondering, the very same rule applies to the conclusion of the essay as well. You should always have the first and last word.
You as the author have tremendous power. You have produced a work of value (hopefully), and you have a captive audience. Your ideas are literally right in front of our faces. And you want to relinquish that power by letting someone else step on your toes and have the first word? No way!
You are in charge. Whether you are making an argument or explaining how to do something or are just offering some interesting information, you are the boss of that topic. We need to hear your voice right from the start. Tom Brady doesn't walk onto the field for a game-winning drive and decide to let someone else throw the ball for a while. He is the quarterback on the field, and you are the quarterback on the page. Be clear, be strong, and get your ideas into our brains.
We certainly can use other people's words during other parts of the essay, as research support or as points of comparison to our language, but the first person we need to hear from is you. So, the next time you sit down to write an essay, put the borrowed quotes aside for a while, and write like a boss by running the show from the very first sentence.
And by the way, in case you were wondering, the very same rule applies to the conclusion of the essay as well. You should always have the first and last word.