Two for one! The close-reading introduction

One excellent way to "hook" your reader in your introduction is with a short close-reading that opens onto your larger argument.

In the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice , the narrator declares, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." The narrator pronounces this sentence from an "objective" point of view, stating a fact that holds true for all humankind, and then honing in on the wants and desires of a male person. Yet the novel itself is not about humankind; it is about women. Nor does it take place from an objective "outside," but instead moves in and out of the minds of its female characters, illuminating their perspective on the problem of marriage. Finally, the "wants" that the novel is concerned with are those of women: Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia, and even more Kitty have hopes and desires that cannot be realized because they can neither inherit land nor survive alone. Indeed, the chapter that follows this opening paragraph goes on to describe Mrs. Bennet's obsession with a wealthy neighbor who has jus moved in: it is a truth hardly acklowledged at all in Austen's time that a women in possession of no fortune at all must be in desperate want of a husband. Pride and Prejudice, then, is a devastating critique of marriage disguised as a lively comedy of manners.

excerpted from Prof. Elizabeth Freeman's English 144 Course Reader (UC Davis, Winter 2004)