Is it ok to begin an essay/report with a quote?
I am writing an essay on project management within IT and in my introduction I will give a brief description of project management, to being my essay I was looking at using one of these:
- Project management is 'A unique set of co-ordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organisation to meet specific objectives within a defined schedule of cost and performance parameters'
- Almost by definition, innovation relies on project management (Wheatley 2004)
Would either (#1 vs #2) of these quotes be an appropriate way to start an essay?
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There are pros and cons to starting off with something attributed to someone else.
It can lead the audience to expect something derivative so you really have to work to demonstrate why your ideas are either supported by the quote or can refute it - depending on your aims.
You may also use quotes to carefully point out the main idea of essay/report for the reader or to make a good statement right from the beginning to make your essay interesting and relevant.
I could not provide you with some examples but feel free to google it. and also check out some essay writing tips like this or this
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I kind of like the idea of starting with #2, but italicized and as its own paragraph — almost like an epigram leading off your essay. In fact, if you can get two or three of these short pithy quotes and set up each on its own line, before you begin your intro, that would be a rather intriguing start.
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