Students write a timed essay then use their draft to learn how to write an effective introduction.
Write your first attempt at responding to the 2015 AP Poetry Prompt:
"In the following poem by Caribbean writer Derek Walcott, the speaker recalls a childhood experience of visiting an elderly woman storyteller. Read the poem carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, discuss the speaker's recollection and analyze how Walcott uses poetic devices to convey the significance of the experience. "
Read the AP English Literature Timed Essay Introduction Skills tips in the image below, keeping your previously written introduction in mind:

Is the title of the poem and author written in your FIRST sentence?
Did you write an introduction to your thesis?
Does the first and/or second sentences say something about the prompt (synonyms count)?
Is the first sentence about the poem at all?
Is your first sentence a question?
Is your first paragraph, intro & thesis, longer than a 1/4 of your piece of paper?
Is your first sentence a simple sentence (subject-verb-predicate)?
Is your first sentence a compound sentence (two simple sentences joined with and, or, nor, for but)?
Is your first sentence a complex sentence (an independent clause + a dependent clause)?
Look at the first word in your essay. Is it on this list (or, is it vague or general)?
Your turn to practice an interesting introduction with your 2nd attempt!