The document provides guidance on writing an effective introduction for the ACT essay. It emphasizes that graders will form an initial impression based on the opening sentence. A strong introduction should engage the reader with a relevant quote, striking statistic, unusual fact, analogy, topic in the news, or brief anecdote. It then gives examples of effective openings for an ACT prompt about whether failure can lead to success. The introduction should quickly move to a focused thesis statement connecting the opening to the essay topic. Certain openings like cliches or announcing the essay structure should be avoided.