In my second creative writing class, I look at the question of how to write opening paragraphs that reflect the goals of the creative work as a whole, in a way gives them an immediate purpose in the story.
I suggest six possible approaches.
Naturally, there are many more, but hopefully the examples I give from the work of others help to illustrate the potential use of:
1) context,
2) situation,
3) setting,
4) character,
5) voice and time, and
6) explanation: