Writing essays doesn’t have to be difficult, boring, or tiresome. In fact, this process can be a lot of fun as long as you know how to approach it right. The best way to make your paper more interesting for you and your readers is to be creative with it. You have only a few pages to fill in, and you should use them wisely. Those few pages can reflect your opinions, ideas, beliefs, sense of humor, and voice. Overall, a paper can become your perfect platform to show off the creative and writing skills you have.
As you can see, a writing assignment provides you with plenty of options for self-expression. However, you need to use those opportunities to interest your readers too. After all, you are doing this work for them more than you are doing this for yourself. So you need to come up with ways to engage readers in your text. Fortunately, there is a very effective way to do it. Whether your assignment has to be very formal or personal, you can always grab your readers’ attention with one simple technique. This technique is called a “hook.”
Now, there can be numerous ways to make a good hook for an essay. If you do them right, you get your readers’ attention for the rest of your work. In this article, we will cover most of the strategies for writing effective hooks for essays. However, before we begin, let’s learn more about the nature and purpose of this technique first.
What Is a Good Hook for an Essay
There shouldn’t be much mystery about what makes a good hook. It is the opener in your introduction that aims to engage your readers. This opener can serve many purposes, from intriguing to surprising the audience. However, regardless of the strategy you choose, it has to encourage a person to explore your text further.
Good hook sentences for essays should also reflect the nature of the paper. For instance, good hooks for persuasive essays would be starting with statistics or common misconception. This way, you already start the process of persuasion with the very first lines. You either discriminate against the opinion that you are debunking or give evidence to confirm your statement right away. The descriptive or personal essay can start with the personal story to set the tone for the rest of the text.
Literary Quotes
Literary quotes, or quotes in general, is one of the classical ways to start any paper, particularly if you're looking for a good hook. A perfectly chosen quote can summarise everything you want to say in your future work. It can reflect the mood of the paper or set the right expectations. Overall, a quote ensures a smooth transition into the further text, not to mention that it is one of the laziest openers you can have. With a quote, you don’t have to ponder about how to create a good hook for an essay. You already have a perfect sentence ready. Your only trouble here is to pick the right citations. Here are the examples of such openings:
- “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing” (Theodore Roosevelt)
- “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” (Jane Austen)
- “The course of true love never did run smooth” (William Shakespeare)
A good tip here would be to go with a quote from authors you already use for the paper. It is especially convenient when you are writing a book analysis. By starting with the quote from that book, you emphasize your position as the author of the further text. Another good idea is to insert one of your favorite quotes or something from the classics. As long as the author’s words fit the nature of your work, you can confidently use them. Overall, a quote is an easy option whenever you feel stuck in a search of how to come up with a hook for an essay.
Statistics
If you are curious about how to make a good hook for an argumentative essay, then this is your answer. Statistics or any data for that matter, make a great opener for most analytical papers. You set a clear tone for your work by starting with facts. You demonstrate the seriousness of your intentions with the very first lines.
Of course, the data you find has to be in regard to the topic you are discussing. It will be best if the opening facts also serve as proof for your thesis statement. Overall, make sure that the data you offer in the introduction makes the point you will be trying to prove throughout your work.
These are some of the examples:
- Six out of ten people in the United States have lived in a house with a gun during their lifetime.
- Over 1.5M people worldwide have been infected with Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
- Over half of Tik Tok users are under eighteen years old.
As you can see, facts and data make a strong impression. They are a statement you are ready to declare. With your next sentences, you will go to explain how such data is good or bad and which side you are on in the given text.
Question
Any time you feel confused about how to make a good hook sentence for an essay, you can think of a questioning strategy. Starting with a question is a perfect solution on how to have a good hook in your intro that engages people right out of the gate. A question is an amazing way to engage your audience the moment they look at your text. If there is a question, there must be an answer. Your work promises them to give that answer at some point, so the readers keep on looking for it. Besides, a person now feels like they are a part of that search for the answer. They have no choice but to think about what you have just asked them. See it for yourself. Here is some question that could be at the beginning of a paper:
- Have you ever thought about how many children with obesity are in the US?
- Do you know the environmental benefits of the vegan diet?
- How much do you know about Greek poetry?
Now, how did you feel reading them? Were you interested in the answer? Did you stop for a moment and ponder each question? We are ready to bet that you did! That is the power of a great opener. An audience has no choice but to focus on a search for an answer. Once you get their attention, all you need to do is to keep it.
Thesis Statement
Usually, teachers will tell you that your thesis statement should be in the last part of your introduction. However, that doesn’t always have to be the case. You can be bold enough to begin your work with the thesis statement. It is slightly unconventional, sure, but it is not against the rules. You show your audience that you are ready to go straight to the point!
This strategy is particularly successful when coming up with a new perspective in a well-known area of study. Thus, even if your work’s theme didn’t look all that interesting at first, it will surely do once your readers read your thesis statement. It is exactly why you have to open with it. This way, you show off your innovative approach.
So here are the examples of hook in an essay as the thesis statement:
- Humanity needs to invest in space exploration more so we could have alternative options for living.
- To understand modern politics better, people must learn the history of the Roman Empire and its fall.
