Usually, the readers are very selective about what they are willing to read and what they are not. If the first paragraph of an essay (or any other written work) doesn’t impress them, they won’t read any further. That is why it is essential to start your essay with a sentence that immediately grabs the readers’ attention. Such a sentence is an essay hook. Read more on wr1ter.com.
What is an Essay Hook
The introductory part consists of three main components: a hook, a summary of critical points of view, and theses. An essay hook is a bait that grabs readers’ attention and makes them read the entire essay. An essay hook should relate to your points of view on the topic and generate interest from potential readers.
There are different types of the essay hook:
– a rhetorical question
Put forward a problem that will help the reader grasp your thoughts’ essence and cling to it. For example, an essay on same-sex marriage might begin with the phrase, “Can’t a person marry someone he or she loves?”
– a shocking statement or statistic data
If you start with a shocking statistics or statement on a topic, it can grab your readers’ attention. For instance, when you are writing an essay about depression among students in college, an essay hook may look something like this: “More than twelve percent of students suffer from lingering depression.”
– a joke
Start with a short anecdote on the topic. Nonetheless, acknowledge that this may not always be appropriate. If you are writing an essay about the difficulties of single mothers, you should not say something like: “Jennifer could hardly make ends meet, trying to look after her son Robert.”
How to Write a Good Essay Hook
Remember: always make sure that your essay hook logically links to the rest of the text. Once you captivate your readers’ attention, it’s worth writing a few lines about the essay’s content for them to know what to expect from it.
For example, if you started your essay with the phrase: “The three main themes that permeate the novel The Great Gatsby are loneliness, the power of wealth over a person and the loss of true love,” you should devote a few sentences to the topic of loneliness in the novel, then about how wealth spoils a person, and how painful and difficult it is to lose true love.
After writing a hook sentence, you should state your main points of view on your work’s problematics.
Essay Hook Examples
There are many fantastic essays, which are missing a zest. Most of the time, it is the right essay hook.
If you find it challenging to start writing your essay, try to write a catchy first sentence.
E.g., “I first got into politics the day the cafeteria outlawed butter corn.”
Try to begin with a little-known or curious fact or statistic. For example, suppose you’re writing about the growing problem of obesity among children around the world. In that case, you might start like this: “Contrary to the popular belief that childhood obesity is a problem only for wealthy and spoiled Westerners, the WHO report states that more than 33% of preschoolers in developing countries are overweight or obese. ”
You can also start with a fascinating description or picture, if it is appropriate in your writing. Try to start your summer vacation essay like this: “When I felt the sun penetrating through the canopy and touching my skin, and heard the monkeys screaming somewhere in the distance, I knew I was in an amazing place.”