When the beginning is beautiful, everything else will likely be beautiful to the end. This is the kind of picture that you should create in the mind of your audience anytime you sit to write an essay.
It is what will make them decide to read your essay line after line, paragraph after paragraph to the end. An essay hook serves this purpose and you should take time to craft it than rush it through. If you want to write a most attractive essay hook, read on to know the secrets.
Definition of an essay hook
The desire of every essay writer is for their essay to attract the highest grades. This can only be achievable if the instructor or examiner finds the essay detailed with relevant information, to the point, and interesting.
It is possible to make your essay attractive by making it likable from the very first sentence. An essay hook is the opening sentence in your essay and it should not exceed two sentences. The hook is not an introduction or a thesis statement.
Instead, it is a piece of sentence aimed at grabbing your audience’s attention so that they can take an interest in reading your entire essay. It can be a quote, a statement, question, metaphor, a statistical fact, or anything that can help hook your audience to your essay.
Think of it as a bait that is placed on a hook to attract the fish, but it is the hook that catches it. You must make it interesting. It must intrigue the reader, impress, and make them want to read it to the end. Here are two examples of hooks but they must be relevant to your essay topic.
- If only 0.3 percent of solar power can be tapped from the Sahara, it can power entire Europe.
- At one point or another, every individual has lied, but because it is contrary to the truth we know, a lie is eventually exposed, and the truth beneath it is revealed.
How to write a captivating hook for your essay
Sometimes you may have an idea for your essay hook the moment you begin to write your essay, but at other times, it takes patience, deeper thoughts, or help from a custom essay writing company. Here are some of the best methods to write the most attractive essay hook.
A long hook will lose meaning
An essay hook is not a paragraph or a point to argue out, but something to show your audience you have written the best piece of an essay. The golden rule for every essay hook is to make it short. It helps the reader to read it fast and view your essay as a good read.
Decide what you want to achieve through your hook
The purpose is everything because it is what guides into the kind of hook to create. The purpose is the kind of emotion you want to create in your audience. It could be you want them intrigued, surprised, shocked, or just curious. Let your hook serve its purpose well.
End with a hook but don’t start with it
Although the hook is the first sentence of your essay, it does not mean you must start with it. You still have a long journey for writing the entire essay and you will get a better idea after you have pieced together the entire content.
Let it flow with the theme
The first hook example we gave is about energy and the second one is about lies and truth. These hooks are only applicable to essays whose topic is about energy, societies, or another topic like media and journalism. Craft a hook that will flow with your theme or topic. Here are more examples of essay hooks.
- It’s more important to invest quality time with your children than to spend cash when it comes to making lifelong memories.
- In these turbulent times, having a vegetable garden gives food security, which is a critical need for modern households.
- Having a dog can improve your wellness, joy, and sense of security.
- In the gig industry, perfecting the skill of obtaining work allows individuals to earn to live instead of living to earn.
Types of essay hooks
The first step to make your audience love your essay even before they read it is to craft an essay hook that will make them curious. There are several strategies you can use to write the most attractive essay hook. Even if you purchase essay online, these strategies will still come out clearly.
Design a strong statement
Think about a sentence or two that makes an assertive claim about the topic you have chosen. The statement, however, should not look like it is independent because it must seamlessly connect with the thesis statement.
Your interest is not for them to agree with your statement but for them to read on to see the arguments you support. Think of a statement such as this one – ‘an online course is effective and cheaper by far compared to the traditional classroom.’
Think about an interesting question
You can start your essay by asking a question that is related to it. Make sure your audience will not find the answer easily unless they read your essay. In other words, ask your audience a question that is related to the essay and create it in a way that the reader will only find the answer by reading your essay.
You will be making them inquisitive and desirous of finding the answer/s. You may ask a question like – ‘what differentiates between a successful business person and a rich business person? The question looks easy yet complex and the easiest way out is to read your essay and dig out the answer.
Think about a metaphor or simile
Think about a sentence that will directly compare your essay topic and something else, or a simile that adds the words ‘as,’ ‘like’ between your essay topic and another thing. This will help the audience view your topic differently. They will wonder what you mean and want to read on to find out.
Think about a sentence like – ‘the student was not really a thief, but he behaved like one.’ Or ‘to write an essay is like to run a race when the heat is at 400 C.’ Or ‘a marketing content is a magnet that pulls customers to a business.’
Use statistics
Be careful when using statistics because it must be a fact that is credible and agrees with your essay topic. Avoid a statistic that is too general or obvious but let it be something your audience probably hasn’t ever thought before. Let it take them by surprise and keep them intrigued.
Look again at this statistical hook – ‘If only 0.3 percent of solar power can be tapped from the Sahara, it can power entire Europe.’ Or ‘in their entire life, people walk around the earth four and half times.’
Begin with a story
Tell a story that can interestingly connect with your topic. The story will be the shortest ever told because it will cover only two or three lines. It can be a story about something you experience while traveling, writing, doing business, or anything you can think about. It doesn’t have just to be about you, but think outside of the box and create the most interesting story.
Write a quote
Think about something that was said by a famous person, an entrepreneur, politician, professor, etc. Again avoid using a too common quote and let it align with your topic. Here is an example of a rare quote – ‘to say I can is hundreds of times more beneficial than to have the highest IQ’ – Unknown
How to choose the right hook
As much as there are many types of essay hooks you can use, they are not all applicable to your essay. If you use a hook wrongly, you will miss its relevance and lose your chance to get high grades.
Before you decide which hook to use, first understand the type of essay you have written. It could be a narrative essay, argumentative, expository, or descriptive essay. Each essay type brings out its arguments in a unique way and serves a different purpose.
If it’s a narrative essay, a story hook might blend well with its topic. You can also open with a question that will make the reader read on to find the answer. For a descriptive essay, a rare quote by someone can make an excellent hook.
You may choose to use statistics for your expository essay because this kind of essay relies on investigative research to get evidence and come to a conclusion. For an argumentative essay, various types of hooks may align well with your topic, depending on what you want to argue about. You can use a hook where you relate to a scene, ask a question, give a quote, etc.
The difference between an essay hook and a thesis statement
You should not confuse between a hook and a thesis statement because they are two entirely different things. They are both short sentences in the first part of an essay, yet their purpose is different.
A hook helps to attract your audience to read your essay. It can be an interesting question, a quotation, story, simile, metaphor, statistics, scene, etc. It is the first sentence in your essay.
A thesis statement, on the other hand, is a short paragraph that gives a summarized overview of your essay’s main question. It should be precise and help the reader understand what the entire essay is about. A thesis statement is found at the end of the opening/introducing paragraph. The introduction paragraph aims to support the thesis statement.