Writing Engaging Essay Introductions: Understanding the Power of Essay Hooks, Lecture notes of Technical English

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Hook

Your

Readers

Writing Hooks

When you are asked to write an essay that works, it doesn’t mean it should be boring and too formal to express your thoughts and creative nature. Every author and storyteller will agree with the fact, that you should write for the audience first of all. What does it mean? It means that your task is to grab their attention and make them want to read your essay until the very end. That’s the reason why essay hooks exist. An essay hook is the first one-two sentences of your essay, its introductory part, which serves to grab a reader’s attention and let him decide whether he wants to continue reading this essay or not. Essay hooks may be not easy to write, especially when you do not have a clear picture of your essay yet. So, the first and very important aspect of writing a good essay is first the creation of a thesis THEN think of overall presentation of your work, its type, writing style, and structure in order to understand what types of hooks for essays will perfectly fit your paper.

Essay Hook Ideas and Examples

The dilemma

Imagine being a surfer. Some days the swells are great and other days you

cannot even get in the water. This dilemma led to the invention of

skateboarding.

The startling fact

There are over 7 billion people living on this planet.

Intriguing statement

It is said that “many people recognize differences in others, some people

understand differences in others, and few people appreciate differences in

others.”

Metaphor/or simile

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. This

simile is much like the creation of the Twix candy bar when inventor

______________ accidentally created the tasty treat.

Quotation

Maya Angelou once said that “people will forget what you said, people will forget

what you do, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Dilemma Hook Examples Imagine sleeping in an empty lot because your parents did not love you. Carrying a switchblade was never what anyone wanted to do, but it became a matter of necessity. There were two options – be at risk for harm, or save the children in the burning church. Startling Statistic Examples In the rumbles between Greasers and Socs, on average Socs have forty percent more casualties. During the 1960s, the United States entered thousands of children into foster homes. The number of movies Dallas Winston snuck into during his lifetime was well into the double digits. Intriguing Statement “Stay gold, Ponyboy.” "If you can picture a little dark puppy that had been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny." “Things are rough all over.” Metaphor or simile Johnny Cade was like a little dark puppy that had been kicked too many times. Dally is disaster waiting to happen. Who would have thought Windrixville would be paradise? Quotation “So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.” “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” “Until you’re broken, you don’t know what you’re made of.”