If you’re a student, you’ve most likely had to face the mental anguish of the first blank page over and over again. Even if you have a good idea about where your essay is headed, there isn’t just one way to write a hook (the first sentence or two of an essay that introduces readers to its topic). For many people, the elusive introductory paragraph is a source of anxiety, but knowledge and practice can often help alleviate this anxiety. I hope that this two-part series on writing a solid introduction—beginning with the hook—will become a go-to source for the knowledge you need to improve your essay writing skills. As for my creative writing followers, I hope that you can also glean some inspiration for your opening lines from the following discussion.
Let’s begin with defining the elements of a first paragraph. Every paragraph should contain at least three sentences: in this case, one sentence for the hook, one for the thesis, and one in between to seamlessly tie these sentences together, which often contains any necessary background information (history, definitions of key terms, etc.). Naturally, as your writing skills progress and longer essays are required for your courses, your paragraphs will also become longer. Three sentences will often be fine at the beginning of an undergraduate degree, but upper-year undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate level papers should be more fleshed out, reflecting increased engagement with your topics and research. Therefore, an upper-year paper will include more background information in its introduction than a first-year paper.
Now let’s move on to the hook. The main thing you need to remember is that a good hook introduces your subject in a way that piques your reader’s interest. In academic writing, your reader is almost always your professor, but this doesn’t mean your hook has to be convoluted or mind-blowingly clever; in fact, it should never be either: it should be clear and concise—accessible but still comprehensive. A hook should also be clearly distinguishable from your thesis: a hook broadly introduces the topic of your essay; a thesis specifically defines the argument of your essay, which is based on your topic.
It may help to think of a hook in the following way. When meeting someone for the first time, most people start with small talk. Small talk can be boring (whether too little or too much is said) and leave a bad impression, or it can introduce someone to your unique personality and leave them wanting to know more about you. The latter impression is the goal of a good hook; your first sentences should make interesting “small talk” about your topic (which might keep your professor from falling asleep while reading through a large pile of essays that are often all on the same subject). The only glaring difference between making small talk and writing an essay hook is that you have to stay on topic, avoiding the inclusion of any unsolicited, unnecessary, or unrelated information, no matter how interesting it may be to you.
With that picture in mind, take a look at this list of six different types of hooks and some examples to kickstart the brainstorming for your essay opening:
Quotation → Choose something arresting and significant that introduces your topic in a concise way (one to two sentences at the most), then discuss how it relates to your essay.
Example (topic: Shakespeare’s worldview): E.M.W. Tillyard describes the worldview of Elizabethan England as “solidly theocentric.” It was an inherited system from the Middle Ages, “that of an ordered universe arranged in a fixed system of hierarchies but modified by man’s sin and the hope of his redemption . . . Everything had to be included and everything had to be made to fit and to connect.” Shakespeare was no exception to this rule, using his plays for a didactic purpose.
Question → This appeals to your reader’s inquisitive nature. Your answer (or some potential answers) is then revealed in the following sentences and often discussed throughout the paper. Note that his type of hook is only effective if the question is worth pondering; avoid questions that are rhetorical or have common sense answers.
Example (topic: famine): What causes famine? Thomas Malthus claimed that famines are nature's response to an imbalance between the population and its subsistence. On the other hand, with the rise of government-generated famines in the twentieth century, many people now believe that famines are man-made.
Statement → Make a claim related to your topic, whether fact or opinion, but without revealing your thesis just yet. Avoid repeating common claims without thoroughly engaging with the idea first; this leads to cookie-cutter writing with an obvious lack of thought.
Example (topic: creation myths): Within every human being is an innate desire for meaning. Naturally, discovering meaning in the world around us requires explanations that satisfy the deep, complex questions of our existence. Over the course of human history, many of these explanations have derived from a rich tradition of creation myths.
Statistic or fact → This is a great way to showcase at the outset of your essay that you’ve done your research and you have solid evidence for the claims of your thesis. Make sure you choose information that is accurate and comes from a credible source (avoid quoting from a second-hand source; go straight to the original). Then, cite it either in the text or in a footnote, depending on the required style guide.
Example (topic: abortion): According to embryology, at what point does human life begin? The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (10th ed.) states that “Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to form a single cell, the zygote. [This] marks the beginning of each of us as an unique individual.” (Note how this example combines two types of hooks to create a thought-provoking and bold opening that provides background for the essay’s topic. Many strong openings combine hooks.)
Metaphor or simile → Paint your topic in an unconventional light, prompting your reader to think about it from a different perspective.
Example (topic: poetry in Dead Poets Society): Contrary to the belief of Mr. Keating in the film Dead Poets Society, poetry is indeed much like “laying pipe”: all poetry follows some kind of form that was chosen by the poet to direct—and even contribute to—the flow of the waters of meaning.
Anecdote → A good story has universal appeal. Similar to the metaphor or simile hook, it tends to disarm its readers long enough to make them willing to see a subject from the author’s point of view (AKA suspended judgement). Just make sure to clarify your point at the end. This type of hook provides an opportunity for creative writers to shine and is often used in personal narrative essays for college applications.
Example (the opening lines of C.S. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain): Not many years ago when I was an atheist, if anyone had asked me “Why do you not believe in God?” my reply would have run something like this: “Look at the universe we live in. By far the greatest part of it consists of empty space, completely dark and unimaginably cold. . . . [But] I never noticed that the very strength and facility of the pessimists’ case at once poses us a problem. If the universe is so bad, or even half so bad, how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?”
I hope this helps you to start filling up that first blank page. And remember: if you’re still struggling, there’s no law against writing the body of your essay before tackling the introduction and conclusion.
For further study:
This video from Scribbr walks you through a simple, yet good sample introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msaynBwwxkA.
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