A hook may be the most important sentence in your essay.
NOTE: Hooks are not necessary for timed writing tests or a Writing Sample Placement Tests.
The goal in those is to demonstrate you know the structure of essay.
When you have an essay assignment in a class, however, a hook can keep your reader engaged. Here are the most common types of hooks.
Anecdote:
An anecdote is like a tiny story. To work, an anecdote must be extremely specific. Writing
""Today, thousands of people are starving in Calcutta."
is less powerful than if I write
"On the sidewalk in a middle-class section of Calcutta lay a young woman curled in a fetal position, slowly starving to death."
Readers want to know: Who is this woman? How did she get there? Why is she starving?
Statistics:
A powerful statistic often makes a good hook, something like
"The suicide rate of Korean teenagers is higher than that of any other nationality, with more than 15 suicides every minute.."
Why? The readers wants to know. You don't ask the question, you make the reader ask it.
Quote:
A quote from a historical figure can also be used, but it needs to be unique and powerful, such as
"The leading cause of death is birth" -- Lewis Lapham.
This hook might start an essay on irrational fears about lethal diseases.
Questions:
I believe question "hooks," which some instructors encourage, should be avoided.
If I write,
"Wouldn't you like to visit New York?"
the answer might be, "No," so that's not a very effective hook. Even if the answer's "Yes, you haven't given them a reason to read the essay.
I if write,
I like to visit New York for three reason,"
a reader may wonder what the reason are. You haven't asked a question, but you've created a question in the reader's mind.
The hook can tell a story, but. again, it should be extremely short and specific.
An example:
"Last summer, a nine-year-old boy from Chicago jumped to his death off a nine-story building because a video game convinced him he could fly."
The anecdote is powerful because it includes a specific time (last summer), a specific place (Chicago), the age of the boy and the height of the building.
Question: What kind of essay do you think this would introduce?
a) an essay on nine-year-old boys in Chicago
b) an essay on apartment building safety
c) an essay on dangers posed by video games
If you chose "c," you're right. The hook must be related to the main subject.
In the case of an essay about your favorite place to visit, you might include a specific person -- a sister, brother, sister, friend -- who has a specific objection -- too hot, too dreary, too boring, too sunny, too dirty -- to the place you love to visit. You can then transition from that to your thesis statement.
Below, craft your hook for the long paragraph you've just written.
Example of a Hook