To write a “hook” or introduction for an essay, first, the introduction should capture the reader’s attention and draw them in to arouse curiosity. Therefore, it should consist of interesting, entertaining sentences and preview the topic to be developed in the essay. So, in this article, the best writers from the EssayCompany will help you learn how to write a better essay.
What is an Essay
The essay is a literary genre characterized as academic writing that analyzes or evaluates a specific topic. Generally, the essay uses a formal tone and is free of sarcasm, everyday vocabulary, and humor.
The target audience of an essay is a reader who does not have a deep knowledge of the topic to be developed. The essay is also commonly used as an assessment for students, as a tool by which they must demonstrate their learning.
Therefore, the essay must meet certain qualities: have relevant content, be well documented and organized, and obviously, reflect a correct use of language.
Parts of an Essay
An essay has three main parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each of these parts has definite characteristics that allow for the organized and practical development of the topic.
Introduction: It is the first contact with the reader. It indicates the writer’s purpose in writing the essay, introduces the topic and suggests continuing. It is also known as “hook” or “opening” because it is what will “hook” the reader to continue reading.
Knot or body: this part develops everything hinted at in the introduction. Approximately every aspect of the thesis will occupy one paragraph of the essay and depend on the writer’s arguments. In general, academic writing can be based on:
- The statement of facts with proper documentation
- Analysis or description of a topic
- Comparison and contrast
- The use of other strategies, including definitions, classifications, or cause and effect
Conclusion: this is the essay’s last paragraph and should review the ideas or topics presented in the introduction. It includes a summary and ends with a sentence that highlights the critical point of the essay.
Introduction or opening hook for an Essay
The opening hook usually appears in the first sentence of the introduction. It can be a quote, statistics, famous words, or another phrase that piques the reader’s interest. In addition, the opening hook should be crafted with some characteristics in mind:
- It can include strategies such as: Surprise or unforeseen facts.
- It can be based on information that the reader already knows (Contradicting an accepted idea, Producing suspense).
- Its length can be a paragraph or two.
- It should provide a brief introduction to the topic.
- It can indicate the order in which the essay will be developed.
- It can be a sentence that answers the question or issue that the report will address.
Below we will see a series of theses corresponding to specific questions.
How to write an essay introduction
To write an essay with a practical and exciting introduction, following a series of steps is essential. First, it is necessary to prepare before writing. It is necessary to understand well the essay’s objective and take into account the reader’s profile. It is also required to select a specific topic and carry out previous research. Then, you should make a thesis statement and create an outline that will serve as a guide for the development of the essay.
Once the above steps have been taken, you can start writing the essay by writing the introduction, unfolding the arguments and evidence, and ending with the conclusion.
Finally, it is also essential to review and re-evaluate the organization of the essay and the content of each paragraph. If necessary, grammatical and spelling errors should be corrected. In addition, you should check for plagiarism.
How to create the opening hook
As mentioned above, the ingredients for creating the introduction or opening hook are:
- Capture the reader’s interest. The hook must cause a significant impact and make the audience continue reading the text. To do this, you can use statistics or bold phrases.
- Provide background and context for the topic to be developed. It can be done through a general description of the topic, which will allow you to go into more detail later.
- Include the objective of the essay and the thesis statement. It will provide the essay’s focus and indicate the author’s position.
- Indicate the organization of the content, providing a general idea of the content to be explored in each part of the essay.
In many cases, at the end of the essay writing, it is essential to review the hook and the rest of the introduction to check that it is in line with the rest of the paper. In addition, a final polishing or proofreading can be done, if necessary. It is always good to give the essay the last check to see if you missed any details.
It is common for the introduction to be finished once the organization of the whole essay is defined. Nor should you forget the importance of the title of the essay, which by itself can be the leading hook to capture the reader.
