Are you interested in capturing your audience’s full attention? If you are looking to capture attention with your paper, you need the right hook. A hook is described as the first two or so sentences of your paper that capture the attention of your audience, and that describe what you are going to be writing about. A hook can be many things including a question, a quote or a statement that your audience may find interesting or uncommon. Whatever you choose, be assured that your reader will be enticed from the beginning.
Just like this article does, you can ask your audience a question to hook your reader into your essay. For example, a history paper may open with an interesting question regarding your topic. “Would you believe that the United States is 238 years old?” This allows your reader to feel engaged from the beginning as if you are having a conversation with them. For example, if your paper is a non-fiction paper regarding business, you can start off with a question they want to know regarding the topic. “Do you want to learn to market your business effectively?”
You can use a quote at the beginning of your paper for your reader. Take your topic and research a quote that fits. You can use quotes by famous people, presidents, authors or even musicians. You can take quotes out of books, internet articles, and even magazines. There is room to be creative here. Just make sure you cite any information that you use to aid in the reader’s further research and for plagiarism issues. For example, you could use, “Tears come from the heart and not from the brain,” written by Leonardo Da Vinci.
You can also use a statement of fact to hook your audience. Statements of fact can also aid in the preparation of your ideas that you hope to convey in your paper. For example, if you are writing about United States history, you can turn the previously used question into an actual statement. “The United States is 238 years old.” There are hundreds of resources to find facts for your paper including the internet and books. Make sure you cite your facts if needed.