The several examples below are helpful when writing your essay hook.


Opening your essay with "Imagine this" used to be an interesting way to put your readers in a scenario and set the context for your essay. But now, it's far too cliched and just another lazy attempt to write an essay hook.Â


Sometimes you might not be told explicitly to write an expository essay. Look out for prompts containing keywords like “explain” and “define.” An expository essay is usually the right response to these prompts.

Think about your favorite book or movie: How does it start? Is there action or mystery? Does the first line surprise you? Does the main character open the scene with a funny line of dialogue or a dramatic prophecy?

Team A Hook for an Essay Teachers

This is what’s called a “hook,” or an intriguing opening that leaves the audience wanting more, and it’s a useful tool for any writer, including college applicants. In this article, we’ll explore how to write a good hook for a college essay.

The purpose of an essay hook is to capture the reader’s attention. During an average college application season, admissions counselors read hundreds of essays. Your essay should and hook the reader, encouraging them to keep reading.

Here's the thing: definitions put people to sleep. Readers don't want to see a formal, jargon-heavy definition of a topic as the very first line of an essay. Your opening statement should have some personality in it to show readers they're in for an exciting read.Â

The main thing you need to know about an essay hook is that it always comes at the beginning of the essay—it will almost always be the first sentence of your . If the reader isn’t interested in your essay from the beginning, they may start skimming or worse, stop reading.


Check out these hooks for essays examples:

A surprising essay hook can take many forms, and this deviation from the typical opening line of an essay—a dull, explanatory sentence—is what makes this hook so surprising. Quotes, dialogue, jokes, and shocking facts or statistics can surprise and delight the reader. For example, another surprising hook for this essay might be: The likelihood of a pigeon pooping on you is less than 1%—so if it happens, consider yourself lucky!

Let's look at some hook examples for argumentative essay:

It’s important to remember that if you ask a question, the answer should be somewhere in your essay. You may not have to answer the question directly, especially if you’re asking a philosophical question, like “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but if your hook is interrogative, you should spend at least part of your essay articulating an answer.

Let's look at some examples of a great hook sentence here!

I felt a bead of sweat drip down my cheek as I stared at the blank document, ready to begin my first college essay. I wanted to type something, but my fingers sat still as though I’d forgotten how to use a keyboard. How do start?

Here are some hook question examples:

Thanks Joanne! Question and strong statement hooks are great for getting readers to wonder what’s in your essay. I’m so glad you liked the infographic.

Here are some hook ideas that might inspire your essay:

It’s important to remember that a good hook and a thesis statement are two different sentences. Ideally, your essay should have both, but while the thesis statement is the road map of your essay, the essay hook is only responsible for grabbing the reader’s attention. Your essay’s hook and thesis statement should still be aligned, however.

So here is the acronym with the five essay hooks:

If you use a hook/grabber in your introduction, you will still need to include the other elements of an introduction. As a general rule, the hook/grabber should comprise less than half of the introduction, leaving plenty of room to explain the essay’s main ideas and thesis statement. The hook/grabber should always have a direct connection to the thesis of the essay.