How to Write a Hook According to Your Prompt

Lynn Martelli
Lynn Martelli June 1, 2023
Updated 2023/06/01 at 5:19 PM
How to Write a Hook According to Your Prompt

Going back to your childhood days, you will recall that the stories you read at that time, all started with some enthralling expressions, such as ‘once upon a time’, ‘in a far-off land’, ‘for days and days nights and nights’, ‘the spring had been long’, etc. These phrases helped us visualize the story scenes as we moved on to the next lines and paragraphs.

Now, academic writing is not the same as writing creative non-fiction, which we all agree with no doubt. But the idea of beginning the introduction paragraph with a catchy hook remains the same, says the PenMyEssays experts. It is the best way to draw attention and keep them engaged in your paper.

Before beginning to write a chase phrase, there are a few things to consider first:

  • Be aware of the topic you propose to write on.
  • Concentrate on your audience to understand the tone of your hook.
  • Consider the length of your writing. A lengthy piece may require multiple hook statements, whereas a short essay may be good with a quick hook.

The most important of all is to learn the nature of the paper type you are writing as the use of a hook depends on it. There is no universal hook type that will be relevant to all your essays. A hook can be a question, fact, story, joke, a common misconception, proverb, description, etc. which serve different purposes.

Hooks Ideal for Argumentative Essays

The motive for writing an argumentative essay is to make an attempt to argue on a topic and challenge the belief of others. Your claim is backed by enough evidential data to prove your opinion and then finally evaluate the possible counterarguments. So, the appropriate hook sentence for this type of academic paper would be –

  • Declaration hook is an obvious choice as you can directly begin with your claim statement.
  • Fact/Statistics hook that contains a quantitative study related to your thesis statement.
  • Because it is based on debatable topics, writing your opening sentence with a common misconception can be an impactful beginning.

Hooks Ideal for Persuasive Essays

Although similar to argumentative essays, it differs in the approach style. Persuasive essays too, make a logical argument but it tries to convince the readers with a more emotional perspective. The opinions are blended with facts stating that the personal view presented is not just valid, but it’s right.

  • Make an emotional appeal in the form of a short story to spark empathy and establish a connection.
  • Asking a rhetorical question can encourage critical thinking in the minds of your audience and push them to keep reading to find out the answer.
  • A descriptive hook would do good as well to create a thought-provoking image to make an impression.

Hooks Ideal for Informative Essays

Informative essays tend to educate the readers by providing new information with valuable insights independent of the writer’s opinions. This type of narrative approach includes instrumental essays, compare and contrast essays, cause and effect essays, expository essays, and process essays.

  • Because they are descriptive forms of essays, you can begin with a definition hook.
  • A surprising fact will be intriguing as well.
  • You can ask questions that relate to your topic. This will create an urge to learn about it.

Hooks Ideal for Research Papers

It is not possible to be very creative in writing hooks when it comes to research papers, as they are affixed to analytical interpretation. The most ideal type of hook, in this case, could be an interesting insight with numerical figures. Just make sure to take that data from a reliable site, book, news article, etc.

Hooks Ideal for Literary Analysis

To be precise, a critical appreciation of literary works is called a literary analysis. The writer first reads a piece of work and then examines the theme, setting, point of view, characters, language, etc. Hence, it could be really confusing to understand how to place your first set of words.

Beginning with a quotation is a good recommendation provided by an expert of assignment service penmypaper. The quote can be taken from literature or can also be the words of an influential person. Whichever you choose should match the theme of your analysis.

Hooks Ideal for Personal Statements

A personal essay not only reflects your qualities as a writer, but also as a person. It lets you express your skills, strengths, and challenges in your life. To simplify, a personal statement is a step of a ladder that can take you to the college of your preference by describing your abilities and capabilities.

  • You can write an anecdote that can portray you the best to hook the admissions committee.
  • You can also describe a moment when you came across a certain challenge and write about how it motivated you and changed your perspective.

Now you know how each type of paper and hook holds its own importance. You just have to expand your horizon of creativity and knowledge. The better reader, listener, and observer you are, the better you are as a writer as well. Practice more and pay attention to essay writing, both in terms of impression and expression. You can even buy essay cheap and go through some samples before getting started.

Share this Article