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A hook is simply the first sentence or two of your essay: whatever makes a reader want the third. It does not need to be dramatic, clever or shocking. The hooks that work best are specific and slightly unexpected, and they lead straight into the story the essay is actually about.
Below are seven kinds of hooks, each with an invented example and a note on when to use it. Use them to find your own opening, not to borrow a line.
Does a college essay need a hook?
It needs a beginning that earns attention, which is what people mean by a hook. Readers move through many essays in a sitting, and the first lines tell them whether this one will be specific or generic. A plain, precise first sentence is a hook. A forced "attention grabber" usually is not.
1. The scene hook
The smoke alarm went off at 6:12 a.m., which is how my little brothers knew it was my turn to make pancakes.
Start inside a moment, with a time, a place and an action. This is the most reliable hook, and it suits narrative essays. Keep the scene short and get to what it means within the first paragraph.
2. The specific detail hook
My grandfather's toolbox has 41 screwdrivers in it and exactly one that works.
One concrete, slightly odd detail that only you would know. It works well for montage essays built around an object or place, because the detail can return at the end.
3. The dialogue hook
"You have to stop apologizing to the dough," my aunt said, for the third time that morning.
A line someone actually said. Use it only if the line is particular to that person and leads into the essay's center. A generic line of dialogue ("You can do it!") is weaker than no dialogue at all.
4. The question hook
Why does every bus in my city arrive in pairs?
A real question you were trying to answer at the time, not a rhetorical one. It suits prompt 6 essays about curiosity. Avoid questions aimed at the reader, such as "Have you ever felt lost?".
5. The confession hook
For two years, I was the student council treasurer who could not balance her own checkbook.
An honest admission that creates tension. It works for essays about growth or a change of mind. Keep it light enough that the reader trusts you, and make sure the essay follows through on it.
6. The contrast hook
At school I am the quiet one in the back row. At my family's restaurant on Friday nights, I am the one who runs the room.
Two sides of you, side by side. It suits identity essays and prompt 1. The essay then has to explain the connection, not just describe both sides.
7. The list hook
Things I have fixed with duct tape: a backpack, a violin case, a tent in a thunderstorm, and, briefly, a friendship.
A short list that ends with a turn. It can set up a montage essay and a touch of humor. Keep it to three or four items so it does not become a résumé.
Hooks to avoid
- A dictionary definition: "Webster's defines resilience as...".
- A famous quotation. The reader wants your words, not someone else's.
- A sweeping claim about the world: "Since the dawn of time...".
- A question to the reader: "Have you ever wondered...?".
- Shock for its own sake. If the second paragraph cannot live up to the first line, the reader feels tricked.
Read next: Clichés to cut from any draft
How long should a hook be?
One or two sentences, usually under 40 words. The first paragraph as a whole should be short too, often 60 to 120 words. Many writers find their real hook in the second paragraph of their first draft: try cutting the first paragraph and see if the essay starts better.
Read next: How to start and end a college essay · College essay structure and outlines
Questions
A score out of 100, a note on every sentence, the paragraph costing you most and a 10-point draft check, in 5–10 minutes. We never write a word of your essay.
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