You can think of the first sentence of your essay as you would a fishing hook. It grabs your reader and allows you reel the person into your essay and your train of thought. The hook for your essay can be an interesting sentence that captures a person’s attention, it can be thought-provoking, or even, entertaining.

The hook for your essay often appears in the first sentence. The opening paragraph includes a thesis sentence. Some popular hook choices can include using an interesting quote, a little-known fact, famous last words, or a statistic.

Quote Hook

A quote hook is best used when you are composing an essay based on an author, story, or book. It helps establish your authority on the topic and by using someone else’s quote, you can strengthen your thesis if the quote supports it.

The following is an example of a quote hook: “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.” In the next sentence or two, give a reason for this quote or current example. As for the last sentence (the thesis) : Students grow more confident and self-sufficient when parents allow them to make mistakes and experience failure.

General Statement

By setting the tone in the opening sentence with a uniquely written general statement of your thesis, the beauty is that you get right to the point. Most readers appreciate that approach.

For example, you can start with the following statement:

Many studies show that the biological sleep pattern for teens shifts a few hours, which means teens naturally stay up later and feel alert later in the morning.

The next sentence, set up the body of your essay, perhaps by introducing the concept that school days should be adjusted so that they are more in sync with the teenager’s natural sleep or wake cycle. As for the last sentence (the thesis): 

If every school day started at ten o’clock, many students would find it easier to stay focused.

Statistic

By listing a proven fact or entertaining an interesting statistic that might even sound implausible to the reader, you can excite a reader to want to know more.

Like this hook:

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, teens and young adults experience the highest rates of violent crime.

Your next sentence can set up the argument that it’s dangerous for teenagers to be on the streets at late hours. A fitting thesis statement might read:

Parents are justified in implementing a strict curfew, regardless of a student’s academic performance.

The Right Hook for Your Essay

The good news about finding a hook? You can find a quote, fact, or another type of hook after you determine your thesis. You can accomplish this with a simple online search about your topic after you’ve developed your essay.

You can nearly have the essay finished before you revisit the opening paragraph. Many writers polish up the first paragraph after the essay is completed.