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So, you need to get someone to be interested in READING your college essay? Try HOOKing them!

What is a hook sentence?

o An opening sentence or sentences that grab the reader’s attention

What can a good hook sentence do for you as a writer?

o Add interest to your writing

o Establish your creativity as a writer early in the piece

o Make the reader want to keep reading

What are some of the different types of hook sentences that you can use?

1. A thought-provoking statement:

People watching the online music industry say two things about that digital marketplace: business is booming, and the business stinks.

From the NY Times Technology section in an article about the crowded marketplace of online music-selling

I didn’t launch my first business, an origami store, when I was in second grade because I craved wealth; customers paid with worthless crayon money. I launched my origami store because I loved to play and discover.

From an essay answering the “significant experience, achievement, risk” question found in College Essays that Made a Difference

2. A statement that is controversial and invites debate:

The blues are dead!

Long live….?

Never fear, the Blues Armageddon has not arrived.

From “Outdoing the Delta” Stereophile November 2003

3. A statement that provokes a sense of mystery or intrigue:

There must be something in the air.

(featured in Stereophile: in an article about a set of beautiful new Italian speakers)

I only remember crying once.

Found in College Essays that Made a Difference, from an essay answering the “event that changed your life” question

4. Word play, juxtaposition, or use of a phrase in a different context

Tax cuts are the gift that keeps on giving.

From Newsweek, Dec. 1, 2003 in an article about what tax cuts can offer you.

Each December a Christmas tree and Menorah share my family room and dreidels and Santa Clauses are juxtaposed on the coffee table.

Found in College Essays that Made a Difference, from an essay answering the “how has the place you live influenced the person you are” question

5. A provocative question:

If fairy tales are where you find them, who can find them now?

From a New Yorker book review

6. Interesting details:

Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Dakota, Erie…Lenape, Mohican, Nez Perce… Will I ever fall asleep before I reach the Utes and the Zunis? I, too, am a member of a unique tribe. I am an insomniac.

From How to Write a Killer College Application, K.Cohen, Ph.D.

7. Dialogue:

“Did I wake you, Sleeping Beauty?” It was another wisecracking friend on the phone Saturday morning at 11:30. “Big deal, so I’m still sleeping at noon on the weekends,” I muttered under my breath. Don’t they know that the last time I got a good night’s sleep was last Tuesday? I haven’t slept five hours in a row since I was three. I am an insomniac – and proud of it!

From How to Write a Killer College Application, K.Cohen, Ph.D.

8. Quotation:

“To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub.” Well, move over Hamlet, because I can’t wait to sleep. I feel more like Macbeth who “murdered” sleep than someone who’s worried about a few bad dreams. In fact, I calculate that I haven’t slept for at least ten of my seventeen years.

From How to Write a Killer College Application, K.Cohen, Ph.D.

There are many more possibilities, so don’t feel you need to emulate the provided examples. But do take a few minutes and in the space below – consider 3 different potential hooks for your own essay. How can you best draw the reader in given your topic?

POTENTIAL HOOK 1 :

Circle what type : thought-provoking statement controversial statement mysterious statement

word play provocative question interesting details dialogue quotation

POTENTIAL HOOK 2 :

Circle what type : thought-provoking statement controversial statement mysterious statement

word play provocative question interesting details dialogue quotation

POTENTIAL HOOK 3 :

Circle what type : thought-provoking statement controversial statement mysterious statement

word play provocative question interesting details dialogue quotation

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