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Life isn't long enough to do all you could accomplish. And what a privilege to be alive.... Supposing you only saw the stars once every year. Think what you would think. The wonder of it!”
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She rose at dawn to milk her long-haired goats, wove and embroidered by lamplight, and wore Victorian dresses ...yet she lived and died in a century of supermarkets, electricity, cell phones, and bikinis - 1915 to 2008. Artist Tasha Tudor lived a difficult, unusual, and old-fashioned life, yet it was authentic and satisfying to her, and helped to develop popular affection for her work.
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These 3 different opening paragraphs for a designer essay all begin with a 'hook' - an interesting idea that catches the reader's attention immediately.
Literary 'hooks' are similar to earworms in music: they seize the reader’s attention and stick in the memory. There are different types of 'hooks', and it is necessary to use them appropriately.
1. Ask a question. A question immediately drags a reader or a listener into a process of critical thinking, making them read or listen until the very end. Try to avoid simple questions that require a “yes” or “no” answer.
Have you ever had a feeling that you had already lived through a moment, or even a day, like this before?
What is the meaning of happiness?
What would you do, if you were sure you would get away with it?
You can also ask a rhetorical question, something that implies a positive answer, in order to make your audience agree with you immediately - this works especially well in presentations.
Isn't it always the case that 'good guys finish last'?
Everyone loves pizza, right?
Don't you just hate when your pen runs out of ink in the middle of an exam?
2. Use quotes by famous people. Starting your introduction with famous words of influential figures, which are related to your topic, can be a great benefit for your writing. The audience is likely to agree with the words of an authoritative person, and the chances are high that your readers or listeners will agree with your words as well.
“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” - Benjamin Franklin
“The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight, but no vision.” - Hellen Keller
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” - William Arthur Ward
3. Use literary quotes. This type of hook is most pertinent when the subject is literature. A literary quote can refresh an essay about a novel, poem, literary phenomenon, or artwork of a certain author.
“It is much better to do good in a way that no one knows about it.”
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget. ”
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
“It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason.”
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
4. Funny hooks are good to break the ice and make the audience more friendly. However, an appropriate joke at the beginning does not necessarily mean that the rest of the writing or presentation should be funny too.
My new business on eBay is a great success. Just sold my homing pigeons for the 17th time in a row!
Chocolate comes from cocoa, which comes from a tree, which is a plant. Therefore, chocolate is a vegetable!
If teachers really want you to follow your dreams, why do you get yelled at for falling asleep in class?
5. Set the scene, or tell a story. A thorough description of a scene, main character or a situation will boost the audience’s creative skills and imagination, and consequently, they will remember more about your topic.
I glanced through the window, and I could not believe my eyes.
It was a sunny winter day, as the snow started falling with huge and puffy snowflakes. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
We were sitting in the summer meadow, smiling, ambitious, young. If only we had known, that it was our last summer together.
6. Start with a peculiar fact. If you surprise the members of the audience with a juicy piece of information at the beginning, they will be eager to know more.
It is estimated that you say 300 to 1000 words to yourself per minute.
There is an Indian village named “Piplantri”, which celebrates the birth of every girl child by planting 111 trees.
Studies show that you are more likely to take a risk on something if you see someone else do it first, even if you don’t know what will happen!
7. Impress with statistic. People are fascinated with numbers and precise data, so you can easily win their attention if you find the statistics that is relevant to your topic.
57% of shoppers will buy a product if they can taste or sample it first.
20% of Millennials would prefer not to interact with cashiers at all in retail environments.
85% of people rely on Twitter and Facebook for their morning news.
8. Reveal a misconception. It is a strong tool to hook your audience into further reading or listening. Same as with interesting facts and statistics, this is a good strategy to follow to get your audience interested in further perception.
There is no such thing as an “Alpha” in a wolf pack. Wolf packs operate like human families: there is no sense of rank, parents are in charge, and none are overthrowing elders.
Immigrant names were not Americanized (voluntarily or mistakenly), upon arrival on Ellis Island. There was no law that required recording immigrant names at that time.
Despite the numerous studies, there is little evidence that cameras directly reduce crime rates. Instead, they are often used to detect and prosecute crime after the fact.
Text based on information from https://pro-papers.com/blog/ultimate-guide-writing-great-hooks-essays
1. Ask a question. A question immediately drags a reader or a listener into a process of critical thinking, making them read or listen until the very end. Try to avoid simple questions that require a “yes” or “no” answer.
Have you ever had a feeling that you had already lived through a moment, or even a day, like this before?
What is the meaning of happiness?
What would you do, if you were sure you would get away with it?
You can also ask a rhetorical question, something that implies a positive answer, in order to make your audience agree with you immediately - this works especially well in presentations.
Isn't it always the case that 'good guys finish last'?
Everyone loves pizza, right?
Don't you just hate when your pen runs out of ink in the middle of an exam?
2. Use quotes by famous people. Starting your introduction with famous words of influential figures, which are related to your topic, can be a great benefit for your writing. The audience is likely to agree with the words of an authoritative person, and the chances are high that your readers or listeners will agree with your words as well.
“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” - Benjamin Franklin
“The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight, but no vision.” - Hellen Keller
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” - William Arthur Ward
3. Use literary quotes. This type of hook is most pertinent when the subject is literature. A literary quote can refresh an essay about a novel, poem, literary phenomenon, or artwork of a certain author.
“It is much better to do good in a way that no one knows about it.”
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget. ”
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
“It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason.”
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
4. Funny hooks are good to break the ice and make the audience more friendly. However, an appropriate joke at the beginning does not necessarily mean that the rest of the writing or presentation should be funny too.
My new business on eBay is a great success. Just sold my homing pigeons for the 17th time in a row!
Chocolate comes from cocoa, which comes from a tree, which is a plant. Therefore, chocolate is a vegetable!
If teachers really want you to follow your dreams, why do you get yelled at for falling asleep in class?
5. Set the scene, or tell a story. A thorough description of a scene, main character or a situation will boost the audience’s creative skills and imagination, and consequently, they will remember more about your topic.
I glanced through the window, and I could not believe my eyes.
It was a sunny winter day, as the snow started falling with huge and puffy snowflakes. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
We were sitting in the summer meadow, smiling, ambitious, young. If only we had known, that it was our last summer together.
6. Start with a peculiar fact. If you surprise the members of the audience with a juicy piece of information at the beginning, they will be eager to know more.
It is estimated that you say 300 to 1000 words to yourself per minute.
There is an Indian village named “Piplantri”, which celebrates the birth of every girl child by planting 111 trees.
Studies show that you are more likely to take a risk on something if you see someone else do it first, even if you don’t know what will happen!
7. Impress with statistic. People are fascinated with numbers and precise data, so you can easily win their attention if you find the statistics that is relevant to your topic.
57% of shoppers will buy a product if they can taste or sample it first.
20% of Millennials would prefer not to interact with cashiers at all in retail environments.
85% of people rely on Twitter and Facebook for their morning news.
8. Reveal a misconception. It is a strong tool to hook your audience into further reading or listening. Same as with interesting facts and statistics, this is a good strategy to follow to get your audience interested in further perception.
There is no such thing as an “Alpha” in a wolf pack. Wolf packs operate like human families: there is no sense of rank, parents are in charge, and none are overthrowing elders.
Immigrant names were not Americanized (voluntarily or mistakenly), upon arrival on Ellis Island. There was no law that required recording immigrant names at that time.
Despite the numerous studies, there is little evidence that cameras directly reduce crime rates. Instead, they are often used to detect and prosecute crime after the fact.
Text based on information from https://pro-papers.com/blog/ultimate-guide-writing-great-hooks-essays
Now look back at the three different 'hooks' in the opening paragraphs above. Which of these types of 'hook' did they use to catch your attention? Number 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, or 8? (A hook can combine more than one type.) Which hook did you think was more interesting? Which type of hook will you choose for your designer essay?