How do you HOOK your reader? Hook Techniques

Question – It needs to be an engaging question that catches your reader’s attention. What would it take for a student to get a teacher fired after 20 successful years of teaching? OR Have you ever wondered what it would take to get your most loathsome teacher fired?

Quote – Use a famous quotation, a quote from a book, or a quote from a song that will interest your reader. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?... Does anyone ever say no?”

Dialogue – Use a piece of dialogue between characters or people within the story – or ones you make up – to draw your readers into what you’re going to be discussing. “Why did you hum in class, Philip?” asked Allison. “I was being patriotic,” he replied. “Well,” she said angrily, “I just thought you were being stupid. Leave Miss Narwin alone! I like her.”

Statistics – Use a percentage, fraction, or other numerical reference to shock or otherwise interest your reader in what he/she’s about to read. 90% of the students at Harrison High School thought that Philip Malloy was a no-good, no- account liar and blamed him for the school losing Miss Narwin, the school’s best English teacher in 20 years.

Startling Statement – an opinion piece or something you’ve come up with perhaps the lesson learned in your story or its theme. Students have every right to choose their teachers if they don’t get along with them. If that means that the teacher is punished, well, so be it.

Interesting Story – Use an interesting story to capture your reader. Accidents happen. We’ve all heard that before, right? Usually by your mother trying to convince you that something wasn’t your fault when you knocked something over or broke a jar. But what happens when something dies? “Accidents happen,” fall short, doesn’t it? At least that is what I thought when Mom said, “Accidents happen,” when McDuff died.

Onomatopoeia – remember, this is the one that sounds like what it is? Buzz, bang, click, tick… Phillip whipped the English door shut - Whump! Bang! - after he was sent to the Assistant Principal’s office again for humming the National Anthem in Miss Narwin’s homeroom.

Interjection – Interjections are words that grab your attention, like “Aha!” “Oh!” “Whoa!” “Stop!” “Help!” “Yummy!” “Wow!” “Ugh! HELP!” thought Philip when he realized that his D in English meant no track for him, not even the chance to try out for the team.

Poem/Song – Using a well known or even a poem that’s that popular to start your essay can cause your reader to be interested in what you’re saying. Roses are red, violets are blue. Philip’s a liar, is Narwin one, too? OR O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so embarrassed a school and made Philip unwanted?

Opinion – State your opinion – and be free to have a controversial opinion on the topic. Philip Malloy is a whiner who deserves some real punishment for all of his lies and deceit.

Starting with the Setting -Explain the time and place the story is taking place in full detail. It was a hot summer day in Los Angeles. My dad and I were getting ready to go out for a ride on the boat with my friend Katie and the dog. That’s when the phone call came, the call that made that bright, beautiful day a cold, dark, gloomy one.