Tips on How to Write a Good Hook for a Research Paper

Writing research papers is an inevitable part of college studies. Moreover, this kind of assignment plays a big role in the term grade. This means you need to do your best to create a great research paper. How to do this? The key to success is to grab the reader’s attention from the very first lines. There are several ways how to catch the attention of your target audience.  Want to know what they are? Then, before you start writing a research paper, you’re recommended to check four great ways on how to hook your reader. As practice shows, all of them work effectively. Keep on reading to master the art of grabbing the reader’s attention. 

What is a Hook?

First of all, you need to have a clear understanding of what a hook is. It’s a statement you write at the beginning of your research paper. Your paper may contain valuable information in the main body but nobody will find it out if your introduction sounds boring. A hook is a thing that makes your reader concentrated on your content. An initial meaning of the word “hook” is a piece of metal used to catch fish and get it out of water. The same is here. It means that your opening sentence, a hook, should be so intriguing that the reader forgets about everything and focuses on the topic of your paper. 

Steps You Should Make to Write a Great Hook

There are several things you should keep in mind if you want to create an interesting hook. 

  • Identify your target audience. It’s very important to understand your target audience. It’s needed if you want to create an attention grabber that will appeal to your reader. For example, if it is a college professor, then, you’d better look for some interesting facts.
  • Think of a hook, which would suit a research paper. Not all hooks that can be used for a narrative paper suit research papers. For example, it’s inappropriate to use jokes and anecdotes as a hook in a research project. So, you need to choose a hood depending on the type of paper.
  • Look for credible sources of information. Make sure that the fact you’re going to use as a hook is true. When surfing the Internet, one can see lots of ads with intriguing titles to make the reader go to the site. But when the user enters the website, he/she feels disappointed because the meaning of the content doesn’t correspond to the name of the article. You should understand that you mustn’t do like this! Your task is to provide trustworthy facts, not an exaggeration that would intrigue your target audience.

4 Most Effective Ways to Hook Your Reader

There are four approaches to writing a good hook for a research paper. Check the best ideas below.

  • Method 1: Share Some Shocking Statistics. Research papers should be based on some scientific data. It’s better when the author supports textual information with facts and statistics. You should find some factual information relevant to your topic and provide it in the very beginning. It has been proved that listening to the statistics the reader becomes more concentrated. Conduct careful research to find facts that not everyone knows.
  • Method 2: Ask a Provoking Question. Most writers use an intriguing question as a hook. This method of catching the attention of the reader works effectively for any type of writing. As for a research paper, here, you should think of a question that would touch upon the problem you’re going to discuss in your paper. The reader will feel curious and willing to find out the answer. Think how to formulate the question the best way, write down several variants before you choose the final one.
  • Method 3: Write Some Interesting Background Information. Provide the reader with the background information that would help him/her to understand what makes your research worth attention. Express it in the most eye-catching way so that the reader feels passionate about discovering what will be in the main body.
  • Method 4: Create a Visual Scene. Let the reader see what you are talking about describing some scene as vividly as possible. You can give some example or a description of a situation, an experiment, etc. Appeal to all the senses of the reader. Your task is to create an impression that the reader isn’t an observer but a participant of the activities described.

These are the most commonly used ways to hook the reader. And, finally, remember that you have just one chance to create the first impression. So, don’t miss this great opportunity and write a great hook that will help to attract your reader’s attention and do your best to hold it!

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