essay hooks about loneliness

Essay Hook Examples That Grab Attention (Formula for Better Grades)

Table of contents

Meredith Sell

Have you ever read a line that caught your attention so fast, you didn’t look up until five paragraphs later? Props to whoever wrote it — they mastered the attention-grabbing hook.

Top 10 Essay Hooks

For many writers, hooks (or ledes, as they’re referred to by journalists) are both tantalizing and infuriating. Out in the wild, we spot first lines that are startling and mind-bending and stoke our curiosity. But then we sit to write our own and all we can think of is “once upon a time” or “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” or, worse, “imagine yourself…”

‍ ‍ The truth is: every piece of writing can’t start with an explosion or a chase scene. Especially if you’re writing an academic essay or other piece of nonfiction that needs to stick with the facts. But there are better ways to start your essay than the sleepy “A recent study observed 300 chimpanzees in 50 habitats over seven years. This is what it found.”

• ‍ How do you write a hook that grabs your reader’s attention right away?
• Is there a way to make sure the hook fits the piece you’re writing?
• ‍ How do you use AI to produce better hooks?

These are just a couple questions we’ll answer in this article. 

But first, let’s talk about what you need to know before attempting to write that opening sentence.

Try our FREE essay hook generator > Try our FREE essay hook generator >

What to Know About Your Essay (and Topic) Before You Write the Hook

Whether you’re writing a research paper on economics, an argumentative essay for your college composition class, or a personal essay for that blog you’ve been plotting, there are a few things you need to nail down before you settle on a first line.

1. Gain In-Depth Knowledge of Your topic

Name one thing under the sun. You could write an essay about it.

Before you actually write your essay, though, you need to know your topic — not just in name, but in-depth. You don't have to be a subject matter expert , but you do have to research.

Your research will help you narrow your focus, build an argument, and uncover the facts to shape the flow of thought throughout your piece. What you learn in the research stage should determine how you structure your essay — and should guide your choice of hook.

‍ Did you uncover a shocking fact? A compelling anecdote? An interesting quote? Any of those things could be your hook.

‍ Take action: When you’ve finished your research, go through your notes and think through your essay. Mark or make a list of anything you learned that’s compelling enough to be a good lead. Then, filter that list through your essay genre.

2. Type of essay

In academic settings, there are generally three kinds of essays:

• Argumentative: Making the case for a certain stance or route of action.
• Expository: Explaining the who, what, when, where, why, and how of some phenomenon.
• Narrative: Telling a true story as a way to explore different ideas.

‍ The type of essay you’re writing is key to choosing the best hook for your piece. 

A serious argumentative essay probably shouldn’t start with a joke. And a shocking statistic may not be the best way to set the stage for a narrative story.

‍ Take action: Go through your list of potential hooks and cross out anything that doesn’t fit the type of essay you’re writing, whether it's a persuasive , argumentative or any other essay.

3. Audience and tone

To make sure your essay is properly engaged and understood, you need to keep your audience in mind and choose a tone that fits both your subject and your audience.

For an argumentative essay, you’re trying to convince someone who doesn’t agree with you that what you’re claiming is right or, at least, reasonable. You don’t want to turn them off with snarky or offensive language — but you do want to be authoritative. Your hook should match that tone and support your effort.

A narrative essay is likely to welcome more lyrical language, so starting with a colorful description or an anecdote might make more sense than, say, a bold claim or surprising fact. Whatever tone you choose for your narrative essay — comical or gentle or bold — should be used for your hook.

‍ Expository essays can use all sorts of tones and be written to a variety of audiences, so think carefully about the tone that best fits your subject matter. An essay explaining how the human body shuts down when overdosed will likely require a different tone than one on the lives of circus masters in the late 1800s. 

‍ Take action: Look at your list. Can you write these potential hooks in a tone that suits your subject and audience?

Are you writing a 10-page paper or a three-page reflection? Or is this your senior thesis, pushing 100 pages?

‍ If you’re writing a shorter paper, you’ll want to keep your hook quick and snappy. Don’t wax eloquent over three paragraphs about your childhood baseball league if your research paper on Little League is only four pages long.

At the same time, a long work — like a senior thesis or a term paper — could be enhanced by a longer hook. Just make sure your hook relates to and supports the core point of your essay. You don’t want to waste space describing a scene that ultimately has nothing to do with the rest of your piece.

‍ Take action: If you write out the items on your list, how long will they be? A sentence or paragraph? Perfect. Two to five paragraphs? Unless your essay is on the longer side, you may want to save that information for later in the piece.

‍ Now that you know the basic facts about what you’re writing, let’s look at some approaches you could use to catch those readers — and reel them in.

5 Enticing Essay Hooks (and How to Avoid Common Mistakes)

1. shocking fact or statistic.

Your research turned up a trove of information — some of it’s boring, some of it’s downright mind-blowing. Here’s a tip: If you lead with anything, lead with the mind-blowing stuff.

‍ Your job as the writer is to either make the mundane interesting or point out what’s not mundane at all. That starts with your first sentence.

For example, let’s say you’re writing about the color of the sky. You don’t want to start with “the sky is blue”. But you could start by explaining how the sky got its color.

For example:

‍ Making the mundane interesting: Sunlight is clear and colorless — until it strikes earth’s atmosphere. Then, scattered by air molecules, it colors our sky blue.

‍ Not mundane at all: In 2020, wildfires up and down North America’s West Coast sent so much smoke into the atmosphere that, in California, the sky turned orange.

Whether you’re sharing a fact or statistic, make sure it’s shocking or unexpected. And state it as directly as possible. 

Produce a shocking statistic with AI

Go to Wordtune, add your headline, and click on 'Expand on' and type "statistics". You can scroll through different AI-suggested stats that relate to your subject at hand.

Get Wordtune for free > Get Wordtune for free >

2. Bold claim hook

Especially fitting for argumentative essays, this approach goes from zero to 60 in two seconds (or less, depending how fast your audience reads). The idea is to get to the point ASAP. Make your claim — and then dive into your argument to back it up.

Will your claim ruffle feathers? Hopefully. If your “bold claim” makes people shrug, you haven’t succeeded either in writing it or in choosing a claim that’s actually bold. 

‍ Avoid the mistake of making a claim that people already accept as fact.

Just like “the sky is blue” won’t work as a shocking fact, it won’t work as a bold claim. We know the sky’s blue. Tell us something we don’t know. Or better: tell us something we’ve never heard before and may even find hard to believe. (As long as you can back it up.)

What could work for our sky color example?

• Denver has the blue-est sky of anywhere I’ve lived.
• Climate change is making sunsets more colorful than ever.

Generate a bold claim suggestion using AI

Go to Wordtune again, and write a statement that has general consensus. Then, choose the 'Counterargument' suggestion. This is a great way to formulate a bold claim with no effort at all.

3. Story/Anecdote hook

In an anecdote hook, you use a story to establish a connection between the topic and the reader to gain their attention. The story must be direct and concise, and relate to the main topic quite directly.

If your research turned up a wild example from a study that perfectly fits what you’re writing about, leading with that anecdote might be the best way to open your essay. Or maybe you have a personal story that relates to the topic — or permission from a friend to include their story.

The anecdotal hook is a favorite for magazine journalists and, let’s be honest, most of the writers in the room. It’s an excuse for us to play with words and work in more storytelling. As a bonus, well-told stories also have a knack for sucking in readers. Humans are storytellers . It’s like our radar is always pinging for another wild tale to first hear and then share.

But be careful you’re not wooed by a story that doesn’t fit the essay you’re writing. And if it does fit, keep it brief. The details you include need to be relevant to the essay, not just satisfying the inner gossip’s need for more juice.

A favorite writing tip that applies here: enter the scene as late as possible, leave as early as possible.

Consider these two examples:

‍ Long and rambling: When I moved to Colorado in 2015, I’d never been here before and I didn’t know what to expect. I came from Illinois, where I thought the skies were big and the landscape was boring. I wasn’t expecting the Colorado sky to be bigger. And I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be more blue.

‍ Direct and concise: The first thing I noticed when I moved to Colorado was the sky: it seemed bigger and more blue than the sky anywhere else I’d lived.

Either of these hooks could work fine if we were just writing a personal essay about a move to a new place, but if we’re specifically writing about the sky, the second example is better. It sticks to the point — the sky and the color of the sky — and doesn’t get bogged down in irrelevant details about where the person moved from, whether they’d been to Colorado before, or what they were expecting.

Improve your story using AI

Not all of us are natural storytellers. By using AI you can expand a short-written story, or simply phrase it better.

4. Question Hook

Do you remember the beginning of this blog? No need to scroll back up, because I just used the same hook style again: the question.

Starting your piece with a question is a great way to spark curiosity in your reader and set up what your piece is about. But there are plenty of ways to do this poorly.

Avoid any variation of “have you ever thought of…” or “have you ever wondered…” Questions like these try to put thoughts into readers’ minds that they may or may not have ever considered, and can be a major turnoff.

Instead, you’ll want to come up with a unique question that approaches your topic from a fresh angle. This means honing in on what was especially interesting or surprising from your research — and maybe even doing some brainstorming of different questions to find the most fascinating one.

What questions could you ask about the color of the sky? So glad you asked.

• Why did the sky turn orange in the middle of the day?
• If light is clear, why does the sky look blue?
• What do earth’s atmosphere and rainbow-casting suncatchers have in common?

5. Description Hook

Another favorite of the literary writers in the room, description is a prime choice for explanatory or narrative essays. But it takes some focus and intention to do well. 

Like with story hooks, you want to keep descriptive hooks concise. Whatever you’re describing — historical figure, disease, sporting event, London in the 1600s — should be clearly relevant to the central purpose of your essay. Your description should either illustrate the point you’re making or serve as an introduction to your topic.

Mistakes to avoid:

• Relying on passive voice
• Choosing bland words
• Describing a scene that’s common to the reader 

As with all hooks, your description needs to be specific and unexpected .

So what would make a good descriptive hook for an essay on the sky? 

Describing a sunset is too cliche, so cross that one off the list. Describing the sky as it is on a normal day wouldn’t be shocking or unexpected. To reach something unique, you’d have to either zoom in on the air molecules (like we did in our shocking fact example) or take a totally different approach:

Only an artist, the kind that memorized the colors in the crayon box as a kid and uses words like cerulean and violet , could name the difference between the blue of Colorado’s sky and the blue of Indiana’s sky. But she saw the difference, first in photos and then in person. That richer Colorful Colorado blue reflected in her eyes. Not baby blue or sapphire or azure — or even sky blue. Blue bird, perhaps? That’s what Coloradans called it. We’re closer to the sky, they say, that’s why it’s blue-er here. Believe it or not, they’re right.

Create a description hook with AI

By now, you know the process. You write the main topic of your essay, and click 'Explain'. You can also try the 'Emphasize' suggestion, which rather that adding an explanation, reiterates the message more deeply.

3 Approaches to Avoid When Writing Hooks

Every type of hook can be done poorly, but avoid these at all costs. These hooks are tired and overdone. They may help you start your first draft, but please — for the sake of your readers — do not submit an essay with any of these leads.

1. Quotations

Abraham Lincoln probably didn’t even say that quote the internet attributed to him, but even if he did, people probably already know it. It’s not shocking or unique or unexpected. Leave it out.

2. Definitions

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines hook as “a thing designed to catch people’s attention.” 

This approach doesn’t catch anyone’s attention — unless you’re defining a particularly unusual word. But even if you are defining an unusual word, there’s probably a more interesting way to start your essay than relying on someone else’s definition.

3. “Imagine this”

Here’s a hint: Cut “imagine this” and keep the rest. The hook will either work (and be an enticing description) or be painfully boring. Either way, you’ll at least avoid the most cliched approach to starting any piece of writing.

Our Go-To Trick for Writing Catchy Hooks

If you want a surefire way to write compelling openings , do this:

Go through your notes and either outline your essay or write the whole thing. This way, you’ll know the central thread (or throughline) that runs throughout your piece. 

Once your essay or outline is complete, go back through and identify a particularly compelling fact, claim, or example that relates to that central thread.

‍ Write up that fact, claim, or example as the hook for your essay using any of the methods we’ve covered. Then revise or write your essay so the hook leads smoothly into the rest of the piece and you don’t repeat that information elsewhere.

Does your hook spark curiosity in you? Did that fact surprise you in the research stage? Chances are, your readers will have the same reaction. And that’s exactly what you want.

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Good Hooks for Essays: 14 Hook Ideas with Examples

Now here’s the clue.

If you want to wow your teacher, polish the introduction. Add something interesting, funny, shocking, or intriguing. Good essay hooks help you build an emotional connection right from the start. Think of an essay hook as bait for your readers.

Our expert team has prepared numerous examples of hooks for essays. You’ll find hook examples for an argumentative essay, personal story, history essay, and other types of papers.

For 100% clarity, we provided examples using each hook tactic. And a short part about how to write a good hook.

• 💎 What Exactly Is a Hook & How to Write a Good One
• 📜 Examples of Classical Essay Hooks
• 💡 Try Some Informative Essay Hooks
• 🦄 Here are the Most Uncommon Essay Hooks

✅ Good Hooks for Essays: Bonus Tips

• 🔗 References for More Information

We highly recommend reading all the methods and examples, so you don’t have any questions.

💎 How to Write a Hook That Will Work for Your Essay?

The hook of your essay usually appears in the very first sentence.

The average length of an essay hook should be 3-7 sentences, depending on the topic.

But first, let’s quickly go through the key questions.

What Is an Essay Hook?

An essay hook (or narrative hook) is a literary technique that writers use to keep their readers engaged. It shows that the content below is worth reading.

The hook can have different lengths. Some writers make it last for several pages. Though, it better be a short paragraph or even a sentence.

Why Do You Need a Good Essay Hook?

Writing the right hook is essential for a few reasons:

• It heats up your readers’ interest. If you did it right, they read the whole piece.
• It shows off your skills . A right hook presents you as an expert in your field.
• It attracts target audience. Only the readers you want will keep reading.
• It keeps the tension on the right level. Use an intriguing question, and a reader dies to find out the answer.
• It makes a good introduction. Starting your essay off a boring fact is simply not a good idea.

How to Write a Good Hook: Ideas and Examples

Next, we will discuss these hook types in more detail. We’ll also provide essay hook examples of less common yet intriguing types: dialogue, story, contradiction, comparison, definition, metaphor, puzzle, announcement, and background information hooks.

💬 The Famous Quote Hook

Use a famous quote as a hook for your essay on history, literature, or even social sciences. It will present you as an established writer. It shows how knowledgeable you are and motivates the readers to engage in the text.

⬇️ Check out examples below ⬇️

Quote Hook Example: Political Science

Hilary Clinton once said that "there cannot be true democracy unless women's voices are heard." Which creates a discussion about how perfect democracy should look like. If it is a form of government that considers all opinions, why are women silenced so often even nowadays? The truth is that we need to ensure completely equal opportunities for women in politics before we talk about establishing the correct version of democracy. And even the most developed and progressive countries are still struggling to get to that level of equality. It can be achieved by various methods, even though they might only work in certain countries.

Social Sciences

"Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country." These words of wisdom from John Kennedy reflect the perspective we need to teach the younger generations. For some reason, it has become popular to blame the government for any problem arising in society. Is it their fault that we don't think about waste and keep trashing our home? Social responsibility is a real thing. The well-being of our countries starts with the actions of every separate individual. It is not entirely right to wait until the government fixes all the issues for us. The best strategy is to start thinking about what we can do as a community to make our home even a better place.

And excellent sources of quotes for you:

• Brainyquote.com – you can search quotes by topic or by author.
• Goodreads.com is not only a great collection of e-books but also quotes.
• Quoteland.com has plenty of brilliant words for all imaginable situations.
• Quotationspage.com – more than 30,000 quotations for unique essay hooks.

❓Rhetorical Question Essay Hooks

It doesn’t have to be rhetorical – any type of question addressed to your audience will do its job. Such a universal kind of hook can spike the interest of your readers immediately.

Some useful patterns of rhetorical questions:

• What could be more important than…?
• What if there was only one… (chance/day/hour)?
• Who wouldn’t like to… (be a cat/turn visitors into clients)?
• Why bother about… (inequality/imperfect education system)?
• Which is more important: … (making money or realizing potential)?

And more in examples:

Example of a Question Hook on Education

Wouldn't free access to education for everyone be wonderful? The answer would most likely be positive. However, it is not as simple as it seems. As much as the governments try to achieve this goal, there are still many uneducated people. On the bright side, in the era of technology, learning has never been so easy. Of course, some young adults just prefer the shortcut option of taking a student loan. Other ways are much more challenging and require a lot of responsibility and patience. Finding free educational resources online and gaining experience with the help of video tutorials might sound unprofessional. Still, you will be surprised how many experts hired in different fields only received this type of education.

Question Hook Example: Health

Is there anything that can help you lose weight fast? You have probably heard of this magical keto diet that is getting more and more popular worldwide. People claim that it helps them shred those excess pounds in unbelievably short terms. But how healthy is it, and does it suit anyone? The truth is that no diet is universal, and thanks to our differences, some weight-loss methods can even be harmful. Keto diet, for example, leads your body into the state of ketosis. What happens is that you don't receive carbohydrates, and in this state, fat is used as the primary source of energy instead them. However, it carries potential threats.

😂 Anecdotal Essay Hooks

This type would usually be more suitable for literary pieces or personal stories. So, don’t use it for formal topics, such as business and economics. Note that this hook type can be much longer than one sentence. It usually appears as the whole first paragraph itself.

It wouldn't be Kate if she didn't do something weird, so she took a stranger for her best friend this time. There is nothing wrong with it; mistakes like that happen all the time. However, during only five minutes that Kate spent with the stranger, she blabbed too much. Thinking that she sat down at the table that her friend took, Kate was so busy starting on her phone that she didn't notice that it wasn't her friend at all. Sure enough, the naive girl started talking about every little detail of her last night that she spent with her date. It was too much for the ears of an old lady. Kate realized she took the wrong table only when it was too late.

Literature (personal story)

Do not ever underestimate the power of raccoons! Those little furry animals that may look overly cute are too smart and evil. It only takes one box of pizza left outside your house by the delivery person for the disaster to begin. When they smell that delicious pizza, no doors can stop them. They will join the forces to find a hole in your house to squeeze into. Even if it's a window crack four feet above the ground, they know how to get to it. Using their fellow raccoons as the ladder, they get inside the house. They sneak into the kitchen and steal your pizza in front of your eyes and your scared-to-death dog. Not the best first day in the new home, is it? 

📈 Fact or Statistic Hook

Looking deeper into your essay topic, you might find some numbers that are quite amusing or shocking. They can serve as perfect hooks for economics- and business-oriented writings. Also, it is better if they are less known.

Business/social sciences

The UAE workforce is culturally diverse since around 20% of employees (usually called expatriates) come from different countries. Ex-pats tend to take managerial positions, which makes communication within companies quite tricky. The training focused on raising cultural awareness is getting more common, but such educational strategies as games (or gamification) are still rarely applied in the UAE companies. Yet, gamification was a useful tool in other places, making it an attractive UAE team building method. It can significantly help integrate ex-pats and create a more culturally aware environment.

The full version of this paper is here: Gamification and Cross-Cultural Communication in Dubai

Statistic Hook Example in Economics

The United Arab Emirate's debt has been rising drastically in past years, from about US$17 billion in 2003, which is almost 19 percent of GDP, to US$184 billion in 2009. Only a small proportion of the debt can be tracked directly to the public sector. A report by UBS bank shows that most of the debt comes from the corporate sector. Most of the companies that hold the main section of the debt are financial institutions. The public sector partly owns them. Banks in the UAE have been accumulating their debt amounts in the years mentioned above and could now account for 75 percent of the total foreign debt. The discussion is about the reasons why the UAE debt has been rising at an alarming rate.

Check the whole essay Debts in the United Arab Emirates .

Some good sources for statistics

• Finance.yahoo.com is perfect for business papers.
• Usa.gov/statistics is an easy-to-use governmental engine for searching data and stats.
• Unstats.un.org provides a massive collection of statistics published by UN organizations
• Oecd-ilibrary.org is the online library of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), featuring its books, papers, and statistics and is a gateway to the OECD’s analysis and data.

🤯 Shocking Facts are Very Good Hooks for Essays

Very similar to a statistical hook, a fact can serve as a perfect engaging introduction. Search your field for some shocking phenomenon and gently insert it in the beginning.

Don’t forget to include a reliable source reinforcing your words!

Fact Hook Example in Economics

Nowadays, much attention is paid to the problem of shark finning around the world. Millions of sharks are killed annually for their fins, and many of them are dropped back to the ocean finless, where they die because of suffocation. In many countries, the idea of shark finning remains illegal and unethical, but the possibility of earning huge money cannot be ignored (Dell'Apa et al. 151). Regarding available technologies, market economies, trade relations, and cheap employment, it does not take much time to organize special trips for shark hunting. The Trade of shark fins is alive and well developed in countries like the United States and China. However, the number of people who are eager to try shark fin soup has considerably decreased during the last several years because of the popularity of anti-shark fin soup campaigns and laws supported worldwide (Mosbergen). The situation continues to change in China.

Read the full paper about China Southern Airlines being against shark finning .

Daniel Stacey and Ross Kelly observed that long lines and a new gray market trend for bigger screen phones marked Apple's new iPhones debut. As expected, new phone models drew Apple fans outside retail stores (Stacey and Kelly). Global critics, however, noted that this year's lines were generally longer relative to previous periods mainly because of the developing gray market for Apple products. The new Apple's iPhones have larger screens than the previous models. Also, they boast of improved battery life, faster processors, and an enhanced camera. Tim Cook called them "mother of all upgrades" (Stacey and Kelly).

For the whole text, go to Apple’s New iPhones Start Selling in Stores” by Stacey and Kelly

Sources to look for reliable facts:

• Buzzfeed.com – news, videos, quizzes.
• Cracked.com – a website full of funny stuff, like articles, videos, pictures, etc.
• Webmd.com – an incredible collection of medical facts you will love.
• Livescience.com – discoveries hitting on a broad range of fields.
• National Geographic – needs no introduction.
• Mental Floss answers life’s big questions, a compilation of fascinating facts and incredible stories.

🗣️ Dialogue as a Catchy Hook for Essays

Dialogue is another type of hooks that goes perfectly with pieces of literature and stories. It can even make your short essay stand out if you include it at the beginning. But don’t forget that it only concerns specific topics such as literature and history.

Here it is:

Dialogue Hook Example in Literature

– Why did you do it? – I don't know anymore… That's why I'm leaving for a little bit right now. I need time to think.

With these words, Anna stepped back into the train car and waved goodbye to Trevor. She couldn’t even find the right words to explain why she ran away on her wedding day. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Trevor, but there was this deep, natural, and unexplored feeling that told her it wasn’t time yet. But the only thing Anna realized was that the city made her sick. That day, she took off her wedding dress, bought a ticket on the next flight leaving that afternoon, and hopped on the train taking her to the airport. She couldn’t even remember the country’s name she was going to so blurry everything was from her tears.

Dialogue Hook for History Essay

– If we still had inquisition, we could probably set him on fire. – Some dark magic, indeed, my friend! It would have probably been a real dialogue if we knew who was the first automobile inventor for sure. People were undoubtedly shocked to see the cars moving by themselves without horses. However, since they started appearing around the globe around the same time, it is almost impossible to identify who was the original creator of the idea and the first automobile itself. The credit was usually given to Karl Benz from Germany, who created a gasoline car in 1885-1886. But there are also much earlier records of a gentleman named Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, who built the first vehicle powered by steam in France in 1769.

🔮 A Story Looks Like an Extremely Good Essay Hook

A universal essay hook is a story. You can use this trick pretty much anywhere. The main challenge is to be as authentic as possible, try to tell something fresh and engaging. The more specific and narrow the story, the more chances for a successful introduction.

Story Hook Example for an Essay on Business

Dell started fast and strong. The original company was founded in 1984 when the founder was only a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas. Four years after the inception of the company, Michael Dell became the Entrepreneur of the Year. Eight years after he started the company from his dorm room's comfort, Dell was chosen as the Man of the Year by PC Magazine. […] The company was acknowledged as the world's leading direct marketer of personal computers. At the same time, Dell was known as one of the top five PC vendors on the planet (Hunger 9). […] However, the company's journey encountered a major hurdle down the road. Even after recovering from an economic recession in 2010, the company continued to experience declining sales.

Continue reading Dell Technologies Mission, Vision, and Values .

🦚 Contradictory Statement – Queen of Good Hooks

Everybody loves to start an argument by contradicting some facts. Therefore, you simply need to add a controversial statement at the beginning of your essay. People of all ages and beliefs will not be able to stop reading it!

Challenging your readers works well for social sciences, business, and psychology topics.

Examples of contradictory statements essay hooks:

If you think being a manager is a calm and relatively easy task, try surviving on five cups of coffee, a sandwich, and two packs of cigarettes a day. You would rather believe that managers only walk around the office and give their staff orders, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, the reality is much harsher than such rainbowy dreams. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. A whole set of personal qualities and professional skills must keep up with the successful strategic planning, assessment, and development. All the tasks the managers need to attend to are nerve-wracking and sometimes almost impossible to do. The stress from the demanding managerial position is often overlooked or underestimated.

Social sciences

Video games have been ruining our kids' lives and leading to an increase in crime. Since the gaming industry's development in recent years, the fear of its adverse effects on the younger generations' brains has become a significant concern. There is such a wide variety of games, ranging from educational to violent shooters and horrors. Almost immediately, caring parents jumped on the latter category, claiming that its impact is too significant and children become more aggressive and uncontrollable. Some supporters of this theory went even further. They decided to link real-life crimes to the effects of violent video games on child and adult behavior. However, as we will see later in this article, there is no or little scientific evidence supporting those ideas.

🔁 Vivid Comparison Essay Hook

Introducing your topic with an engaging, vivid comparison is a universal strategy. It is suitable for any kind of writing. The main idea is to grab your readers’ attention by showing them your unique perspective on the topic. Try to make the comparison amusing and exciting.

Comparison Essay Hook Options:

• Comparison with daily chores (e.g., Proofreading your essays is like cleaning your teeth.)
• Comparison with something everyone hates (e.g., Learning grammar is like going to the dentist.)
• Comparison with something everyone loves (e.g., John was happy like a child eating a free vanilla ice cream.)
• Comparison of modern and old-school phenomena (e.g., Modern email has much in common with pigeon post.)
• Funny comparison (e.g., Justin Bieber is the Michael Jackson of his time)

Check out examples:

Environment

For many people, flying feels like a dream come true. More and more people take their first-ever flight thanks to the rapidly developing aviation technologies. Aircraft and airports are advancing, and air traveling is getting cheaper. However, except for transporting eager travel addicted and business people, planes are used in other ways. It appears that the whole economies across the world depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of airlines. Import and export demand this kind of transportation to work at all times. Aviation development seems like a great thing. However, just like any other technological breakthrough, it comes with a price. Environmental issues did not wait too long to show up.

Social sciences/psychology

Leaving home for the first time as a freshman can only be compared to the level of stress you had in childhood when your mother left you in the line at the checkout for too long. Indeed, becoming a student and moving out of the parent's house comes with a great deal of stress. All the unknown that lies ahead makes youngsters too anxious. Then, the difficulties of financial planning and increased academic pressure come as additional sources of worries. However, it does not have to be such a negative experience. Particular techniques can help students overcome their stress related to the separation from their parents.

📄 Definitions = Easy & Good Hooks for Essays

Another versatile essay hook option is introducing a qualitative definition. Try to make it capacious, and don’t fall into verbal jungles. This narrative hook is perfect for short scientific papers where there is only one focus subject.

Business Ethics

White-collar crime refers to the peaceful offense committed with the intention of gaining unlawful monetary benefits. There are several white-collar crimes that can be executed. They include extortion, insider trading, money laundering, racketeering, securities fraud, and tax evasion. Enron Company was an American based energy company. It was the largest supplier of natural gas in America in the early 1990s. The company had a stunning performance in the 1990s. Despite the excellent performance, stakeholders of the company were concerned about the complexity of the financial statements. The company's management used the complex nature of the financial statements and the accounting standards' weaknesses to manipulate the financial records. The white-collar crime was characterized by inflating the asset values, overstating the reported cash flow, and failure to disclose the financial records' liabilities. This paper carries out an analysis of the Enron scandal as an example of white-collar crime as discussed in the video, The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Go to see the full text here: Enron Company’s Business Ethics .

Motivation is the act of influencing someone to take any action to achieve a particular goal (Montana& Chanov, 2008). Employees' motivation depends on the job's nature, the company's organizational culture, and personal characteristics. In this case study, various theories influence and show how employees can be motivated in the workplace.

Continue reading this paper about Motivation Role in Management .

📚 Metaphor Hook for Essays

Naturally, using a metaphor as a hook for your essay comes with some limitations. You should only use this type in literature and sometimes in psychology. However, it serves as a great attention grabber if it’s engaging enough.

Let’s see how you can use a metaphor:

When life gives you dirt, don't try to squeeze the juice out of it. It's better to leave it alone and let it dry out a bit. Kate decided to follow this philosophy since nothing else seemed to work. After the painful divorce process, last week's ridiculous work assignments and managing two kids alone almost drove her crazy. No polite discussions, arguing, or bribing helped take care of seemingly a million tasks these little women had to deal with. Even letting out the anger just like her phycologist recommended did not help much. Instead, Kate referred to the last remedy. She put all the issues aside with the hope that it would get better later.

The recipe is relatively easy – take a cup of self-respect, two cups of unconditional love, half a cup of good health, a pinch of new positive experiences, and mix it all for a perfect state of happiness! We all wish it would be possible, right? However, the mystery of this state of being happy is still unsolved. The concept and its perception considerably change depending on time and values. Happiness is so complicated that there is even no universal definition of it. Besides, humans are social creatures, so associating your level of success with others is not unusual. Therefore, being happy means achieving a certain level of several aspects.

🧩 Puzzle? Yes! Amazing Hook for Your Essay

Doesn’t a good riddle grab your attention? Sometimes you just want to find out the answer. The other times, you want to figure out how it is related to the topic. Such a hook would be great for writings on psychology and even economics or business.

Here are the examples:

How many Google office employees you need to destroy a box of fresh donuts? Google is indeed famous for some of the most accommodating and unique working places around the whole world. However, the success of the company does not only appear from treats for employees. It seems that the organizational culture has many effects on business decisions and overall performance. All the staff working in Google share the same visions and values, helping them cooperate and lead the company to success. However, there is one aspect to consider. The organizational culture needs to be adapted to the ever-changing business environment.

Who survives on dirt-like substance, is never joyful, and only returns to the cave to sleep? It sounds horrible, but the correct answer is human. Nowadays, the demands for any kind of workers are rising, which brings tremendous effects on people. As the number of duties increases, it is getting harder for employees not to chug on coffee and come back home in time for a family dinner. The work-life balance is disturbed, leading to anxiety, relationship issues, and even health problems. Social life appears to be as important as making money. Therefore, the correct distribution of time between personal life and work duties is necessary for happiness.

📢 Announcement Is Also a Good Essay Hook Option

Announcements could be suitable for literary pieces and historical essays.

Such a hook doesn’t have to be too long. It should be significant enough to persuade your readers to stick to your writing. Make sure it aligns with your topic as well.

Ways to use announcements as essay hooks:

It was a revolution! The Beatle's first song came out in 1962, and almost immediately, hordes of fans pledged their loyalty to this new band. Nearly all youngsters became obsessed with their music. No one can deny that the Beatles are still considered the creators of some of the best songs in history. However, the arrival of the British band influences culture as well. Many photos depict girls going crazy on live concerts and guys shaping their haircuts after the Beatles' members. The revolution that the band brought left an impact, evidence that we can still trace in modern British culture and music.

I will never go to Starbucks again! Oh, no, mind me. I love their coffee. At some point in my life, I even thought I had an addiction and had to ask my friends to watch my consumption of Pumpkin Spice Latte. Then, the wind of change turned everything upside down. On my usual Starbucks morning run, I noticed a homeless man holding a paper cup begging for money. At first, I didn't pay much attention since it's a usual occurrence in our area. However, one day, I recognized my old neighbor in him. The only cash I had on me, I usually spent on my cup of coffee, but I decided it was not much of a sacrifice. From that moment, I only showed up on that street to shove a few bucks into that poor guy's cup. One day, to my surprise, he talked to me.

ℹ️ Background Information Essay Hook

Last but not least, give background information on your subject to make a good intro. Such an essay hook is effortless and suitable for practically any paper. Try to find the most unobvious angle to the background information. At the same time, keep it short and substantive.

Here are the ways to use background information essay hooks:

Air Arabia is among the leading low-cost carriers in the global airline industry. The airline is mainly based at the Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Air Arabia, 2012). The airline came into inception in 2003 after His Highness Dr. Sheik Mohammed Al Qassimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, issued an Emiri Decree. Later, Air Arabia was transformed into a limited liability company. For nearly a decade, Air Arabia has witnessed tremendous growth, resulting in increased fleet size and improved sales revenues. At the same time, Air Arabia has created a renowned brand that offers reliable and safe services (Dubai Media Incorporated, 2012). Air Arabia identifies itself as a low-cost carrier by providing low fares in the industry. Some of the key strengths of the airline include punctuality and safety. This aims to ensure that the airline serves its customers most efficiently by observing its safety requirements and adhering to the landing and takeoff schedules (De Kluyver, 2010).

Read the full text here: Air Arabia Company Analysis.

Walmart was founded by Sam Walton in the Arkansas United States in 1962 as a grocery store. The company, which operates a chain of over 8,000 stores in fifteen countries, is estimated to employ over two million employees from diverse backgrounds. Wal-Mart was incorporated in 1969 and started trading in the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. […] Although the company can leave its consumers with a saving due to its low-price policy, it has faced some sharp criticisms over how it treats its employees and other stakeholders. Wal-Mart boasts of its ability to save its customers' money, an average of $950 per year. This, however, has been criticized as harming the community. Also, the feminists' activists have focused on Walmart's misconduct in offering low prices. (Fraedrich, Ferrell & Ferrell 440)

Now we won’t keep you for long. Let’s just go through simple points of essay hook writing.

Someone may think that you have to write your hook first. It comes first in the paper, right?

In reality, though, you can wait until your entire essay is nearly finished. Then go back and rewrite the very first paragraph. This way, you can have a fresh look at what you’ve written in the beginning.

Here’s a simple plan you can follow.

• First, write a basic version of your thesis statement.
• Then, provide supporting evidence for your thesis in every body paragraph.
• After that, reword your thesis statement and write your concluding paragraph.
• Finally, search for an attention-grabbing fact, statistic, or anything from the list above to serve as an engaging essay hook.

Add this essay hook to the beginning of your introduction. Make sure that your ideas still flow naturally into your thesis statement.

⚠️ Pro tip: choose various hooks and play around, adding each hook to your introduction paragraph. Like this, you can determine which one makes the most impressive beginning to your paper.

Some of your choices may sound interesting but may not lead to your essay’s main point. Don’t panic! Paper writing always involves trial and error. Just keep trying your essay hook ideas until one fits perfectly.

That’s it 😊

Good luck with your work!

🔗 References

• Hook – Examples and Definition of Hook
• How to Engage the Reader in the Opening Paragraph – BBC
• Hooks and Attention Grabbers; George Brown College Writing Centre
• Hook Examples and Definition; Literary Devices
• What Is a Narrative Hook? Video
• How to: Writing Hooks or Attention-Getting Openings-YouTube

Research Paper Analysis: How to Analyze a Research Article + Example

Film analysis: example, format, and outline + topics & prompts.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Emotions & Feelings — Loneliness

Loneliness Essays

Brief description of loneliness.

Loneliness is a universal human experience characterized by a sense of isolation and disconnection from others. It can manifest in various forms, including social, emotional, and existential loneliness. Understanding the impact of loneliness is essential for addressing mental health and social well-being.

Importance of Writing Essays on This ... Read More Brief Description of Loneliness

Importance of writing essays on this topic.

Essays on loneliness are crucial for shedding light on the psychological, societal, and existential implications of this pervasive emotion. Exploring loneliness through writing allows individuals to gain insight into their own experiences and fosters empathy and understanding within academic and personal contexts.

Tips on Choosing a Good Topic

• Reflect on personal experiences with loneliness and how they have shaped your perspective
• Consider societal factors that contribute to feelings of isolation and disconnection
• Explore the intersection of loneliness with other themes such as mental health, technology, or literature

Essay Topics

• The Impact of Social Media on Feelings of Loneliness
• Exploring the Relationship Between Loneliness and Depression
• The Role of Community and Connection in Combating Loneliness
• Loneliness in the Age of Technology: A Reflection
• The Portrayal of Loneliness in Classic Literature
• How Loneliness Affects Mental Health in Adolescents
• The Stigma of Loneliness: Societal Perceptions and Realities
• Overcoming Loneliness Through Self-Compassion and Mindfulness
• The Connection Between Loneliness and Addiction
• The Link Between Loneliness and Physical Health

Concluding Thought

By delving into the complexities of loneliness through essay writing, individuals can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Through critical exploration and reflection, essays on loneliness have the power to initiate important conversations and contribute to the collective understanding of this fundamental human experience.

Curleys Wife Loneliness Analysis

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An Analysis of Loneliness in of Mice and Men, a Novel by John Steinbeck

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Essay On Loneliness

Introduction: Loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant emotional response to isolation. It refers to a state of being alone. It is a moment when one feels sad because of being cut off from one’s near and dear ones either physically or psychologically. The extreme case of physical loneliness would be solitary confinement in a prison or being marooned on an island like Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, etc. It has also been described as social pain a psychological mechanism meant to motivate an individual to seek social connections.

Loneliness is to be clearly distinguished from solitude as unlike the latter, it is always an unwelcomed feeling to which one is subject out of some external or inner compulsions. It is beyond one’s control whereas many persons would occasionally prefer enjoying solitude, far from the madding crowds.

Loneliness is often defined in terms of one’s connectedness to others, or more specifically as “the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some important way”.

Grounds of Loneliness: Man faces an increasing incidence of loneliness because of the fast-changing social and economic conditions of modern times. It is a comparatively recent phenomenon: Close quite primitive groups bring out a precarious existence by hunting wild animals or eating wild fruits would not experience loneliness as they would always engage collectively in life-supporting activities.

Later settled agricultural communities were land-based and had a little occasion for feeling loneliness for the individuals who had strong ties with their families and village communities. They were alone neither in their joys nor in their sorrows as both the conditions brought them together for intensifying the joys and reducing the sorrow by sharing.

Loneliness can also be seen as a social phenomenon, capable of spreading like a disease. When one person in a group begins to feel lonely, this feeling can spread to others, increasing everybody’s risk for feelings of loneliness. People can feel lonely even when they are surrounded by other people.

Individual’s levels of loneliness typically remain more or less constant during adulthood until 75 to 80 years of age, when they increase somewhat. Prolonged loneliness is associated with depression, poor social support, neuroticism, and introversion. Studies have shown that loneliness puts people at risk for physical disease and that it may contribute to a shortened life span.

The Risks of Loneliness: Loneliness typically includes anxious feelings about a lack of connection or communication with other beings, both in the present and extending into the future. It can be a risk factor for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis, among other critical diseases. Lonely people are also twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

At the root, isolation compromises immunity increases the production of stress hormones and is harmful to sleep. All of this feeds chronic inflammation, which lowers immunity to the degree that lonely people even suffer more from the common cold. Loneliness can be a chronic stress condition that ages the body and causes damage to overall well-being.

Psychological Aspect: Loneliness may often grow out of some psychological compulsions. A person may suffer from an inferiority complex that he is unwanted or unloved. He/she will naturally avoid routine contact with others for fear of being repulsed or rebuffed. He/she will feel secure only when he is alone. He/she who cannot enjoy a company cannot enjoy real happiness which consists mostly of interaction with others or in getting appreciation or approval from others.

Conclusion: Loneliness is both pleasing and boring. It is correlated with social anxiety, social inhibition (shyness), sadness, hostility, distrust, and low self-esteem, characteristics that hamper one’s ability to interact in skillful and rewarding ways. Circumstantial loneliness causes no pains but forcide loneliness is bordom. But the person who has seen death from close quarters finds the true and real meaning of life. Similarly a person, who has undergone the experience of loneliness for a substantional time, keenly feels the joy of social interaction such a person realizes the true dimension of security and relaxation, one experiences in the company of one’s family members or dear friends. Experiences of loneliness strengthen social ties and convert even loners into social beings.

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25 Journal Prompts for When You’re Lonely AF

Loneliness is no joke because it can come with a side of negative thoughts and uncomfortable emotions. In the Negative Thoughts Club are typically things like “I can’t talk to anybody” or “nobody cares about me.” These often come up because of low self-esteem, says therapist Daria Stepanian, LMFT . Feelings like sadness, anger, resentment, emptiness, anxiety, and depression can come up too, Stepanian explains. As you can imagine, this can make loneliness a hell of a lot worse.

Maybe you miss a long-distance S.O. Maybe you’ve just packed up and moved to a new city and haven’t found an inner circle of friends yet. Maybe you’re surrounded by a ton of people but still feel loneliness like it’s your first, middle, and last name.

Don’t worry though! There are plenty of things (even small things) you can do when you’re lonely to help it suck a little less. Enter, journaling. This exercise enables you to take a step back and assess how loneliness is making you feel, how you treat yourself when you’re feeling this way, and where to go from where you’re currently at. Journaling can also help you release the negativity you may be experiencing and find a sense of calm, says Stepanian. 

Writing about your loneliness can separate it from who you are as a person too, which gives you more power back and may make it easier to deal with, says therapist Lawrence Jackson, PhD, LMFT .  So use these journal prompts to get cozy with your loneliness and lean into some positivity (if you’re up for that). Go ahead!

Feeling lonely? Turn to one (or more) of these journal prompts: 

1. Fill in the blank: I am most lonely when ______________.

2. How long have you been feeling lonely? How and why do you think it started?

3. Do you feel lonely all the time or in certain situations? 

4. How have you dealt with similar feelings of loneliness in the past? Are you happy with how you handled being lonely then? Why or why not?

5. Describe the difference between loneliness and being alone. If you don’t see a difference, write about why that is. 

6. Take a second to pause and look inward. What other emotions piggyback off of loneliness? Are you feeling frustrated, sad, or anxious? Write about what comes up.

7. Would reaching out to other people make you feel less lonely? Why or why not?

8. Write a note to your loneliness without filtering yourself. What do you really want to say? 

9. What would you tell someone close to you who’s feeling lonely? Do you feel like you can take your own advice? Why or why not?

10. How do you talk to yourself when you’re lonely? Are you kind to yourself or not so kind? List some examples. How does this make you feel? 

11. Write about a time when you felt super supported in your life. Are there ways you can get to that support now? If so, write about how you can achieve that.

12. Who is in your close circle right now? Do these people make you feel more lonely or less lonely? 

13. Write the pep talk you want to hear right now from yourself or someone else. Don’t hold back! 

14. Describe how loneliness feels in your body.

15. Is any type of loss or change associated with your experience of loneliness? If so, are there any positives that have come from that loss or change?

16. Write down at least five compliments you’ve received in the past. How do they make you feel now? 

17. Write a letter of any length to someone you haven’t talked to in a while but want to check in with. You can tell them how you’re feeling or not—it’s up to you. 

18. Does social media fuel or thaw your sense of loneliness? You can focus on your fave app or generalize all of the profiles you have. 

19. Reflect on a time you felt most happy. List a few ways you can get to that happiness.

20. Was there ever a time you were OK with feeling lonely? How is this time different or the same?

21. List out five nice things you can do for someone else soon (it can be one thing for five different people or five things for one person). Then, list five you can do for yourself. 

22. What are some short-term and long-term goals you have for yourself? What are some small steps you can take today to move towards one of those goals? 

23. If your loneliness was a movie or TV character from anything you’ve ever watched, who would it be, and why? 

24. What responsibilities do you have right now, and how do you feel about each? Do any of them excite you? Challenge you? Worry you? Bring you down? 

25. How can you best connect with the people and things you love? If you’re already connected with them and still feel lonely, is there anything you feel is missing from your life?

Wondermind does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a replacement for medical advice. Always consult a qualified health or mental health professional with any questions or concerns about your mental health.

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Athena Dixon’s ‘The Loneliness Files’ Digs Deep Into Connection and Solitude

In her essay collection, Dixon explores all the nuances of loneliness.

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A few weeks into pandemic lockdowns, writer Athena Dixon found herself lonely. Having moved to a new city by herself almost a decade before, Dixon felt empowered by her independent life. But after weeks of being entirely alone in her apartment, she began to think about loneliness and how it differs from being alone; about memory and legacy; and about what it means both personally and in the broader cultural realm to die alone. In her new essay collection, The Loneliness Files , she explores a matrix of people who became objects of public fascination after dying alone, cultural frameworks for describing and understanding loneliness from around the world, and her own upbringing and memory. In doing so, Dixon crafts a brief and captivating collection of essays that centers the humanity of herself and her subjects.

Shondaland spoke with Dixon, who’s also the author of The Incredible Shrinking Woman , over Zoom about loneliness and independence, joy and isolation, gender, cultural narratives of loneliness, and the music that brings her to the page.

SARAH NEILSON: As the title suggests, the book is a lot about loneliness, including pandemic isolation. What was the journey of writing these essays and publishing this collection?

ATHENA DIXON: The book was mainly written between March of 2020 and April of 2022, so the vast majority of it was written during a time where I was alone in this apartment by myself. My family is in Ohio, I don’t have a partner, I don’t have pets, it’s just me and the apartment. After the first couple of weeks of novelty of being home wore off, I started thinking I’m really, really by myself in a way that wasn’t normal. I moved to Philadelphia eight years ago by myself. I have been single for a very long time. I went away to college; I’ve lived in other places. It all seemed like a choice, and this was one of the first times I thought, “This is really not a choice right now, and I need to figure out how I got here.” One of the things that I did to cope with the silence was I started to listen to true-crime podcasts because of the conversational level of it. Eventually, those led me to the story of Joyce Carol Vincent, and I realized how similar our lives were in some ways. We had similar educational backgrounds, we’re the same generation, she had siblings, and she had a partner at one point, and she eventually just disappeared from the world, and no one knew she was gone. So, I started writing these essays to start really thinking about how I’ve made all these decisions in my life that led me to this point, about how I kind of didn’t realize I was isolated in some ways.

The Loneliness Files

SN: Along with this story of Joyce, you create and examine this matrix of other stories and narratives of loneliness in the book. You have more than one example of people who died alone at home and weren’t found for years, and the cultural fascination with those people. What was the process of researching those stories? What did you want to convey about your own relationship with those stories?

AD: I think the biggest thing that happened when I started coming across these bodies — Joyce Carol Vincent and, to some degree, Elisa Lam and Geneva Chambers — and there’s even some that exist in 2022 and 2023, and what really struck me is that the reason why we’re so interested in delving into them a little bit more was the idea that they were these oddities. People weren’t treating it like these are people who had fully fleshed-out lives who happened to die. There was sympathy, but I didn’t see a lot of sympathy for the idea that these people died in a very lonely way, and that there were people that had loved them and people that they were connected to. I wanted to figure out: If this could happen to these people, could it happen to me? Because as much as I have a sister and parents and friends, I’m also very isolated in a different state. Would I have the same kind of conclusion? I got so deep into these podcasts and into these mystery videos, I found myself starting to detach the humanity from people — not realizing that’s an actual person, and there’s a story that exists beyond this morbid fascination. So, I got really, really interested in giving them some level of humanity and putting their story into the world that was easily accessible and able to be connected to. I think when you lay out in plain language, “This person had a sister, this person had family, she was on this journey” — we have all these connected pieces. When you put it that way, it kind of adds humanity back into their story. And part of my fascination with bringing humanity back to them was a fear for myself. I talk often in the book about my fear of dying alone and my fear of not leaving a legacy. Not necessarily anything grand; it just terrifies me — the idea that I could leave the Earth, and there’ll be no memory of me. So, this obsession and this dedication to bringing these stories together was a way to not only humanize those stories but also to, in some ways, humanize myself.

SN: You write about loneliness as a distortion, both for you personally and on a broader cultural scale. Can you talk about the ways that you find loneliness is a distortion of truth and how your thinking on that evolved while you were writing?

AD: I allowed my decisions that led me to this place of isolation to always seem like a personal choice that there was no other outside factor on. I said very clearly to myself, “I chose to move to the city by myself. I chose to move 400 miles away from my family and friends. I’ve chosen to be away for eight years. I’ve chosen the frequency of the times that I go home. I’ve chosen all these things.” I clung very much to the idea that this was all personal choice, and initially, I distorted the idea that this disconnection and this isolation was a good thing. It wasn’t until I started writing more and more deeply into the essays that I realized that I was distorting reality in a way where I wasn’t allowing myself to honor what I was really feeling. I was trying to mask how disconnected I was starting to feel, how I was starting to forget voices, and touches, and the feeling of being with my family and my friends back home. By the time I got to the end of that book, it completely flipped. I realized that I spent a lot of years lying to myself and telling myself that the reality that I had created was the only reality that could be. That as long as I saw this warped version of hyper-independence and living in the big city by myself, everything was fine. But shifting that mirror just a little bit allowed me to see that I was distorting how much I was aching to be connected in ways that I had given up for this false sense of reality.

SN: You also look to several other cultural narratives and academic ideas of loneliness, like the idea of sonder . Can you talk about looking at these reference points or frameworks for understanding loneliness and human connection, and their role in the book?

AD: The idea of sonder is from the book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows [by John Koenig]. It’s my favorite word in that book because it’s something that me and my father had talked about for years, and we never knew that there was a word that somebody had created about it. This idea that you just never know when you’re driving down the street that people in the car, where they’re going, what their lives are going to be once they get out of your view. In connection to the idea of the internet and social media, we are all in this constant state of sonder. There’s always something. We scroll by a feed, we look on our dashboard, and we see recommended posts, and we may never interact with that person again, but there’s a whole rich life that exists outside there. Not necessarily in a bad way, but we have our own individual bubbles that we live in; how can we look outside of those bubbles? We may never touch each other, but how do we look outside of these bubbles and connect? I got really interested in that idea.

SN: Speaking of touching each other, can you talk about the role of the body in the book and how you were thinking about the body while you were writing about loneliness?

AD: I’m now currently writing [a project] about the full body. But I think for me, using the body as a grounding place, in that first initial run of the 2020 lockdowns I spent a lot of time in my head. It took concentrated effort to really come back into a physical space. I started using [the body] as an anchor point because I found myself getting a little bit too cerebral thinking about loneliness, and I had to think, “Is loneliness better explained through the body, in a way? Is it better to explain to somebody being touched?” I tried to find ways, when I felt myself getting a little bit too into my own head, to bring it back to something physical as a way to remind myself and hopefully the readers that the physical space is sometimes where the loneliness actually begins.

SN: Can you talk about the gendered aspects of loneliness that you write about, especially for women with imposed ideas of marriage and family and gender roles?

AD: I come from a fairly traditional background. My parents have been together for 45 years, my younger sister has been married for about five years, and at one point I was married. I very much grew up the good girl, with very traditional gender roles. And when my life didn’t turn out that way and I got divorced and I never had kids, I really spiraled because I didn’t know who I was outside of what I was expecting myself to be and what I thought the world at large expected me to be. I don’t think that my life is necessarily bad because I’m not married, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad because I don’t have kids, but I had to be honest with myself and say there is some regret there. There is some sense of failure. There is some sense of isolation because I think I am the only one in my immediate friend group who does not have children. I’m now one of the only ones in my immediate friend group who does not have a relationship. Being honest with myself and saying it’s okay to feel regret about these things doesn’t mean that I can’t stand on my own two feet, it doesn’t mean that this is the largest part of my life, but it’s a very real thing. It’s a thing that exists within my heart. But I also have this life that I really like. It exists outside of that, and maybe this particular path wasn’t for me. And that’s okay.

SN: How does memory play out for you in this book — your memory, history’s memory — and how do you think about and explore memory in relation to loneliness in these essays?

AD: The first step for me when I came to writing the book was understanding that memory is fluid. There are different entry points into memory. Especially in the latter third of the book, I treated memory almost like a family documentary in a way. Just as much as I’m worried about not being remembered, I don’t want the people that I wrote about to be forgotten. My last grandparents, my aunts, the parents of my best friend, my cousins who all passed during the writing of this book, I didn’t want them to be forgotten. I was thinking the other day about the idea of writing a traditional memoir, and I think, for me, that’s not possible. Because I know that there are other gaps in my memory, I know that there’s missing time, and I think part of that missing time is tied back to what I was just saying about the idea of pretending that you’re not okay and pretending that you can’t see beyond the loneliness and isolation and disconnection. I think that I’ve spent so much time in that, that those memories are kind of lost. So, I wanted to be able to again honor that as well. There’s a reason why these memories don’t exist, but that doesn’t mean that everything around it is tainted in some way.

SN: I’m curious about the “recommended listening” parts of the book. Were you listening to those songs while you were writing those essays?

AD: Yes, I actually have a playlist titled “The Loneliness Files” on Spotify. It’s, like, three and a half hours long. My dad was a part-time local DJ growing up. My entire childhood was music and a basement full of tapes and CDs and albums; pretty much every major event or memory in my life is tied to music in some way, and so it’s the way that I come to writing, and it’s the way that I jog my memory. Originally in the book, there were song lyrics, but that’s not really possible because of rights, so I decided instead of having an individual long list of songs, I wanted to break up each section with songs that very much were tied to the theme of each section. But I really was listening to the songs as I was writing because I think they’re a good place to set the table. It’s just a way that I come to the page.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Neilson is a freelance culture writer and interviewer whose work regularly appears in The Seattle Times , Them , and Shondaland , among other outlets. They are an alum of the Tin House craft intensive, and their memoir writing has been published in Catapult and Ligeia .

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Essay about Loneliness

Although we live in the XXI century and it seems like millions of people are around, we can suddenly become stricken with a sharp pain of loneliness . But it is important to understand the difference between so close notions as “loneliness” and “being alone” . To be alone means to have no company at the moment, while the meaning of the “loneliness” lies in the fact that it can happen to you anytime, no matter where you are. You can feel lonely even if you are in the middle of one million people crowd, when you are hanging out with your friends or spending time with you family members. Being alone is a fleeting transient notion, while loneliness is one of the harshest feelings people can feel and suffer from. The problem is that loneliness can become a cause of such terrible actions, as suicide, falling into depression or even trying to hurt close people or strangers.

The other harmful side of the problem of loneliness is that it is easy to get into it, but very hard to get rid of. It is especially difficult to lose in case if it has already progressed into deep depression . It is possible to use the drug therapy, but it is not usually effective, if the cause of the depression doesn’t have hormonal or chemical nature.

To my mind, the most effective loneliness treatment is not being indifferent . Medicine is good, but warm words can heal even the most broken and lonely souls. Just look around and see if somebody is longing for your help? Perhaps it’s not that obvious, but the deathly-still scream can be heard only by the most attentive and kind-hearted people.

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Cyberbullying is mostly entailing the act of intimidating a person by sending them threatening and daunting messages using electronic communication devices. The study is meant to investigate how cyberbullying affects the social and psychological growth of adolescents. Erikson theory of psychological suggests that in the eight stages of mental, an individual must experience a challenge….

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Is Anger Ever Beneficial? Anger is one of the most controversial emotions in people’s life and psychology. So many discussions are held on its drawbacks and the way it harms both people who experience it and their surrounding, on the ways of controlling or suppressing it, and so on. But why? And can anger be…

Sample of Annotated Bibliography

Bandelow, B., & Michaelis, S. (2015). Epidemiology of anxiety disorders in the 21st century. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 17(3), 327. The authors of this article were able to list the various types of anxiety disorders and stated that they are among the most prevalent cases of mental illness. The authors suggested that anxiety disorders involve high cost…

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Theme of Loneliness, Isolation, & Alienation in Literature with Examples

Humans are social creatures. Most of us enjoy communication and try to build relationships with others. It’s no wonder that the inability to be a part of society often leads to emotional turmoil.

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World literature has numerous examples of characters who are disconnected from their loved ones or don’t fit into the social norms. Stories featuring themes of isolation and loneliness often describe a quest for happiness or explore the reasons behind these feelings.

In this article by Custom-Writing.org , we will:

• discuss isolation and loneliness in literary works;
• cite many excellent examples;
• provide relevant quotations.

🏝️ Isolation Theme in Literature

• 🏠 Theme of Loneliness
• 👽 Theme of Alienation
• Frankenstein
• The Metamorphosis
• Of Mice and Men
• ✍️ Essay Topics

🔍 References

Isolation is a state of being detached from other people, either physically or emotionally. It may have positive and negative connotations:

• In a positive sense, isolation can be a powerful source of creativity and independence.
• In negative terms , it can cause mental suffering and difficulties with interpersonal relationships.

Theme of Isolation and Loneliness: Difference

As you can see, isolation can be enjoyable in certain situations. That’s how it differs from loneliness : a negative state in which a person feels uncomfortable and emotionally down because of a lack of social interactions . In other words, isolated people are not necessarily lonely.

Isolation Theme Characteristics with Examples

Now, let’s examine isolation as a literary theme. It often appears in stories of different genres and has various shades of meaning. We’ll explain the different uses of this theme and provide examples from literature.

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Forced vs. Voluntary Isolation in Literature

Isolation can be voluntary or happen for external reasons beyond the person’s control. The main difference lies in the agent who imposes isolation on the person:

• If someone decides to be alone and enjoys this state of solitude, it’s voluntary isolation . The poetry of Emily Dickinson is a prominent example.
• Forced isolation often acts as punishment and leads to detrimental emotional consequences. This form of isolation doesn’t depend on the character’s will, such as in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter .

Physical vs. Emotional Isolation in Literature

Aside from forced and voluntary, isolation can be physical or emotional:

• Isolation at the physical level makes the character unable to reach out to other people, such as Robinson Crusoe being stranded on an island.
• Emotional isolation is an inner state of separation from other people. It also involves unwillingness or inability to build quality relationships. A great example is Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye .

These two forms are often interlinked, like in A Rose for Emily . The story’s titular character is isolated from the others both physically and emotionally .

Symbols of Isolation in Literature

In literary works dedicated to emotional isolation, authors often use physical artifacts as symbols. For example, the moors in Wuthering Heights or the room in The Yellow Wallpaper are means of the characters’ physical isolation. They also symbolize a much deeper divide between the protagonists and the people around them.

🏠 Theme of Loneliness in Literature

Loneliness is often used as a theme in stories of people unable to build relationships with others. Their state of mind always comes with sadness and a low self-esteem. Naturally, it causes profound emotional suffering.

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We will examine how the theme of loneliness functions in literature. But first, let’s see how it differs from its positive counterpart: solitude.

Solitude vs. Loneliness: The Difference

Loneliness theme: history & examples.

The modern concept of loneliness is relatively new. It first emerged in the 16 th century and has undergone many transformations since then.

• The first formal mention of loneliness appeared in George Milton’s Paradise Lost in the 17 th century. There are also many references to loneliness in Shakespeare’s works.
• Later on, after the Industrial Revolution , the theme got more popular. During that time, people started moving to large cities. As a result, they were losing bonds with their families and hometowns. Illustrative examples of that period are Gothic novels and the works of Charles Dickens .
• According to The New Yorker , the 20 th century witnessed a broad spread of loneliness due to the rise of Capitalism. Philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus explored existential loneliness, influencing numerous authors. The absurdist writings of Kafka and Beckett also played an essential role in reflecting the isolation felt by people in Capitalist societies. Sylvia Plath has masterfully explored mental health struggles related to this condition in The Bell Jar (you can learn more about it in our The Bell Jar analysis .)

👽 Theme of Alienation in Literature

Another facet of being alone that is often explored in literature is alienation . Let’s see how this concept differs from those we discussed previously.

Alienation vs. Loneliness: Difference

While loneliness is more about being on your own and lacking connection, alienation means involuntary estrangement and a lack of sympathy from society. In other words, alienated people don’t fit their community, thus lacking a sense of belonging.

Isolation vs. Alienation: The Difference

Theme of alienation vs. identity in literature.

There is a prominent connection between alienation and a loss of identity. It often results from a character’s self-search in a hostile society with alien ideas and values. These characters often differ from the dominant majority, so the community treats them negatively. Such is the case with Mrs. Dalloway from Woolf’s eponymous novel.

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Writers with unique, non-conforming identity are often alienated during their lifetime. Their distinct mindset sets them apart from their social circle. Naturally, it creates discomfort and relationship problems. These experiences are often reflected in their works, such as in James Joyce’s semi-autobiographical A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .

Alienation in Modernism

Alienation as a theme is mainly associated with Modernism . It’s not surprising, considering that the 20 th century witnessed fundamental changes in people’s lifestyle. Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution couldn’t help eroding the quality of human bonding and the depth of relationships.

It’s also vital to mention that the two World Wars introduced even greater changes in human relationships. People got more locked up emotionally in order to withstand the war trauma and avoid further turmoil. Consequently, the theme of alienation and comradeship found reflection in the works of Ernest Hemingway , Erich Maria Remarque , Norman Mailer, and Rebecca West, among others.

📚 Books about Loneliness and Isolation: Quotes & Examples

Loneliness and isolation themes are featured prominently in many of the world’s greatest literary works. Here we’ll analyze several well-known examples: Frankenstein, Of Mice and Men, and The Metamorphosis.

Theme of Isolation & Alienation in Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is among the earliest depictions of loneliness in modern literature. It shows the depth of emotional suffering that alienation can impose.

Victor Frankenstein , a talented scientist, creates a monster from the human body parts. The monster becomes the loneliest creature in the world. Seeing that his master hates him and wouldn’t become his friend, he ruined everything Victor held dear. He was driven by revenge, trying to drive him into the same despair.

The novel contains many references to emotional and physical alienation. It also explores the distinction between voluntary and involuntary isolation:

• The monster is involuntarily driven into an emotionally devastating state of alienation.
• Victor imposes voluntary isolation on himself after witnessing the crimes of his creature.

To learn more about the representation of loneliness and isolation in the novel, check out our article on themes in Frankenstein .

Frankenstein Quotes about Isolation

Here are a couple of quotes from Frankenstein directly related to the theme of isolation and loneliness:

How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow…I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend. Frankenstein , Letter 2

In this quote, Walton expresses his loneliness and desire for company. He uses frost and snow as symbols to refer to his isolation. Perhaps a heart-warming relationship could melt the ice surrounding him.

I believed myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers. Frankenstein , Chapter 3

This quote is related to Victor’s inability to make friends and function as a regular member of society. He also misses his friends and relatives in Ingolstadt, which causes him further discomfort.

I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure—I was now alone. Frankenstein , Chapter 3

In this quote, Victor shares his fear of loneliness. As a person who used to spend most of his time in social activity among people, Victor feared the solitude that awaited him in Ingolstadt.

Isolation & Alienation in The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis is an enigmatic masterpiece by Franz Kafka, telling a story of a young man Gregor. He is alienated at work and home by his demanding, disrespectful family. He lacks deep, rewarding relationships in his life. As a result, he feels profound loneliness.

Gregor’s family isolates him both as a human and an insect, refusing to recognize his personhood. Gregor’s stay in confinement is also a reflection of his broader alienation from society, resulting from his self-perception as a parasite.  To learn more about it, feel free to read our article on themes in The Metamorphosis .

The Metamorphosis: Isolation Quotes

Let’s analyze several quotes from The Metamorphosis to see how Kafka approached the theme of isolation.

The upset of doing business is much worse than the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I’ve got the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. The Metamorphosis , Part 1

In this fragment, Gregor’s lifestyle is described with a couple of strokes. It shows that he lived an empty, superficial life without meaningful relationships.

Well, leaving out the fact that the doors were locked, should he really call for help? In spite of all his miseries, he could not repress a smile at this thought. The Metamorphosis , Part 1

This quote shows how Gregor feels isolated even before anyone else can see him as an insect. He knows that being different will inevitably affect his life and his relationships with his family. So, he prefers to confine himself to voluntary isolation instead of seeking help.

He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s. The Metamorphosis , Part 3

This final paragraph of Kafka’s story reveals the human nature of Gregor. It also shows the depth of his suffering in isolation after turning into a vermin. He reconciles with his metamorphosis and agrees to disappear from this world. Eventually, he vanishes from his family’s troubled memories.

Theme of Loneliness in Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is a touching novella by John Steinbeck examining the intricacies of laborers’ relationships on a ranch. It’s a snapshot of class and race relations that delves into the depths of human loneliness. Steinbeck shows how this feeling makes people mean, reckless, and cold.

Many characters in this story suffer from being alienated from the community:

• Crooks is ostracized because of his race, living in a separate shabby house as a misfit.
• George also suffers from forced alienation because he takes care of the mentally disabled Lennie.
• Curley’s wife is another character suffering from loneliness. This feeling drives her to despair. She seeks the warmth of human relationships in the hands of Lennie, which causes her accidental death.

Isolation Quotes: Of Mice and Men

Now, let’s analyze a couple of quotes from Of Mice and Men to see how the author approached the theme of loneliness.

Guys like us who work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world, they ain’t got no family, they don’t belong no place. Of Mice and Men , Section 1

In this quote, Steinbeck describes several dimensions of isolation suffered by his characters:

• They are physically isolated , working on large farms where they may not meet a single person for weeks.
• They have no chances for social communication and relationship building, thus remaining emotionally isolated without a life partner.
• They can’t develop a sense of belonging to the place where they work; it’s another person’s property.

Candy looked for help from face to face. Of Mice and Men , Section 3

Candy’s loneliness on the ranch becomes highly pronounced during his conflict with Carlson. The reason is that he is an old man afraid of being “disposed of.” The episode is an in-depth look into a society that doesn’t cherish human relationships, focusing only on a person’s practical utility. 

I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. Of Mice and Men , Chapter 5

This quote expresses the depth of Curley’s wife’s loneliness. She doesn’t have anyone with whom she would be able to talk, aside from her husband. Curley is also not an appropriate companion, as he treats his wife rudely and carelessly. As a result of her loneliness, she falls into deeper frustration.

✍️ Essay on Loneliness and Isolation: Topics & Ideas

If you’ve got a task to write an essay about loneliness and isolation, it’s vital to pick the right topic. You can explore how these feelings are covered in literature or focus on their real-life manifestations. Here are some excellent topic suggestions for your inspiration:

• Cross-national comparisons of people’s experience of loneliness and isolation.
• Social isolation , loneliness, and all-cause mortality among the elderly.
• Public health consequences of extended social isolation .
• Impact of social isolation on young people’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Connections between social isolation and depression.
• Interventions for reducing social isolation and loneliness among older people.
• Loneliness and social isolation among rural area residents.
• The effect of social distancing rules on perceived loneliness.
• How does social isolation affect older people’s functional status?
• Video calls as a measure for reducing social isolation.
• Isolation, loneliness, and otherness in Frankenstein .
• The unique combination of addiction and isolation in Frankenstein .
• Exploration of solitude in Hernan Diaz’ In the Distance .
•  Artificial isolation and voluntary seclusion in Against Nature .
• Different layers of isolation in George Eliot’s Silas Marner .
• Celebration of self-imposed solitude in Emily Dickinson’s works.
• Buddhist aesthetics of solitude in Stephen Batchelor’s The Art of Solitude .
• Loneliness of childhood in Charles Dickens’s works.
• Moby-Dick : Loneliness in the struggle.
• Medieval literature about loneliness and social isolation.

Now you know everything about the themes of isolation, loneliness, and alienation in fiction and can correctly identify and interpret them. What is your favorite literary work focusing on any of these themes? Tell us in the comments!

❓ Themes of Loneliness and Isolation FAQs

Isolation is a popular theme in poetry. The speakers in such poems often reflect on their separation from others or being away from their loved ones. Metaphorically, isolation may mean hiding unshared emotions. The magnitude of the feeling can vary from light blues to depression.

In his masterpiece Of Mice and Men , John Steinbeck presents loneliness in many tragic ways. The most alienated characters in the book are Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. Most of them were eventually destroyed by the negative consequences of their loneliness.

The Catcher in the Rye uses many symbols as manifestations of Holden’s loneliness. One prominent example is an image of his dead brother Allie. He’s the person Holden wants to bond with but can’t because he is gone. Holden also perceives other people as phony or corny, thus separating himself from his peers.

Beloved is a work about the deeply entrenched trauma of slavery that finds its manifestation in later generations. Characters of Beloved prefer self-isolation and alienation from others to avoid emotional pain.

In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World , all people must conform to society’s rules to be accepted. Those who don’t fit in that established order and feel their individuality are erased from society.

• What Is Solitude?: Psychology Today
• Loneliness in Literature: Springer Link
• What Literature and Language Tell Us about the History of Loneliness: Scroll.in
• On Isolation and Literature: The Millions
• 10 Books About Loneliness: Publishers Weekly
• Alienation: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Isolation and Revenge: Where Victor Frankenstein Went Wrong: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• On Isolation: Gale
• Top 10 Books About Loneliness: The Guardian
• Emily Dickinson and the Creative “Solitude of Space:” Psyche
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How to Overcome Loneliness

Contrasting view of life—one leading to loneliness, one to happiness..

Posted December 9, 2023 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• Understanding Loneliness
• Find counselling near me
• As social beings, we are born amongst others and therefore are never really alone.
• We can choose behaviors that connect us to others in positive ways.
• Nothing is guaranteed, but pro-social behaviors are more likely to lead to happiness than not.

Two quotes making the rounds on social media present starkly different views of life. The first, by journalist Hunter S. Thompson, says, “We are all alone, born alone, die alone ... and we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way.” Hunter concludes, “This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness .”

The second quote is from theologian and poet Thomas Merton. While Merton doesn’t address aloneness or happiness, both are implied in his comment, “What we are asked to do is love [others], and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”

The Thompson’s approach strikes me as wrongheaded, while Merton’s advice may be a stretch too far.

First, Thomson: he is factually wrong. We aren’t born alone but from the body of another and in the presence of others who care for us. Without others, as infants we wouldn’t receive food or shelter. As children, we wouldn’t learn the skills of survival or have access to the material advances which make life something more than short and brutish. There is no way to understand humankind other than as first and foremost social beings.

By contrast, Merton’s urging is laudable—to love others is a worthy goal. It isn’t merely that we are in the company of others, which Thompson concedes he has had, but the nature of that relationship that transcends loneliness . But there is a problem with Merton, as well, and that is that love cannot be summoned up at will. Still, we can be kind, considerate, thoughtful, and generous; we can show our care for others by acting fairly and justly. We can choose to be cooperative and be helpful. These behaviors are within our power. And perhaps from that love may follow.

Unlike Merton’s hopeful view, Thompson’s is jaundiced. It is hardly a recipe to follow for human flourishing. It isn’t a model to emulate but a cautionary tale of a sad life. Loneliness lurks behind Thompson’s implicit philosophy of individualism, a way of living that it is widely held but deeply destructive. I have written about the problems with individualism several times, most recently here .

Merton’s goal of universal love may be obtainable only by a person devoted to the religious life, as was Merton, a Trappist monk. Others live in the murky world of competing desires and values, internal and external stresses, partial successes and failures, and limited abilities. The model of sainthood isn’t especially useful to those who live a secular and flawed life.

Hunter and Merton present contrasting philosophies of life, one sour, the other optimistic . Which one gets us closer to a life of meaning, fulfillment and flourishing?

For some, Thompson accurately reflects their own experiences and feelings of being alone. For others who accept it as a description of life in general, it may be become a self-fulfilling prophecy , a prediction that becomes true because of the influence our expectations have on seeing what we want to see.

If you believe that aloneness is inherent in the human condition, as Thompson writes, then you may well find that loneliness is an accurate description of life. Conversely, if you switch your frame of reference and behave in caring and just ways, as Merton encourages, then the possibility of experiencing the joys of living opens up. Nothing is guaranteed, but Merton does make a happy life more likely than does Thompson.

Arthur Dobrin, DSW, is Professor Emeritus of University Studies, Hofstra University and Leader Emeritus, Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. He is the author of more than 25 books, including The Lost Art of Happiness and Teaching Right from Wrong .

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Grabbing Attention: Crafting the Perfect Essay Hook

Published on: Mar 1, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

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Do you ever sit down to tackle a writing assignment and just draw a complete blank? 

You're not alone! Coming up with the perfect hook while writing an essay can be tricky. But once you understand its power, it's easy to realize how important grabbing attention from your reader is. 

As students, crafting the perfect hook is integral in catching your professor's eye and keeping them engaged throughout your piece. 

Read on to learn more about why creating that initial wow factor is so essential!!

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"What is an Essay Hook and Why Is It Important?"

The essay hook definition is 

“An essay hook is the very first sentence of your paper that grabs your reader’s attention.”

This single line should be exciting, and captivating, and really give a glimpse into what's to come in your essay.

Essay hooks are incredibly important because they are the very first thing your reader will see. 

Think of it this way—imagine you're telling a story and you want to grab someone's attention right away. 

You wouldn't start off with a long, boring introduction! The same goes for an essay hook—you want to create interest and get your reader curious about what happens next. 

Here are a few different  "Essay Hook Types"

• Anecdote: Start your essay off with a funny story or an interesting anecdote to draw your reader in. 
• Quotation: Use an inspiring quote as the opening line of your essay. 
• Fact/Statistic: Drop some facts or stats to make your essay stand out
• Question: Ask an intriguing question to get your reader thinking. 
• Metaphor/Simile: Use a thought-provoking metaphor or simile as your introduction.
• Riddle/Puzzle: Start off with something mysterious to keep your reader engaged.

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What is a Hook in Essay Writing?

A hook for essay writing is a catchy and interesting way to start an essay .

It can be an anecdote, quote, or funny story that will capture the reader's attention and intrigue them. The goal of a hook is to motivate the reader to read what your essay has to offer. 

It should be creative and draw the reader in, while also being relevant to the topic at hand. 

An example of a hook for essay writing could be:

“Loneliness is an invisible epidemic that is slowly taking over our society. We must take action now before it’s too late!”

This statement grabs the reader's attention and sparks their curiosity about the rest of the essay. It sets up an intriguing argument and introduces the reader to the topic at hand.

How To Write an Essay Hook?

Creating an effective hook for your essay requires careful thought and consideration. Here are a few tips to help you write an effective hook: 

1. Know your audience – Before writing your hook, take the time to think about who your target audience is. Understand what kind of language they'll respond best to. 

2. Be creative – Brainstorm different ideas and come up with something that is creative and original. Try to use some kind of rhetorical device or clever turn of phrase to draw the reader in. 

3. Keep it short – You don't need to write a long hook. Just make sure you introduce your topic clearly so that readers can get an idea about your essay.

4. Stay relevant – Make sure that whatever hook you choose, is directly related to the topic at hand.

These tips should help you create an effective hook for your essay that will capture the reader's attention. 

What Are the 7 Types of Essay Hooks

There are many different types of essay hooks you can use to catch your reader's attention. 

Here are 7 of the most popular: 

Interesting Question Hook

This type of hook is used to grab the reader's attention by posing an intriguing question. 

It should be something thought-provoking so that the reader wants to learn more about what you have to say. 

For example:

Strong Statement/Declaration Hook

With this type of hook, create a bold statement or declaration that will leave the reader feeling challenged and curious.

It should be something that is strong and decisive but also relevant to your topic. 

Fact/Statistic Hook

This type of hook involves citing a fact or statistic that is relevant to your topic. It should be something that is interesting, and unexpected and supports your overall argument. 

For example: 

Metaphor/ Simile Hook

This type of hook uses an analogy or metaphor to draw the reader in and get them interested in the topic. 

It should be something clever, creative, and relevant to your argument. 

This type of hook starts with a story or anecdote that is relevant to your topic. 

It should be something that is interesting and engaging. It should also provide some insight into the rest of your essay. 

This type of hook involves citing a famous quote or saying that is relevant to your topic and supports your argument. 

It should be something meaningful and thought-provoking, and it should also be relevant to the rest of your essay. 

Description Hook

This type of hook begins with an evocative description that is relevant to your topic. It should be something vivid and interesting, and it should also provide some insight into the rest of your essay. 

These are just a few common types of essay hooks that you can use to grab your reader's attention.

With the right hook, you can create an essay that is both compelling and informative.

Essay Hook Examples

Now that you know the different types of essay hooks, let's take a look at some examples. 

Essay Hook Quote Example

An essay hook quote is a short, pithy quote or story used to engage readers and draw them into the essay. 

Here are a few examples

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts 

 â€œYou can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis 

“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Dennis P. Kimbro

Question Hook Examples

“Can we ever truly comprehend the magnitude of our universe?” 

“What do we really know about the effects of technology on our lives?” 

“Are humans capable of living peacefully with one another?”

Argumentative Essay Hook Examples

“The media has a powerful influence in shaping our opinion of the world; we must be careful not to become mere puppets manipulated by what is fed to us through television and other forms of media.” 

“We cannot ignore poverty, for it goes hand in hand with crime, disease, and despair.” 

“It is more important to invest in our children’s education than it is to build another prison.” 

College Essay Hook Examples

A college essay hook is an engaging way to draw readers in and make them want to know more. 

Here are a few examples to know how to write a college essay hook. 

“My first day of college was the best day of my life; it felt like I had finally found where I belonged in this world.” 

“College showed me that I am capable of achieving my dreams with hard work, dedication, and the right attitude.” 

“My college experience taught me how to become independent and confident in taking on new challenges.”

Social Media Essay Hook

A social media essay hook is a creative way to draw readers into the conversation. Here are a few examples: 

“Social media has changed the way we communicate with each other; it’s time for us to take back control of our conversations.” 

“We can no longer ignore the power of social media to shape our lives and our society; it’s time for us to take responsibility for its use.” 

“Social media can be a powerful tool, but only if we understand how to use it responsibly and ethically."

Essay Hooks About Identity 

An essay hook about identity is a creative way to draw readers into the conversation. Here are a few examples: 

“Identity doesn't come from what we do, it comes from who we are beneath all of that.” 

“Our identity is shaped by our experiences, and those experiences shape who we become.” 

“Identity is not just a reflection of the past but also a projection of the future.”

Looking for examples? Check out these interesting hook examples to kick-start your essay!

Essay hooks are a great way to draw your readers in and make them want to learn more about your topic. 

There are many different types of hooks, including quotes, questions, descriptions, and argumentative statements. 

With the right hook, you can create an essay that is both compelling and informative. 

Don't forget: if you get stuck, CollegeEssay.org is always here to help. Whether you have a school essay, research paper, or admission essay, our essay writer has all sorts of expertise. Our college essay writer can help you get the grade you deserve! 

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is an essay hook.

An essay hook is a sentence or two that draws the reader into your writing. 

It can be a quote, rhetorical question, statistic, or intriguing statement that encourages the reader to continue reading.

How do I craft an effective essay hook?

To craft an effective essay hook, start by considering your audience. Think about what would grab their attention and make them want to read more. 

Then, choose the type of hook that best suits your topic and style of writing. Finally, revise and edit the hook to ensure it’s strong and engaging.

Barbara P (Literature, Marketing)

Barbara is a highly educated and qualified author with a Ph.D. in public health from an Ivy League university. She has spent a significant amount of time working in the medical field, conducting a thorough study on a variety of health issues. Her work has been published in several major publications.

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Books That Can Help Combat Loneliness

by Sonya Matejko

More and more people report feeling lonely, with over half of Americans saying they feel this way. And there can be many reasons for loneliness, whether it’s a physical or an emotional distance or feeling like no one understands. Yet through stories, we can connect and see that there is far more understanding than we think. By sharing and taking in our lived and imagined experiences, even if it’s fiction, we can start to see that there are others who think and feel like us. If you find it challenging to connect with others around you, or even with yourself, then perhaps connecting with the right story is precisely what you need to feel a little less alone.

The Music Shop

By rachel joyce, paperback $17.00, buy from other retailers:.

Here for It

By r. eric thomas.

The Thursday Murder Club

By richard osman, paperback $18.00.

How to Tell a Story

By the moth , meg bowles , catherine burns , jenifer hixson , sarah austin jenness and kate tellers, paperback $19.00.

Wow, No Thank You.

By samantha irby.

The Matchmaker’s List

By sonya lalli, paperback $15.00.

Between the World and Me

By ta-nehisi coates, hardcover $26.00.

Call Us What We Carry

By amanda gorman, paperback $17.99.

by Javier Zamora

From Strength to Strength

By arthur c. brooks, hardcover $28.00.

The Midnight Library

By matt haig.

Bittersweet (Oprah’s Book Club)

By susan cain.

Tomorrow Will Be Different

By sarah mcbride.

by Kristen Radtke

Hardcover $30.00.

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