There are a good many strategies for opening an essay. When talking about "hooks," you can think of the opening line or lines, or the whole of the opening paragraph. If you think of it in paragraph terms, remember that there may be other elements needed for an effective introduction (such as a thesis statement). Pay attention to individual assignment guidelines and expectations.

These are listed in no particular order. Each has strengths and weaknesses, places they are better used and places better not used. As writers, this is where trial and error comes into play.

• Anedcote: Tell a story, maybe about an event from your life or something you have heard. This is done to put a human face on an issue you write about so readers can see how it matters to real people.
• Direct Announcement: More directly to the topic, giving the basic, but necessarily information as quickly and concisely as possible. The benefit of this is you don't waste your reader's time. The drawback is you may not engage your reader effectively.
• Comparison: Develop an analogy between your topic and something seemingly dissimilar. You might write about how education is like tending a garden or something of that sort. This is an opportunity to be creative. Constructing analogies is a part of developing arguments, so this is a worthwhile skill to work on.
• Definition: Explain or define just what the issue is. This is a good idea if you are working with an idea, say poverty for instance, where people may not be on the same page. If you explain/define your concept of poverty, then your argument/essay will be off to a better start. You will have defined the terms, determined the boundaries of the discussion. That puts you in charge as the writer, compelling the reader to examine the issue in your terms.
• Fact: Provide your readers an interesting or compelling fact that relates to the topic of your essay, something that will pique their interest, leave them wanting to know more.
• Image: Paint your reader a picture, using your descriptive skills, to create an image of the issue, something that invites your reader to continue reading. For instance, if the essay were about poverty, you might paint a picture, or describe, a grocery cart and the foods it contains. Or you might describe the shoppers face as s/he goes down the aisles, looking at foods, placing them back on the shelves because they aren't affordable.
• Opinion: State your opinion on the issue and then lay the groundwork for the essay to show why it's one worth considering.
• Question: Pose a question to your readers, one that will get their attention and one that both sets up the discussion to take place in the essay while also getting answered, at least to some degree, by the essay and its argument.
• Quotation: Open with a quotation that introduces a take on the issue you will be writing about.
• Selecting: Begin with a straightforward statement about the subject. Provide some brief and specific examples illustrating the statement and then provide a thesis statement.
• Refer to Reading: Open with a reaction to something you have read on the subject, perhaps something from the assigned readings for class.
• Umbrella: List and very briefly describe several equal parts of the topic that will be examined.
• Tension: Show the forces of the topic in conflict, such as the way in which a desire for human rights might conflict with free-flowing immigration.
• Problem: Establish/describe the problem that will be examined or addressed.
• Background: Provide a brief history to establish context for the issue/topic to be examined in the body of the essay.
• Face: Provide an example of an important person associated with the issue, briefly describing the role they play or the relationship they have with it.
• Scene/Setting: Describe the place or situation (context of the time and circumstance, not just the place. It could be Post-9/11 America or World War Two France. Each would be described differently.
• Dialogue: Show one person talking to another about the subject, perhaps two people who are closely aligned with the issue being examined.