To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most-read books in American high schools. The novel is so rich with meaning that you can almost always, after a fresh look at it, come up with a point or scene from the book that deeply engages your mind. This experience can lead you to develop a great “hook”—a way to draw the reader into the essay with an interesting beginning.
One way to begin thinking of a great hook is to explore the vitally important themes and fascinating characters of the novel. Reflect for a moment on why almost all American high school students read this novel. Why is it such an important work, and what makes it so powerful? Exploring the literary elements of setting, plot, theme, and character can help you identify the thesis statement, or major point, you want to make throughout your essay.
Good literature portrays life...
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in all its complexities.To Kill a Mockingbird brings the 1930s Deep South to life, with all of its prejudices and eccentricities. The story of a young African American man falsely accused of rape by a white woman in 1930s small-town Alabama, To Kill a Mockingbird is an American tragedy that vividly portrays a sense of place. The setting of the novel may be a great source of ideas for a hook. For example, you could draw the reader in with a sentence that conveys the significance of the novel’s setting.
You might begin with a statement like the following hook: Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, with Jim Crow laws and segregation in full force, portrays an American tragedy when the worlds of a young black man and a white woman collide with devastating results.
Your thesis statement would then go on to state the main point you want the essay to convey. Another example of a great hook would be incorporating a quote. At one point in the novel, Atticus Finch tells his children,
The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
A great hook could include that quote and then present a thesis statement on how the novel demonstrates the quote’s truth.
Other literary elements to consider are plot, theme, and character. What element of the plot do you find most disturbing? What major point about life most powerfully resonated with you? Which character stands out most vividly in your mind? Your essay will sound the most authentic, and a hook will come quite naturally, when you take time to reflect on what about the novel moves or troubles you the most.
One other suggestion is to write your hook last. While the hook may begin the paper, the best hook is most likely to come to you after you have reflected on the novel through forming a thesis and supporting that thesis as you write. Writing is a process, so don’t hesitate to mine the plot, setting, themes, and characters of the novel for ideas and then come back to add your hook once your ideas are in place. You can use the examples in the above paragraphs to get started.