The most challenging part of writing an essay is the title. An effective title will make your paper stand out among the rest and provide a clear picture of the content, slant, or perspective of your essay. The hook, key words, and source/location are the essential elements of a good title. This structure is best for academic essays but it can be used to create narrative essays.
Understanding a Title’s Structure
1. A hook is essential. The basic structure of most titles is similar, especially for academic essays. The hook draws readers in. It is a catchy phrase which lets readers know the topic of the essay.
– A hook can include keywords, images, or quotes from your essay.
2. You should choose one or more key terms. These are the key words and phrases that you need to know about your topic. These key phrases should be used to summarize the essay in a one- or two-word format.
Good titles should not be obvious or use generic terms. Titles such as “Paper on 1950s China” and “Report on Shakespeare” are too broad and don’t give the reader an idea of what the paper is about. Avoid using non-specific and general terms such as “society”,” culture,”the world” or even “mankind,” in your title.
3. Cite the source. This is the last sentence of the title. It informs the reader about the source or the setting for the essay. Your source material could be another piece, a name of a text or a geographical place, depending on the topic.
A title for a paper about Mao’s Great Leap Forward to Communist China in late 1950s could include a catchy phrase, key terms, and the origin or location (50s Communist China). One title idea is “The Fall of Many, the Failure of One: Mao’s Great Leap Forward In 1950’s Communist China”.
Keywords and Images
1. Pay attention to the tone of what you write. Your essay should be a simple, academic one. Is it more narrative and free-form? Your title should not be funny or playful if you are writing about the Great Leap Forward by Communist China in the 1950s. It might be more focused and concise. Your title might be more serious if you are writing about Shakespearean comedy during Elizabethan times. Your title should be consistent with your essay’s tone.
– An example of a title for an essay on The Great Leap Forward is “The Failure and the Great Leap Forward: China late 1950s” A Shakespearean comedy essay might be more fun, like “Love’s Labour Lost” and other comedies.
2. Your paper should be summarized in no more than three words. A thesis statement for an essay can be summarised in three words. The three words should be written down on a piece if paper. Next, try to place commas and colons between the words to make a title.
– For example, an essay on 1950s China’s Great Leap Forward might highlight the government’s failed use in steel and agriculture and the subsequent mass hunger in China. The paper could be summarized in three words: steel, land and famine. It could be titled “Steel, Land, and Famine, Failure of The Great Leap Forward”.
3. Your conclusion or introduction should include two to three keywords. A traditional five-paragraph essay should have an introduction that includes your thesis and the main ideas. The conclusion should reiterate your thesis and summarize your analysis. These sections can be a good place to look for keywords that might lead to strong titles.
Two to three keywords should be chosen that are both short and concise. Look at how the words are related or if they stand alone. Your introduction to 1950s China might include keywords such as “industrialization”, “collectivization”, and “collapse”. An essay title idea could be “The Collapse of Colectivization In 1950s China”.
– An essay about the conventions of Shakespearean comedy may have a lighter tone. You can also look for humorous keywords. You might use keywords like “lovers”, or “obstacles”, to make your conclusion. One title you could use for the essay is “Lovers and Improbable Situations: The Conventions of Shakespearean Comedy”.
4. Use a strange or unique image.
Your reader will be able to see the description of an object and frame the rest of your essay by using it. You can sum up a striking, bold image in just one or three words.
A paper on a volcano might be entitled, for example, “The Day the Earth Bled: Mount Vesuvius’ Eruption”.
Using quotes or play on words
1. In your essay, look for the key phrase or quote. Strong essays will incorporate quotations from sources throughout. For those quotes that are particularly powerful or strong, take a look at the essay. Find phrases or sentences that summarise your essay or highlight an important theme or idea.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream has a Theseus character who professes love to Hippolyta, an Amazonian princess. “Hippolyta! I woo’d you with my sword/ and won thy love by inflicting injuries upon thee/ But I will marry thee in a different key/With pomp, triumph, and reveling.”
– An essay title could then be “With pomp and triumph and with reveling: Shakespearean Comedy’s Conventions”.
You can also look up key phrases or quotes that are not included in your essay, but which reinforce central themes or ideas in your essay. Search for keywords in your essay, as well as the word “quote”, to see what results you get. You can then use a small portion of the quote in your title.
– A good example is to use propaganda posters from the Great Leap Forward of the Mao government. These are easily found online. An example of propaganda saying “Brave The Wind and the Waves, Everything has Amazing Abilities” could be reduced to “Brave The Wind and the Waves: False Promises from Mao’s the Great Leap Forward”.
2. A cliche can be reworded. You can take a cliche sentence or phrase and make it catchy. Avoid using cliches that are less than three words in length.
– A Shakespearean Comedy Essay could employ the cliche, “Laughter is the Best Medicine” and turn it into “Laughter is Thy Best Medicine”. Another title you could consider is: “Laughter IS Thy Best Medicine: Shakespearean Comedy Conventions”.
3. You can play with words or use double entendres. Clever wordplay can add some flair to your title and demonstrate that you are open to new ideas. Try a phrase you already have and see if you can replace words or add a new twist to it.
– An essay on missionaries in West Africa during colonial times could be entitled, for example, “Prophets and Profits: The European Colonial Invasion into West Africa”.
