How to Find a Good Title for an Essay

Publication Date: 03 Mar 2018

When there are a lot of the same says, the title is what can make your essay unique and attract more attention. Good titles content a sense of the author’s ideas and the context of an essay. If you’re looking for a great title for your paper, we suggest focusing on three elements that any title must include: a hook, main terms, and sources or location. These elements are always presented in academic papers, but you can also use this structure for narrative essays.

Now let’s consider title crafting step-by-step.

Understand the structure

First of all, start from the hook. It’s the most creative part of the title, and it must grab the attention of your readers. Thus, you have to write a striking phrase which will also inform your readers about the content of your essay. There are many types of hooks. You can start your title with a memorable quote from your essay or even play with keywords.

To start with, select words or phrases that describe your topic best so that your readers will understand the angle of your point. These words must serve as a brief summary of your paper, but make sure that your title doesn’t sound too generic. For example, if you simply write “Report on healthcare”, it will be too general, and your readers won’t understand what exactly you’re writing about. We also suggest avoiding some general terms like “the world”, “society”, “mankind”, or “culture”.

After this, you have to cite your source or location. It’s the last and the most specific section of the title which helps your readers understand the setting of the essay and the location of the content. The source of your paper is determined by a topic: it may be a person, another paper, or a place. For example, if you’re writing about the modern situation around global warming and the effects caused by it, your title may look like this: “The Hot Spot: the Consequences of Global Warming for Arctic Regions in 2017”.

How to use keywords and images

Think about the tone of your essay. Is it an academic essay, or is it narrative essay? If you’re writing about dangerous effects of global warming, the title cannot be funny. Instead, it must be informative and accurate. On the other hand, if you’re writing about comedy in Victorian times, some joke will make your title even better.

Make an attempt to summarize your essay in a few words. Three words are the best method. If such a task seems to be too complicated, write a brief summary of your thesis statement in three words. For instance, all three words may be nouns separated by commas so your readers will easily get the general sense of your paper by looking at these keywords.

Speaking of keywords, sometimes it may be hard to find good ones, especially when you don’t know where to look for them. We suggest reading the introduction and the conclusion of your paper. Given that these sections include your thesis statement written in different ways and briefly restate your arguments, it won’t be a problem to find proper keywords there.

Find two or three descriptive and specific keywords. Think how these words can be related to each other and how they can be combined. It’s good if all your keywords fit a single phrase, creating a meaningful message.

Don’t be afraid to use some strange or peculiar image. A vivid image may be a great presentation of your topic. For example, if you’re writing about climate change, your title may begin like this: “The Land of Melting Ice”.

Quotes and wordplay

Essays often include many quotations from sources. Go through your quotes and note those that are particularly strong or important. You need to find some phrases that summarize the entire essay or the thesis statement.

If your essay is about acertain book, a quote from it will look great. You can also use a quote that wasn’t mentioned in your essaybut is related to your main idea. Just google keywords from your essay along with the word “quote”. However, you also have to make sure that the chosen quote is real.

For example, if your essay is about the Russian Revolution of 1917, you can use quotes from propaganda posters, such as “Workers of the world – unite!” Such a quote may be shortened to “Workers of the world” – this is a good beginning of the title that reflects the context.

We’ve already mentioned that you must avoid using clichés. To make your essay more unique, rephrase a clichéd phrase and turn it into a specific one.

Use your creativity and play on words. For example, if your essay is about religious sects, you can play on words “prophet” and “profit”.