title for reading essay

Good Titles for an Essay on Literacy

David coodin, 25 jun 2018.

Which came first, the title or the essay topic? Great titles engage the potential reader with memorable words and can help direct students to essay subjects as well. While many students are content to give their written essays the first title that pops into their heads, taking the time to come up with a sharp essay title can draw in your reader and potentially improve your grade. An essay on literacy necessitates finding a strong title especially important because your essay likely emphasizes the importance of reading. Whether you're writing a short essay or a long term paper, try choosing a title that could reflect your own grasp of literacy, your passion for the paper's topic and the topic itself.

Explore this article

Technical Titles
Impactful Titles
Humorous Titles

1 Technical Titles

A title for an essay on literacy is sometimes best when it serves main function of alerting the reader as to the essay's topic. This is especially true for a scientific study of literacy. In this case, come up with a title that conveys your main point. Examples include: "Why Reading Helps Brain Development in Children," "The Impact of the Internet on Literacy Rates" and "The Hidden Links Between Literacy and Income Levels." In all cases, isolate the topic of your paper and phrase it in as few words as possible.

2 Impactful Titles

Sometimes the best titles for an essay on literacy aim to grab the reader's interest through emotional impact. This approach works well if your essay contains examples of literacy's impact on individual people. Find the best anecdote in your essay, and turn it into a title that also conveys your argument. For example, you might choose a title like: "A Mother's Story: How Adult Literacy Can Save the American Family." Without giving too much away, the title personalizes the essay's main point and draws in the reader.

3 Quotations

Many famous quotes exist about the topic of literacy. Finding a good one and using it appropriately can be a great way to come up with a title for your literacy essay. Frederick Douglass famously wrote, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." Spin this passage by using a title like: "Becoming Forever Free: The Importance of Learning to Read." You might even include the Douglass quotation as an epigraph to your essay.

4 Humorous Titles

Essay titles that contain humor can work well for your literacy essay if your topic is not as serious. Consider using a pun in your title, such as: "Black, White, and Read All Over: A Study of Newspapers and Literacy" or "Booking Time Off for Books: Reading on your Summer Vacation." Using humor in your title sets the tone for your essay, and can make your audience want to begin reading. You might also consider self-referential humor for your title, such as "Me Read Good" or "How Literacy Can Help You Read This Essay."

1 University of Southern California: Choosing a Title
2 Good Reads: Quotes About Literacy
3 Owlcation: College Writing Tips Write a Good Literacy Narrative

About the Author

David Coodin began working as a writer in 2005, and has been published in "The Walrus." He contributes to various websites, writing primarily in the areas of education and art. Coodin holds a Ph.D. in English literature from York University in Toronto.

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How to come up with a Good Title for an Essay

Although often overlooked, having a good title for your essay creates an excellent first impression on your readers. After all, it is the first contact point between you and your readers. Therefore, it is most likely that a good title for any paper (essay, research paper, term paper, dissertation, etc.) is necessary for you to warm the hearts of your assessors, supervisors, teachers, and professors. The thing is, titles have a magical way of creating a first impression of an essay or any written piece.

Given this understanding, your essay's title has to shine. When it is appealing, you are already sure that you have knocked your professor off their feet and are busy on your way towards better grades. Consider the title as a means of expressing yourself. It lets your readers understand your thought process, making them interested in reading to settle their doubts and feed their anticipations.

When you select the right essay title, you give a good impression, set a good tone for the paper, and raise the bar higher for your readers so that they anticipate reading more in the introduction and see how you have defended your thesis in the body paragraphs.

In this comprehensive guide, our best essay writers take you through making a good essay title to achieve excellent grades, a wide readership, and accolades from your professors.

Reasons to Have a Good Title for an Essay

Creating a prosperous essay title is not something you take for granted.

Do not confuse a title with a title page. In this case, a title is a name that describes the essay and is contained in the title page or cover page (the first page of your essay that contains your name, course details, class details, subject, date of submission, and professor's name).

Here are some reasons why you should have an eye-catching title for your essay and papers:

It is the first thing your lecturer, professor, and other readers see before they read the essay. You have to create a lasting good impression.
A good title makes your essay successful. When you have a catchy, relatable, and relevant title, you persuade the reader to dig into your essay sentence-by-sentence and paragraph after paragraph to the last bit.
A good title reflects the tone and purpose of the essay, making it easier to anticipate some ideas. It signposts ideas in your essay.
An effectively written title makes your essay stand out from the rest of your peers.
It also makes it easy to skim through your essay, anticipating solid points and ideas.

The truth about marking college papers is that most do not have much time to read papers. They are busy, and the easier you make it for them to read your paper, the better. Every essay begins with a title and builds ideas from it. When you write a title that communicates what your essay is about and have a hook to grab your readers' attention, you have aced your essay title, but there is more, which we look into in the next section.

What Makes a Good Title for an Essay?

Compare your essay title to an advertisement, more of a billboard. If it is successful, people are eager to read and explore the essay's contents.

A good essay title is 8-10 words long, grabs the readers' attention, gives a clear picture of the essay topic and arguments, uses the correct terminology, and uses a colon to combine different ideas or thoughts.

Here are some qualities of a good title you should consider as you develop one for your essay:

It creates interest and draws the attention of the readers to the essay.
It is descriptive, provocative, vivid, creative, and informative.
Reflects the purpose and tone of the essay. As you try to make it catchy, ensure that it credibly reflects what your essay is about.
Sets the scope of the essay from the onset.
Pulls down words or phrases from the essay.
Does not contain colloquial expressions, metaphors, or clichÃ©s.
It is direct and straightforward. It should be easy to read. Complicated titles make it hard to comprehend and anticipate what the essay is about.
Formatted well and placed as per a writing styles convention.
Accurate, relatable, and relevant. The title should be brief and concise. Longer titles confuse readers and demonstrate you have not perfected your writing skills.
Written in a language that the target audience understands.

A great title is significant for your essay. Before submitting the essay, ensure it has the qualities listed above. Now that you know what makes a good title, let us jump into the specific components.

Essential Components of a Good Title

When writing any essay , you need to ensure that the title contains these main parts:

Hook. You need to include a catchy hook to introduce the subject of your argument or the topic of your essay effectively. You also grab your readers' attention, signaling to them that the essay is worth reading.
Topic Keywords. Include keywords related to the essential topics, ideas, and points you have explored in detail in the essay. Tell the readers what the essay is all about. These words and phrases express the core or gist of your essay.
Focus on Keywords. These keywords help readers understand more about your argument's source and the point of origin of the concepts you have explored in the essay. These keywords answer your essay's "when/where" question aspect.

Do not hesitate to use a colon to separate the hook from the keywords; it is allowed. Let us use an example to explain these components.

"The Pathway to Hope: The Struggles, Challenges, and Wins of Immigrants in America"

In this example, "The Pathway to Hope" is the hook, and the topic keywords include "struggles,' "challenges," and "wins." The focus keyword is America. Note that the title effectively addresses all the aspects of an excellent essay title we discussed.

Steps for Creating a Perfect Title for an Essay

You now know why you need a good title and what components to include in making one. Next, let us look at the steps to creating a title that your professor will read and want to read the rest of your essay and aware you the best grade for it.

Step 1: Write the Essay First and the Title Last

You can only develop a good title for an essay after writing it. Writing first and titling last is one of the best formulas when writing a title of an essay or any written piece.

The assumption is that when you have written the entire essay, you can summarize it into three words, understand its tone and scope, and know the main argument (the thesis).

In addition, after you have written and polished the essay, you have captured all that matters. You have no time to waste and can quickly come up with a great title that represents what you have written about in the essay.

Instead of spending much time brainstorming about the title, go straight to research and writing and leave it for the last part. You will be surprised it comes naturally. You can take a 5-10 minute break before setting in to develop the title for your essay.

Step 2: Read the Essay Fast

After writing and polishing the essay, you need to skim through your essay one more time to identify the main points, including the thesis statement. As you skim, summarize the contents of your essay or the thesis in three words or less. Select two or three words from your introduction or conclusion; ensure they are short, descriptive, and straightforward.

Step 3: Formulate and Polish the Essay Title

You do not just come up with a title one time. Instead, you will have alternatives to choose from. The beauty of having a list of potential titles is that you can filter them out using the tips we share in this article (see the next section) to arrive at the final selection that makes for the best essay title. Once you have the title, ensure that you polish it to a brief, memorable, and creative name that you give the essay. The title is the identity of your essay. Therefore, make it spotless and memorable. Polishing means rewording, restructuring, punctuating, and editing for grammar.

Tips for Selecting a Great Essay Title without Sweating

As you undertake the three steps above, here are a few tips to help you write an outstanding essay title.

Write the title last. Essay titling is not part of the writing process. You should not waste time coming up with a suitable title. Instead, write the essay first, and the title will appear naturally.
Use the thesis statement . When writing the essay title, you can condense the thesis into a title or at least make them interdependent.
Consider your audience. The title should appeal to your audience. Therefore, if you write for a knowledgeable or semi-literate audience, ensure you mind your words and tone effectively.
Make it simple. When your title is simple, clear, and concise, it has a way of winning the trust and time of your readers. Ensure you capture the focus and topic keywords as you frame your title. A great title is direct and straightforward.
Format the title correctly. When writing the title, ensure that the titles or names of books, articles, plays, and songs that are part of it are either italicized or in quotes.
Use the correct punctuation. Ensure that your essay title is well punctuated. A simple mismatch can make the readers misinterpret its intended meaning. Do not use punctuation marks randomly but only when necessary. When you use italics or quotes, be consistent throughout the essay.
Use compound titles. Ensure that your essay title contains an evocative primary title followed by a more descriptive title. You can use a colon to separate the two. See the example we gave above.
Never use abbreviations. Avoid including abbreviations, jargon, slang, and other unnecessary lingo in your essay title. Be as simple as possible.
Rework any clichÃ©s and popular phrases. When you identify popular catchphrases in your essay title, ensure that you substitute them with formal phrases and words.
Capitalize well. When writing the title, capitalize it in the title case.
You can use questions. Sometimes, exciting titles can be questions. Consider the question you can ask and compose a title around it.
Limit it to 8-10 words. A good title is short, clear, and informative. Do not waste words writing a long and boring title.
Check journals for motivation. When writing the title of your essay or research paper, consider the catchy and informative titles used in journal articles discussing the same ideas as those in your essay or paper.

Our Final Words on Crating Strong Titles

An essay title is more than just a combination of words. It has to be strong, informative, direct, and concise. Ensure your essay title is placed on your title or cover page for easier identification. Developing a good topic takes time, practice, commitment, and dedication. Therefore, be easy on yourself and consult widely.

Related Reading: H ow to write the title of an article in a paper.

When you write a captivating essay title, you will earn the best grades. Instead of just reading the title page, introduction, and conclusion , the professor will be interested to read your entire paper and award you the best grades/marks. We hope you will make the best essay title going forward.

If you need help writing essays with well-formulated titles, you can hire our professional writers. They are experts in writing well-formatted essays fast and immediately. No matter the essay research topic or idea , we have your back.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

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Academic Writing

How to Find a Catchy Title for Your Paper/Essay

Last Updated: February 23, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,072,211 times.

Coming up with an effective title can end up being the most difficult part of your essay. A catchy title can make your paper stand out from the pile and give your reader a sense of the content, slant, and perspective of your essay. To craft a strong title, you need to focus on the three elements of a standard title: the hook, the key terms, and the source or location. This structure applies specifically to academic essays, but you can also apply this structure to narrative essays.

Understanding the Structure of a Title

The hook can be collection of keywords, an image, a play on words, or a quote from your essay.

Keep in mind good titles never state the obvious or contain generic terms or phrases. Titles like “Paper on 1950s China” or “Report on Shakespeare” are too general and do not give the reader a sense of the content of your paper. Avoid general and non specific terms like “society” “culture” “the world” or “mankind” in your title.

For example, a paper about Mao’s Great Leap Forward in Communist China in the late 1950s may have a title that has a hook (catchy phrase), one or two key terms, and the source or location (1950s Communist China). A possible title could be: “The Failure of One, the Fall of Many: Mao’s Great Leap Forward in 1950’s Communist China”.

Using Keywords or Images

For example, the title of an essay about the Great Leap Forward might be something simple, professional, and clear, such as: "The Failure of the Great Leap Forward: China in the late 1950s". An essay about Shakespearean comedy may be more playful, such as: " Love's Labour Lost and Other Comedies."

For example, an essay about the Great Leap Forward in 1950s China may focus on the failed use of industries like steel and farming by Mao’s government and the resulting mass famine in China. Three words that sum up the paper may be: steel, land, famine. A possible title of the essay could be: “Steel, Land, and Famine: The Failure of the Great Leap Forward”.

Look for two to three keywords that are short, descriptive, and clear. Consider if the words fit together in some way, or how they are very different. For example, your introduction on 1950s China may have keywords like “industrialization” “collectivization” and “collapse”. A possible title for the essay could then be: “The Collapse of Collectivization in 1950s China”.
In an essay on the conventions of Shakespearean comedy, the tone of the essay may be less serious or rigid, and you can look for keywords that are playful or humorous. For example, your conclusion may have keywords like “lovers” “obstacles” and “improbable” or “supernatural”. A possible title for the essay could then be: “Lovers in an Improbable Situation: The Conventions of Shakespearean Comedy.”

For example, a paper about a volcano could have the title: “The Day the Earth Bled: The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius”.

Using a Quote or a Play on Words

For example, an essay on Shakespearean comedy may quote A Midsummer Night’s Dream , where a character named Theseus professes his love to his betrothed, the Amazonian queen Hippolyta. “Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword/ And won thy love doing thee injuries,/ But I will wed thee in another key,/With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling.”
A possible title for the essay may then be: “With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling: The Conventions of Shakespearean Comedy”.
Alternatively, you can look up a key quote or phrase that is not in your essay but reinforces central ideas or themes in your essay. Type keywords from your essay into a search engine, along with the word “quote” and see what comes up. You can then take a fragment of the quote and use it in your title.
For example, for an essay on Mao’s Great Leap Forward, you may use quotes from propaganda posters for the Great Leap Forward made by the Mao government, which are available online. A propaganda quote like “Brave the wind and the waves, everything has remarkable abilities” could be shortened to a title like: “Brave the wind and the waves: False Promises by Mao’s The Great Leap Forward”.

An essay on Shakespearean comedy could use the cliche “laughter is the best medicine” and change it into “laughter is thy best medicine.” A possible title could be: “Laughter is Thy Best Medicine: The Conventions of Shakespearean Comedy”.

For example, an essay about missionaries in West Africa during the colonial period could have a title that plays on two key words, such as: “Prophets or profits: The European Colonial Invasion of West Africa”.

Community Q&A

There are also tools available online that can generate essay titles for you based on your topic. However, the effectiveness of these title generators vary and the quality of the titles may not be as high as if you take the time to create your own. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

Your title is the first thing readers will look at, so remember it's an important part of your essay! Pick one that really captures what your paper is about.
Take your time picking a good title. If you're stuck, take a break and come back to it later.

↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-hook/
↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6398294/
↑ http://canuwrite.com/article_titles.php
↑ https://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/titles.pdf
↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/essay-title/
↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title
↑ https://education.seattlepi.com/come-up-catchy-titles-college-essays-2131.html

About This Article

To find a catchy title for your paper or essay, start by thinking of 1 or 2 keywords or phrases to include in the title that applies to the topic of your essay and will hook your reader in. You can also try looking for a key quote or phrase and using part of it in your title. Alternatively, reword a cliche or familiar phrase so that it is specific to your essay. To give your title some punch, use a play on words or double entendre, like “Prophets or profits: The Colonial Invasion of West Africa,” which will show off your creativity. For more tips from our Writing reviewer, like where and how to find good keywords to use, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How To Write An Essay

How To Title An Essay

Learn How to Title an Essay Like a Professional Writer

14 min read

Published on: Mar 1, 2023

Last updated on: Jul 23, 2024

What is an Essay Title

An essay title is the name or label given to an essay, which provides a brief summary of the main topic or theme of the essay.

It should be catchy, informative, and relevant to the content of the essay, while also giving readers an idea of what to expect from the writing.

A good essay title should capture the reader's attention and make them interested in reading the essay.

Purpose and Importance of Essay Title

A title holds great importance in essay writing. It can easily make or break the quality of your work.

Choosing a title that interests the audience and motivates them to read your essay. This is because they are intrigued, it serves as fertile land to present your knowledge, ideas, writing skills, and critical thinking.

Qualities of an Essay Title

When coming up with the topic or title for your essays, keep in mind that it should contain the following qualities:

Eye-catching and unique: The title should be eye-catching and unique to grab the reader's attention.
Based on facts: A good title is always believable and based on facts. Especially for writing essay types and papers that stand on facts and logic should have believable titles.
Audience-appropriate: Readability is key. Using fancy and bombastic vocabulary that is not common for the audience will affect the readership.
Tone: A great essay title is always written in an active voice.
Brief and Short: The title should be brief and to the point. Avoid dragging titles into long sentences.
To-the-Point: An essay title should be accurate and clearly present the main theme of the essay. This will allow the reader to know what to expect from the document.

Components of an Essay Title

Just as all formal writings have an outline to follow, a good essay title is constructed using a formula as well. Keep in mind that the shorter, the better. A title must not exceed 10 to 12 words.

The components of an essay title include

An attention-grabbing and catchy hook
Tone sets the overall mood or attitude conveyed by the title.
The focus keyword - the "where" and "when" in your essay.

Once you know the importance and elements of an essay title, you are more likely to create a better title.

How to Title an Essay?

Almost all essay writers find it tricky to make an appropriate title for their essays. However, writing a title is not only based on good writing skills. You need to know the basics of creating it.

A good and effective essay title can be created by taking the following steps:

1. First Write an Essay

It will be extremely beneficial and easy to create a title once you have written an entire essay.

After writing your essay, you will be clear about what title suits your content the most. Complete your essay and then start reading it.

This will give you a clearer picture of how to address the essay properly.

Deciding on a topic or a title can be time taking. Another advantage of writing a title at the end is that it saves a lot of your time.

Also, the wrong topic makes it difficult for you to choose the best essay title.

Struggling with getting started with your essay? Check out this helpful guide on how to write an essay !

2. Use your Thesis Statement

There is another reason you should leave your title for an end. An effective title provides a reason for the readers to read your essay. The best part to find a reason is in the thesis statement in the introduction of your essay.

You can always get a title from a thesis statement or by using a part of that argument in the title.

3. Popular Phrases

Catchphrases and cliches that go with the theme of your essay can be used as the titles as well. When popular phrases are appropriate and interesting, they make effective puns.

Play with the cliches and twist them to create something of your own. Be creative and innovative for your titles as much as you can.

4. Consider the Tone

Another trick to creating an effective title for your essay is to consider the essay's tone and come up with something related to it.

If the tone and subject of your essay are serious and sad, never make the mistake of addressing your title in an informal and fun way.

Do not try to go off the wall in such cases. The tone of your essay and the title have a strong connection to a good essay.

5. Use a Central Idea or a Quote

It is not mandatory but an easy way to create a title that uses a central idea. You can use a quote as the title of your essay topic.

If the purpose is served correctly, even song lyrics work the best sometimes.

6. Summary in Three Words

The most common and basic technique is to get a title from the summary of your essay.

A writer can summarize the entire essay or the central idea and thesis statement in three words and write a title.

This can be a title by putting it in a headline, inserting a colon, and stating the purpose of your essay.

7. Movie Titles in an Essay

A movie title can also be used as a title in an essay.

There are some basic ways to do that. A writer can highlight the title, use a capital letter for the first letter of the movie title, and italicize its font.

Another technique is by creating a sentence structure and using a movie title in it. You can use quotation marks as well as the underlining tool. However, title the essay according to the field of study and don't make it irrelevant.

Mistakes to Avoid While Giving a Title to Your Essay

Here are some tips to keep in mind when crafting effective essay titles to avoid common mistakes:

Positive themes

Avoid writing about sensitive, unethical, or immoral topics, such as drugs, prostitution, or murder.

Personal information

Your personal negative experiences should not be included in your essay. However, you can still include lessons learned from those experiences in a professional manner.

Relevant Questions

Make sure to ask questions that are relevant to your field of study to ensure you choose an appropriate topic.

Professional tone

Keep your essay professional and avoid including personal information or experiences that are not relevant. Your readers are not interested in your personal life.

Understanding requirements

It's important to understand your professor's requirements to avoid choosing the wrong topic and wasting time and effort.

Neutral perspective

Avoid taking an offensive approach in your essay and steer clear of controversial topics such as religion, abortion, and politics.

How to Title an Essay in Different Formats?

All academic essays require a format through which the writer shapes his document. This format varies from academic level to level and institution as well. The format styles include MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard.

MLA, APA, and Chicago are the most common formats that are usually used. If you are writing an essay choosing a specific format, all of the parts should be drafted accordingly.

From titling an essay to drawing a conclusion, the writer must follow the format properly to create a strong essay.

How to Title an Essay in MLA Format?

No matter which essay format you are using to shape your argumentative essay, descriptive essay, etc. The qualities of the title and components remain the same.

Although the formatting of the title may differ. For an MLA style , format your essay title in the following pattern:

On the cover page of your essay, using double spacing, write your name in the upper left corner
Along with your name, present your instructor's name, the course title, and the date.
Double-space a line and using centered alignment, provide the essay title in font size 12 pt.
Do not bold or italicize the title.
Capitalize important words only and not the articles in the title.

How to Format an Essay in APA Format?

If you are writing an essay in APA style, you might be wondering how to title an essay in apa format.

Simply use the following guidelines to format your title and make your writing process easy:

Type the title in upper and lowercase letters
Use centered alignment on the upper half of the page and write the title
The title in APA style should not exceed more than 12 words
Avoid using abbreviations and irrelevant words
The title should be presented in a line or two and not more than that
Use double spacing between the lines
Beneath the title, write your name and the institutional affiliation.

How to Title an Essay Chicago Style

To create an appropriate final version of the title for your essay in Chicago style, you should follow certain guidelines.

Use a heading level 2 (H2) for your title
Center the title on the page and use title case capitalization
Keep the title informative and concise, aiming for no more than 12-15 words
Consider including relevant keywords to make your essay easier to find
Avoid using slang or informal language in your title
Use proper grammar and punctuation

How to Choose a Good Title for an Essay

Choosing a good title for an essay is crucial as it sets the tone and theme for the reader.

Here are some important qualities to consider when selecting a title:

Informative: A good title should give the reader an idea of what the essay is about. It should be concise and clearly convey the main topic or argument of the essay.
Catchy and Memorable: A title that is catchy and memorable can grab the reader's attention and make them more likely to read the essay. Consider using wordplay, puns, or alliteration to make your title stand out.
Unique: A title that is unique and original can make your essay stand out from others. Avoid using generic or cliche titles that have been overused.
Accurate: A title should accurately reflect the content of the essay. Avoid using sensational or misleading titles that do not accurately convey the main point or argument of the essay.
Relevant: A title should be relevant to the current times or issues. Especially in subjects like current events, social or political issues, and scientific research.
Reflective of Tone: The title should also reflect the tone of the essay. If the essay is humorous, the title should be as well. If the essay is serious or academic, the title should reflect that.

Essay Title Examples

Just like the tone of every essay differs, the title also differs from each type of essay. For example, movie titles can only be used for informal writing and narrative essays.

Some examples of essay titles are provided below.

Finding My Voice: A Journey of Self-Discovery
Lessons Learned: Reflections on Life's Challenges
A Moment of Clarity: How I Overcame My Fears

The Use of Symbolism in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Exploring the Effects of Social Media on Mental Health
An Analysis of the American Dream in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

The Benefits of a Vegan Lifestyle for Our Health and the Environment
Gun Control: Balancing Second Amendment Rights and Public Safety
The Importance of Bilingual Education in Today's Society

Why Every Home Should Have a Pet
The Benefits of Meditation for a Balanced Life
Making the Switch to Renewable Energy: Why It's Time to Go Green

A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Living
The Similarities and Differences between Classical and Operant Conditioning
Comparing the Leadership Styles of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

Overcoming Adversity: How I Grew from Life's Challenges
My Passion for Environmental Science and Sustainability
The Importance of Diversity in My Life and Future Career

Exploring the Relationship between Social Media and Mental Health
The Impact of Climate Change on Global Agriculture: An Analysis of Current Research
The Role of Women in Science: A Historical Perspective

Investigating the Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treating Depression
The Effect of Music on Memory Retention: A Comparative Study
Examining the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities

Here are some more examples of essay titles.

Tips to Draft an Essay Title

Titles for Different Types of Essay

How To Title An Essay About A Book

Bad vs Good Essay Title Examples


My Essay About the Environment	Climate Change: Causes and Solutions
The Book I Read	The Impact of To Kill a Mockingbird
Why I Love Music	The Evolution of Jazz Music
A Trip to the Beach	Finding Serenity by the Ocean
My Favorite Hobby	The Art of Photography: Capturing Life

Tips for Crafting an Outstanding Title

Here are some tips for crafting an outstanding title:

Brainstorm: Begin by brainstorming a list of potential titles for your essay or paper. Write down as many ideas as you can think of, even if they seem silly or irrelevant at first.
Be Specific: A good title should be specific and accurate. It should give the reader an idea of what the essay is about. Avoid vague or general titles that don't provide any useful information.
Use Keywords: Including keywords in your title can make it easier for readers to find your work in searches. Consider what words or phrases a person might use to search for your topic and incorporate them into your title.
Be Creative: A creative and unique title can make your work stand out from others. Consider using wordplay, puns, alliteration, or metaphors to create a memorable and attention-grabbing title.
Keep It Short and Sweet: While a title should be specific and informative, it should also be concise. Try to keep your title under 10-12 words, as longer titles can be difficult to read and remember.

For more tips, you can check out this video:

The success of your overall essay is not just based on how well you presented the argument and conducted research to gather the information. A title plays a vital role as well.

Creative titles are like the icing on the cake. Nobody will want to read it when it will not appeal to them.

Make your college essay and paper flawless, as they are the only thing that will get you scores in academics. So, you have to know what mistakes to avoid and what to do when title the essay.

However, you can ask professionals at our best essay service to write your essays perfectly and with the best quality.

Place your " write my college essay for me " request today to get your essays and research papers written by professionals and get writing services at exciting prices.

Also, try our AI writing tool to make your academic journey easier!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it better to use a question or a statement as my essay title.

Whether to use a question or a statement as your essay title depends on the content and purpose of your essay.

Using a question can be effective if your essay is exploratory and seeks to answer a specific question. On the other hand, using a statement can be more appropriate if your essay has a clear argument or thesis statement.

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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Developing your essay

Who is your audience?
Balancing content and audience expectations
1a. Creativity in academic writing
2. What focus will you take in the work?
3b. Sample arguments
4a. Planning the paper
4b. Creating strong titles

Creating strong titles

4c. Introductory paragraphs
4d. Body paragraphs
4e. Transitional expressions and transitional sentences
4f. Body paragraph checklist
4g. Concluding paragraphs

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One of the first things a reader sees in a document is the title of the work, and as is so often the case, first impressions are important. If the title doesn’t grab readers' attention, it’s unlikely they'll continue reading. The best titles pique a reader’s interest in the subject matter and outline the focus of the document. If this sounds like a magical combination of substance and style, you’re right; it takes practice to write engaging and informative titles. The American Psychological Association (2020) provided guidance on the substance side of the equation:

The title should “be a concise statement of the main topic of the research and should identify the variables or theoretical issues under investigation and the relationship between them” (p. 31).
"Include essential terms in the title to enhance readers' ability to find your work during a search and to aid abstracting and indexing in databases" (p. 32).
Avoid unnecessary words and abbreviations (p. 32).

Use your writing style to create an attention-grabbing title. Keeping in mind your audience and their expectations, as well as the tone of the document, would it be appropriate to use humour in the title? Could you use a clever play on words to grab your reader’s attention? Are there words that can be included to signal alignment with the instructions?

A One-Two Punch: Grab Their Attention and Then Tell Them More

Academics often use two-part titles that are separated with a colon. The first part of the title typically grabs the reader’s attention, and the second part usually presents the substantive details required to identify the focus of the work. For example, You Probably Think This Paper's About You: Narcissists' Perceptions of Their Personality and Reputation (Carlson, Vazire, & Oltmanns, 2011).

Not All Titles are Considered Equal

If you’re looking for examples of good titles, please ask your instructor if she or he would identify some past works with strong titles and why the instructor liked the titles. If you’re writing an article for publication in a journal, review some recent editions to see if there are patterns in the titles. Finally, try to give your imagination some time to work on the title, and make sure that you’re prepared to note any ideas when inspiration strikes.

If the title will appear on a title page, see What Information Should Appear on My Title Page? for more information.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Carlson, E. N., Vazire, S., & Oltmanns, T. F. (2011). You probably think this paper's about you: Narcissists' perceptions of their personality and reputation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 101 (1), 185-201. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029266

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Next: 4c. Introductory paragraphs >>
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024 1:44 PM
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The Classroom | Empowering Students in Their College Journey

‌How to Title an Essay with Literary Analysis Examples

How to Write a Controlling Idea Essay

You may have spent hours brainstorming your thesis, searching for quotations and polishing your final draft, but a good title can make the difference between someone reading your literary essay and tossing it aside. Good literary essay titles not only capture your reader's interest, but they also preview the argument you'll be making in the paper itself. They capture the central idea that is presented in your work, and entice the viewer to read. Creativity, humor and innovative plays on the work you're writing about can transform a dull title into one that piques your audience's curiosity.

Include the Subject and Focus

Your title should not just name the literary work that is the subject of your essay but also describe its focus , the target idea, literary device or theme that the piece explores. This is sometimes referred to as a "working title" as well, since it focuses heavily on the main part of your essay, and can remind you of your focus as you read. In an essay about morality in "To Kill a Mockingbird," for example, Harper Lee's novel would be the subject of the paper, while morality would be the essay's focus. Including the phrase "Morality in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' " somewhere in your title would clearly indicate to audiences what themes your essay will deal with. This is a more basic example of an essay title, but effective in most all cases.

Link Two Ideas With a Colon

While including the subject and focus in the title gives a good summary of your essay topic, it's not enough to pull readers in. Using a colon to punctuate the subject with a catchy explanation of the focus can not only add an air of professionalism to your paper but also give a more in-depth, eye-catching preview of your topic for readers. An essay about Holden Caulfield's painful transition to adulthood, for example, might be titled "The Precarious Edge of the Cliff: Loss of Innocence in J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye.' "

This title choice also allows you to present two ideas that are key parts of your essay, if you choose to. Maybe you can't decide on just one, because both are equally important. This choice would be a good tool for featuring both ideas and connecting them to each other. Displaying a longer, more developed essay title, can also give you the freedom to discuss these ideas in your essay with more detail since they are featured in the title.

Include a Quotation from the Work

Sometimes, a quotation from the book can provide inspiration for your essay's title. Try adding a brief, snappy portion of this quote to your title's focus statement. For example, the title for an essay about mother-daughter relationships in Flannery O'Connor's short stories might borrow from a quote in the story "Good Country People," in which the central character, Hulga, tells her overbearing, critical mother, "If you want me, here I am -- like I am." The title of this essay might read, "Like I Am: Mother-Daughter Dysfunction in Flannery O'Connor's Short Stories."

Use Wordplay

While the tone of your literary essay should ultimately be professional and credible, using puns or humor to play off an aspect of the title can be a friendly way to entice your audience to read further. For example, an essay about the symbolic villages of East and West Egg in "The Great Gatsby" might be titled "The Eggs Came First: Settings as Symbols in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby.' "

You can be assured your teacher, or whoever is viewing your paper, is going to sift through many boring and unoriginal essay titles, so making sure that yours will pop is important.

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Dawson College: Some Tips on Titling Your Critical Essay
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Kori Morgan holds a Bachelor of Arts in professional writing and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and has been crafting online and print educational materials since 2006. She taught creative writing and composition at West Virginia University and the University of Akron and her fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals.

Essays About Reading: 5 Examples And Topic Ideas

As a writer, you love to read and talk to others about reading books. Check out some examples of essays about reading and topic ideas for your essay.

Many people fall in love with good books at an early age, as experiencing the joy of reading can help transport a child’s imagination to new places. Reading isn’t just for fun, of course—the importance of reading has been shown time and again in educational research studies.

If you love to sit down with a good book, you likely want to share your love of reading with others. Reading can offer a new perspective and transport readers to different worlds, whether you’re into autobiographies, books about positive thinking, or stories that share life lessons.

When explaining your love of reading to others, it’s important to let your passion shine through in your writing. Try not to take a negative view of people who don’t enjoy reading, as reading and writing skills are tougher for some people than others.

Talk about the positive effects of reading and how it’s positively benefitted your life. Offer helpful tips on how people can learn to enjoy reading, even if it’s something that they’ve struggled with for a long time. Remember, your goal when writing essays about reading is to make others interested in exploring the world of books as a source of knowledge and entertainment.

Now, let’s explore some popular essays on reading to help get you inspired and some topics that you can use as a starting point for your essay about how books have positively impacted your life.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

Examples Of Essays About Reading

1. The Book That Changed My Life By The New York Times
2. I Read 150+ Books in 2 Years. Here’s How It Changed My Life By Anangsha Alammyan
3. How My Diagnosis Improved My College Experience By Blair Kenney

4. How ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ Saved Me By Isaac Fitzgerald

5. catcher in the rye: that time a banned book changed my life by pat kelly, topic ideas for essays about reading, 1. how can a high school student improve their reading skills, 2. what’s the best piece of literature ever written, 3. how reading books from authors of varied backgrounds can provide a different perspective, 4. challenging your point of view: how reading essays you disagree with can provide a new perspective.

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1. The Book That Changed My Life By The New York Times

“My error the first time around was to read “Middlemarch” as one would a typical novel. But “Middlemarch” isn’t really about plot and dialogue. It’s all about character, as mediated through the wise and compassionate (but sharply astute) voice of the omniscient narrator. The book shows us that we cannot live without other people and that we cannot live with other people unless we recognize their flaws and foibles in ourselves.” The New York Times

In this collection of reader essays, people share the books that have shaped how they see the world and live their lives. Talking about a life-changing piece of literature can offer a new perspective to people who tend to shy away from reading and can encourage others to pick up your favorite book.

2. I Read 150+ Books in 2 Years. Here’s How It Changed My Life By Anangsha Alammyan

“Consistent reading helps you develop your analytical thinking skills over time. It stimulates your brain and allows you to think in new ways. When you are actively engaged in what you’re reading, you would be able to ask better questions, look at things from a different perspective, identify patterns and make connections.” Anangsha Alammyan

Alammyan shares how she got away from habits that weren’t serving her life (such as scrolling on social media) and instead turned her attention to focus on reading. She shares how she changed her schedule and time management processes to allow herself to devote more time to reading, and she also shares the many ways that she benefited from spending more time on her Kindle and less time on her phone.

3. How My Diagnosis Improved My College Experience By Blair Kenney

“When my learning specialist convinced me that I was an intelligent person with a reading disorder, I gradually stopped hiding from what I was most afraid of—the belief that I was a person of mediocre intelligence with overambitious goals for herself. As I slowly let go of this fear, I became much more aware of my learning issues. For the first time, I felt that I could dig below the surface of my unhappiness in school without being ashamed of what I might find.” Blair Kenney

Reading does not come easily to everyone, and dyslexia can make it especially difficult for a person to process words. In this essay, Kenney shares her experience of being diagnosed with dyslexia during her sophomore year of college at Yale. She gave herself more patience, grew in her confidence, and developed techniques that worked to improve her reading and processing skills.

“I took that book home to finish reading it. I’d sit somewhat uncomfortably in a tree or against a stone wall or, more often than not, in my sparsely decorated bedroom with the door closed as my mother had hushed arguments with my father on the phone. There were many things in the book that went over my head during my first time reading it. But a land left with neither Rhyme nor Reason, as I listened to my parents fight, that I understood.” Isaac Fitzgerald

Books can transport a reader to another world. In this essay, Fitzgerald explains how Norton Juster’s novel allowed him to escape a difficult time in his childhood through the magic of his imagination. Writing about a book that had a significant impact on your childhood can help you form an instant connection with your reader, as many people hold a childhood literature favorite near and dear to their hearts.

“From the first paragraph my mind was blown wide open. It not only changed my whole perspective on what literature could be, it changed the way I looked at myself in relation to the world. This was heavy stuff. Of the countless books I had read up to this point, even the ones written in first person, none of them felt like they were speaking directly to me. Not really anyway.” Pat Kelly

Many readers have had the experience of feeling like a book was written specifically for them, and in this essay, Kelly shares that experience with J.D. Salinger’s classic American novel. Writing about a book that felt like it was written specifically for you can give you the chance to share what was happening in your life when you read the book and the lasting impact that the book had on you as a person.

There are several topic options to choose from when you’re writing about reading. You may want to write about how literature you love has changed your life or how others can develop their reading skills to derive similar pleasure from reading.

Middle and high school students who struggle with reading can feel discouraged when, despite their best efforts, their skills do not improve. Research the latest educational techniques for boosting reading skills in high school students (the research often changes) and offer concrete tips (such as using active reading skills) to help students grow.

It’s an excellent persuasive essay topic; it’s fun to write about the piece of literature you believe to be the greatest of all time. Of course, much of this topic is a matter of opinion, and it’s impossible to prove that one piece of literature is “better” than another. Write your essay about how the piece of literature you consider the best positive affected your life and discuss how it’s impacted the world of literature in general.

The world is full of many perspectives and points of view, and it can be hard to imagine the world through someone else’s eyes. Reading books by authors of different gender, race, or socioeconomic status can help open your eyes to the challenges and issues others face. Explain how reading books by authors with different backgrounds has changed your worldview in your essay.

It’s fun to read the information that reinforces viewpoints that you already have, but doing so doesn’t contribute to expanding your mind and helping you see the world from a different perspective. Explain how pushing oneself to see a different point of view can help you better understand your perspective and help open your eyes to ideas you may not have considered.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

If you’re stuck picking your next essay topic, check out our round-up of essay topics about education .

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An academic title is probably the first thing your readers will experience about your paper. This handout will show you two approaches to creating paper titles, one that is more informative, and another that is more creative. The first is most often used for formal academic papers. The second is more likely to be used for narratives or personal essays, but it can sometimes be used for academic papers as well.

General Considerations

Before deciding on a title, be sure to think carefully about your audience. Who will be reading this paper and what are their motivations? Do they want to be entertained? Are they concerned with acquiring information as clearly and concisely as possible? How do you want your reader to feel about the content of your paper? Asking questions such as these will help you determine the appropriate tone for your title.

A great academic title should tell your readers as much as possible about your paper’s central claim and its significance. Good titles often include: A hook A set of key terms A source

Approach #1: Titles for Academic Papers

Good academic titles reveal not only the topic of the paper but some idea of your specific approach, argument, and area of discussion. Here are some typical and useful academic titles:

Good Bye Lenin!: Free Market Nostalgia for Socialist Consumerism
The Artful Thunder as Dramatic Technique in Shakespeare’s The Tempest

The Effects of Light and Temperature on the Growth of Populations of the Bacterium, Escherichia coli

“The Machine-Language of the Muscles”: Reading, Sport and the Self in Infinite Jest

Though representing a range of disciplines, each of these titles is clear, independent and self-explanatory. Notice how each title is relatively long and contains multiple phrases. Academic writing is complex and demands equally complex and purposeful titles. If you look carefully at the sample titles, you will notice that each has three separate elements:

The hook – This is a creative element that draws in the reader. Typically this is a catchy, readable phrase that advertises the paper’s specific subject. The hook is sometimes a direct quotation from a text or a sudden introduction of a new and exciting element of your topic.
Key terms – These are crucial words or phrases that are indispensable to the topic at hand. In academic writing, scholars are often asked to identify a few select terms that will identify their paper in an index. Similarly, the use of key terms in a paper’s title will make the paper more searchable in a database. You want to load your title with important terminology as a way to orient the reader to the concepts under discussion in the paper to follow. The best titles are like very brief summaries of the paper itself.
The source – Sometimes called a “location,” this is the place in the title where the concepts under discussion are to be found. Depending on the discipline, your source might be a piece of writing, the name of a text, a geographical place, a person, an existing debate, an organism, and so on.

Good titles never state the obvious nor do they apply a generic label to a paper. Titles like “Paper #1” or “Lab Report” are clearly too general and unhelpful. Similarly, titles that rely too much on large abstractions are not welcome: “Society and its Many Problems.” In this title the reader has no idea which society is under discussion, what the particular problems may be, or why this is at all current and significant. Avoid clichés at all costs as well: “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”. This title is virtually meaningless. If it feels like a common title to you, it will likely seem as common to another reader. Remember, the assignment may be given by the instructor, but the title is your first chance to make the paper your own. Remember also to center your title at the top of your first page of your text. Use the same font and size as the rest of your paper.

Analyzing an Example of an Academic Paper Title

Consider this title from above:

This title’s parts are all clearly visible. The hook is a direct quotation from the novel under discussion, a well-chosen particular that advances an important theme in the novel. The next part: “Reading, Sport and the Self” contains the title’s key terms. The title is making a promise here to the reader that the paper will engage these three critical concepts. Finally we see the source of the title, prompted by the preposition “in”. Someone reading this title or searching for it in a database would easily identify it as a study of a particular book, in this case, a novel by David Foster Wallace, which is concerned with the ideas of reading, sport and the self. In the humanities, you will often see writers divide their titles into two distinct parts, as in this example, marked by a colon that allows the hook to introduce the rest of the title.

Here is another example, this time from the sciences:

Science writing rarely uses a hook in the same way as papers in the humanities. The hook in a science paper is often simply a highly relevant but exciting and direct introduction of a new approach or discovery. What you mostly find in science writing titles is a catalog of key terms that corresponds directly to the paper’s thesis, significance and methods. Here we see a number of key terms: light, temperature, growth, and the bacterium itself. This title would be highly searchable and is very informative. The final part is the source which simply and clearly identifies the bacterium under discussion.

Approach #2: Titles for Narrative and Personal Papers

Being simple and clear can be very useful in a formal academic essay, but what if you aren’t writing an analytical paper? How do you write a title for a personal essay or statement? How about a title for that English paper that asks you to write a narrative or share an observation? These types of papers might well demand titles that simply sound interesting and creative rather than strictly academic.

In these cases you may want to use an interesting phrase from your paper. Perhaps there is a humorous or dramatic anecdote you offer in your creative paper that sums it all up. Perhaps there is a quotation or phrase that could serve as the title. In these cases you simply want to interest the reader by making the paper seem unique. Here is your opportunity to really put your stamp on the paper and to intrigue the reader. Here are some interesting and intriguing titles for creative essays:

“Why I Screen My Calls” “The Week of Rental Car Disasters” “My Son, the Burglar, Revisited” “What’s So Wrong with the Brady Bunch?”

Each of these titles is provocative. The first two offer the agenda for the paper; presumably you will learn the hilarious and awful history behind each title by reading the paper. The final two titles depend on humorous and contrary bits of information: a father writing about his burglar son, which seems at odds with what we might expect a father to write about his son (and in this case “revisited” is a provocative word since perhaps the son has burgled again). The Brady Bunch title is also funny because it promises a defense of an unexpected position or at least an eminently arguable one, which makes it an intriguing paper title.

In Practice

Imagine you are a student writing a paper for a class on animal behavior. You have a particular species to study, you have done the field work, and you have some conclusions to offer. Here is your first attempt: “Monkey Behavior”.

This is very general and tells us nothing about the kind of monkey or a particular behavior. It does little to attract the reader.

Your second attempt is a little better: “The Effects of Sugar on Monkey Behavior”.

This title is a little clearer and even mildly amusing. Now, at least we have some idea of a cause and an understanding of some important concepts. But can you be more specific? Wouldn’t it make sense to add more key terms from the paper itself? Readers already can conjecture that sugar would have some effect on monkey behavior, so this title needs to be less mysterious and more precise. Here is a better academic title:

“Sugar Stimulates Intensity of Tail-Twitch Social Behavior in Panamanian Monkeys”

Now you have a title that is full of specific key terms, includes a clear location, and provides a bold and specific claim before the text of the paper begins. This is incredibly helpful to your readers.

Try your hand at creating an academic title for a paper with the following topic:

“Write a 5-7 page paper analyzing any work of the author and illustrator Dr. Seuss. You may make reference to one or more of his books, but you must analyze the text(s) based on at least one of the following: Seuss’s use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism, or rhyme. You must also make a connection between this device and his drawing technique or subject matter. Use quotes to support your argument.”

HINT: This is a tough (though potentially interesting) assignment prompt, but remember the three parts of the academic title: hook, key terms, and source. Your hook could be a quote, perhaps a direct quote that shows either metaphor, imagery, symbolism or rhyme. This would be a smart move because you would reveal in the title which of the four options you chose for the paper topic. In other words, by quoting, you would already have an example before you introduce your argument. Your key terms would likely be lifted from the assignment prompt itself (metaphor, imagery, etc. . .). The source would be just that: the name of the book you chose to explore.

Now challenge yourself to make a creative title for this paper. The possibilities are endless here. Think in terms of being clever and witty and actually making use of the terms and techniques the assignment asks you to consider.

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Choose Good Titles for Essays and Make Them Sound Great

Good titles for essays act like an attractive factor that draws readers to have an interest. The first step to enjoying the luxury of being the best selling author is the ability to develop attention-capturing and curiosity-arousing titles. People have desisted from reading reviews or summaries written on books and essays when buying them.

Instead, they closely examine the creative titles that will make it to their reading list. Books are also subjected to the same style of choosing when scouting for the next read. Writing an essay can be challenging but assigning a title should not be as difficult. A poorly written paper with a good title will attract more attention than a well written one with a boring title.

Why Are Titles Important in Essays?

The functionality and importance of good essay titles are synonymous to that of a door. Its attractiveness is what will motivate you to find out what lies inside the house. It also gives a sneak peek on what you are more likely to interact with when reading that particular essay. Great essays usually have creative titles that do not allow you to stop your reading at the cover page.

The title of an essay is the single most crucial factor that determines the impression of the reader towards an essay. Much thought should be given when coming up with one. There are many instances when great titles have been shoved aside falling victim to morale killing variants. Sometimes the little time you have only allowed you to glance at the heading.

It is during these times that the significance of a heading is clearly portrayed. The next time you are making a good title remember it is of utmost importance and should be given enough thought. This is because it greatly determines the reception the essay will receive based on it foreshadows what is in the essay.

How to Format the Title of An Essay?

After getting the heading for essays, you need to know how to format them to look catchy and in place. Read on to get an insight into what to consider.

Exactly how long should an essay title be?

The length of essay titles is a topic that has been largely contested by authors. Though a consensus on the exact number of words has never been reached, proposals have been put forward on the approximate number. It is proposed that a typical essay title should contain between 3-15 words. This largely depends on the niche the essay is addressing.

With college essays, for instance, paper titles should give sufficient information about the research paper without revealing too much information. It should also not be too short and ambiguous. Its length should be long enough to capture the reader’s attention while preparing what awaits in the essay.

Can A Title Be A Question For Essays?

There are many styles employed in the structuring of essay titles. Different authors will use whichever style that befits their article and is conversational. They prefer to remain in their comfort zones and use conventional statement titles. In fact, the format is left for you to determine.

The heading could be expressed in numbers, questions or even alphanumeric order, depending on the written types of essay . In rare instances, it will be pictorial. When using a question as your title, then the essay should be engineered such that it answers or attempts to answer it. Questions are effective and form good catchy titles to trigger curiosity.

What Are the Main Components of Good Titles for Essay?

Catchy hook

A paper name is an ambassador to readers. It should communicate or cast a positive picture of the essay. This is best achieved by capturing the reader’s attention through its creativity. The first thing an essay wants is to get noticed.

Catchy headings for an essay will make a composition stand out and compel the readers to read it to completion.

Topic keyword

This is the “what” of your essay. It identifies the component your dissertation will be exploring. Topic keywords should be captured in good paper titles to shed more light and introduce the reader into the essay.

Usually, it should be a general term that best describes what the author is putting across in the essay. This will ensure readers have an idea of what the essay is all about just by a glance at the title.

Active voice

If your title contains verbs, consider putting them in active rather than passive voice. Active voice tends to relate with the readers directly engaging them on what they want to know. The best combination is expressing your title in an active voice in a question form. This makes the readers identify more with the essay and aspire to explore your opinions on the same.

Focus keyword

Unlike the topic keyword which describes the center of focus of your paper, the focus keyword describes the extent to which the topic keyword will be addressed. It predicts the limits and boundaries how the essay addresses the topic.

A perfect example of a good title for an essay is “the effects of global warming.” In this label, the topic keyword is global warming, but the essay will be limited to its effects.

What Are the Steps for Making Good Titles for Essays?

There are is no logical, sequential order authors should follow to arrive to the most creative and captivating title. However, there are some guidelines that could make sure you end up with the best one. The steps below describe how to write analytical essays titles effectively.

Reversed law order

The first step to writing an effective title is writing it last. Write your essay draft first then revise it before deciding on the label. This is because essays often change in the course of revision. Therefore, your heading may not necessarily reflect what is in the essay. The best thing is to name it last to avoid tilting your essay.

When you are out of creativity when making a title, consider seeking external motivation through the work of other authors. Reading the labels of other essays written in your niche will inspire thoughts leading to the conception of a perfect title for your essay.

Identify your target audience

Knowing your audience is instrumental in coming up with a title that will net a huge demographic of readers. If you are writing a formal paper like a college essay, titles have to be as formal as the setting in which they will be reviewed. But for fiction and story-telling compositions, the heading can have a pun or slang included to relate with the target audience.

Some Personal Statement Essay Examples

Personal statement essays are written to describe a person, and yes, they too need to be labeled. Some of the best examples of titles written for personal statements have been outlined below.

Excellent Marriage Life
Battling Depression
Healthy Living
Career Trajectory

Compare and Contrast Essay Title Examples

This type of paper seeks to bring out the comparisons between two aspects mostly in a bid to identify the superior one. It is synonymous to argumentative where the contrasting view of a subject is discussed. Most argumentative essay topics tend to have a similar naming style as compare and contrast titles shown below.

Using Online Writing Against Traditional Writing Services
Facebook or Myspace: Which Social Media Network Is More User-Friendly?
Books Against Movies: Why Reading Is Preferred

Reflective Essays Title Examples

A reflective essay is an academic paper that describes the personal experiences the author has had. Some interesting titles for essays of this type include:

Smelling a Rare Flower
Unwinding the Spring
Staring at tThe Morning Sunrise

Final Thoughts

Considering the importance of the heading in an essay, its construction has to be given utmost attention. It is the creativity channeled into coming up with a heading that will rank a well-written article among the best. Authors should identify the right title styles for their essays.

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How to write a literary analysis essay | A step-by-step guide

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on January 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.

A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis , nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

Before beginning a literary analysis essay, it’s essential to carefully read the text and c ome up with a thesis statement to keep your essay focused. As you write, follow the standard structure of an academic essay :

An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.
A main body, divided into paragraphs , that builds an argument using evidence from the text.
A conclusion that clearly states the main point that you have shown with your analysis.

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Step 1: reading the text and identifying literary devices, step 2: coming up with a thesis, step 3: writing a title and introduction, step 4: writing the body of the essay, step 5: writing a conclusion, other interesting articles.

The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.

Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writing itself and discuss how the text works on a deeper level. Primarily, you’re looking out for literary devices —textual elements that writers use to convey meaning and create effects. If you’re comparing and contrasting multiple texts, you can also look for connections between different texts.

To get started with your analysis, there are several key areas that you can focus on. As you analyze each aspect of the text, try to think about how they all relate to each other. You can use highlights or notes to keep track of important passages and quotes.

Language choices

Consider what style of language the author uses. Are the sentences short and simple or more complex and poetic?

What word choices stand out as interesting or unusual? Are words used figuratively to mean something other than their literal definition? Figurative language includes things like metaphor (e.g. “her eyes were oceans”) and simile (e.g. “her eyes were like oceans”).

Also keep an eye out for imagery in the text—recurring images that create a certain atmosphere or symbolize something important. Remember that language is used in literary texts to say more than it means on the surface.

Narrative voice

Ask yourself:

Who is telling the story?
How are they telling it?

Is it a first-person narrator (“I”) who is personally involved in the story, or a third-person narrator who tells us about the characters from a distance?

Consider the narrator’s perspective . Is the narrator omniscient (where they know everything about all the characters and events), or do they only have partial knowledge? Are they an unreliable narrator who we are not supposed to take at face value? Authors often hint that their narrator might be giving us a distorted or dishonest version of events.

The tone of the text is also worth considering. Is the story intended to be comic, tragic, or something else? Are usually serious topics treated as funny, or vice versa ? Is the story realistic or fantastical (or somewhere in between)?

Consider how the text is structured, and how the structure relates to the story being told.

Novels are often divided into chapters and parts.
Poems are divided into lines, stanzas, and sometime cantos.
Plays are divided into scenes and acts.

Think about why the author chose to divide the different parts of the text in the way they did.

There are also less formal structural elements to take into account. Does the story unfold in chronological order, or does it jump back and forth in time? Does it begin in medias res —in the middle of the action? Does the plot advance towards a clearly defined climax?

With poetry, consider how the rhyme and meter shape your understanding of the text and your impression of the tone. Try reading the poem aloud to get a sense of this.

In a play, you might consider how relationships between characters are built up through different scenes, and how the setting relates to the action. Watch out for dramatic irony , where the audience knows some detail that the characters don’t, creating a double meaning in their words, thoughts, or actions.

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Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.

If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example:

Essay question example

Is Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” a religious parable?

Your thesis statement should be an answer to this question—not a simple yes or no, but a statement of why this is or isn’t the case:

Thesis statement example

Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” is not a religious parable, but a story about bureaucratic alienation.

Sometimes you’ll be given freedom to choose your own topic; in this case, you’ll have to come up with an original thesis. Consider what stood out to you in the text; ask yourself questions about the elements that interested you, and consider how you might answer them.

Your thesis should be something arguable—that is, something that you think is true about the text, but which is not a simple matter of fact. It must be complex enough to develop through evidence and arguments across the course of your essay.

Say you’re analyzing the novel Frankenstein . You could start by asking yourself:

Your initial answer might be a surface-level description:

The character Frankenstein is portrayed negatively in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

However, this statement is too simple to be an interesting thesis. After reading the text and analyzing its narrative voice and structure, you can develop the answer into a more nuanced and arguable thesis statement:

Mary Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

Remember that you can revise your thesis statement throughout the writing process , so it doesn’t need to be perfectly formulated at this stage. The aim is to keep you focused as you analyze the text.

Finding textual evidence

To support your thesis statement, your essay will build an argument using textual evidence —specific parts of the text that demonstrate your point. This evidence is quoted and analyzed throughout your essay to explain your argument to the reader.

It can be useful to comb through the text in search of relevant quotations before you start writing. You might not end up using everything you find, and you may have to return to the text for more evidence as you write, but collecting textual evidence from the beginning will help you to structure your arguments and assess whether they’re convincing.

To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction.

Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on. It usually contains the name of the author and text(s) you’re analyzing. Keep it as concise and engaging as possible.

A common approach to the title is to use a relevant quote from the text, followed by a colon and then the rest of your title.

If you struggle to come up with a good title at first, don’t worry—this will be easier once you’ve begun writing the essay and have a better sense of your arguments.

“Fearful symmetry” : The violence of creation in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

The introduction

The essay introduction provides a quick overview of where your argument is going. It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay’s structure.

A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement. You might refer to a commonly held idea about the text and show how your thesis will contradict it, or zoom in on a particular device you intend to focus on.

Then you can end with a brief indication of what’s coming up in the main body of the essay. This is called signposting. It will be more elaborate in longer essays, but in a short five-paragraph essay structure, it shouldn’t be more than one sentence.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

Some students prefer to write the introduction later in the process, and it’s not a bad idea. After all, you’ll have a clearer idea of the overall shape of your arguments once you’ve begun writing them!

If you do write the introduction first, you should still return to it later to make sure it lines up with what you ended up writing, and edit as necessary.

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs : the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to your thesis. Don’t try to include everything you can think of to say about the text—only analysis that drives your argument.

In longer essays, the same principle applies on a broader scale. For example, you might have two or three sections in your main body, each with multiple paragraphs. Within these sections, you still want to begin new paragraphs at logical moments—a turn in the argument or the introduction of a new idea.

Robert’s first encounter with Gil-Martin suggests something of his sinister power. Robert feels “a sort of invisible power that drew me towards him.” He identifies the moment of their meeting as “the beginning of a series of adventures which has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it” (p. 89). Gil-Martin’s “invisible power” seems to be at work even at this distance from the moment described; before continuing the story, Robert feels compelled to anticipate at length what readers will make of his narrative after his approaching death. With this interjection, Hogg emphasizes the fatal influence Gil-Martin exercises from his first appearance.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he waits.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as religious symbolism.

This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous paragraph’s conclusion.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance to your point.

It’s important to contextualize quotes and explain why you’re using them; they should be properly introduced and analyzed, not treated as self-explanatory:

It isn’t always necessary to use a quote. Quoting is useful when you’re discussing the author’s language, but sometimes you’ll have to refer to plot points or structural elements that can’t be captured in a short quote.

In these cases, it’s more appropriate to paraphrase or summarize parts of the text—that is, to describe the relevant part in your own words:

The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader.

A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis provides on the text as a whole:

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, August 14). How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/literary-analysis/

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Tips and Examples to Create Catchy Titles and Get More Readers

An attractive title can trigger reader response, as your title is a snapshot of what to expect in your essay or book. Catchy titles for essays, newsletters, articles, blogs, science projects and autobiographies have a big effect on your readership.

Creative and tricky titles catch the attention of the readers. To fulfill the expectations of the readers, you should also have good content in your essay, article, or newsletter. Here are some examples of catchy titles in different areas of writing. Pay attention while reading the following titles and watch which titles grab your attention.

Science projects

School going children are often interested in science fair projects. A title in the ‘question form’ always arouses curiosity of the reader to know more.

Attractive Titles for Science Projects

~ How do Mosquitoes Breed ~ How to Make an Egg Float ~ Tornado in a Bottle ~ Does Music Affect Plant Growth ~ Why Does the Cow Keep Chewing Cud? ~ Physics of Baseball

Creating unusual titles for essays is almost same as creating attractive titles for science projects. Essay writing is an art but title writing also requires skills.

Good Titles for Essays

~ Three Ways in Which Chemistry is Related to Your Life ~ Importance of Media ~ Bad Effects of High Population ~ Ways to Save Money ~ Is Praying Beneficial ~ Global Warming and Deforestation ~ Pros and Cons of Zoos ~ Bilingual Education in School ~ Living Without Television ~ How Much is Too Much Homework ~ Mobile Phones – Necessity or Nuisance

Impressive Titles for Articles

~ Why is the Sky Blue ~ Why is the Ocean Salty ~ Why Am I Always Hungry ~ Am I Overweight ~ Why Do Dogs Eat Grass ~ Side Effects of Fish Oil ~ Advantages of Internet Banking ~ What Women Want from Men ~ How to be a Good Husband ~ Rioja – Spain’s Great Wine

Newsletters

One of the most common naming techniques used by people is using the name of your niche in your newsletter. This explains what the content is about. The target market also plays an important role. Some names are creative, catchy and easy to remember. The risk in such names is that the audience can’t understand what your newsletter is about.

Appealing Titles for Newsletters

~ Affiliate Marketers Weekly ~ Pet Lovers Tips & Trends ~ Christians Weekly Talks ~ Work at Home Moms ~ Blue Velvet Times ~ Zapping Tides ~ Daily Bread

These days, blogging is quite common. You can express and share your thoughts through your blog. You can even earn a lot of money through advertisements; but for that your blog should have good and authentic content. A good title can definitely bring more visitors. Blog name should be readable and memorable. One should find it easy to spell and pronounce. It should be short and obviously unique. Here are a few examples of good blog-titles.

Nice Titles for Blogs

~ Mind Salad ~ Slow Turtle ~ Fresh Kites ~ Thanks a Lot ~ Daily Insanity ~ Born Confused ~ Death Valley ~ Short Circuit ~ Here Comes da Pain ~ We Regret To Inform U ~ Caffeine in My Brain

Autobiographies

Autobiographies of world-famous personalities are read by people with curiosity. They don’t need any introduction. In fact, a simple title is enough for a reader to pick up the book. Some autobiography titles are symbolic, revealing the facts in the life of the person.

Perfect Titles for Autobiographies

~ Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, 1998 ~ Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1869 ~ Helen Keller, The Story of My Life, 1903 ~ Mark Twain, Mark Twain’s Autobiography, Posthumous, 1907 ~ Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), 1925 ~ Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 1927 and 1929 ~ Nirad C. Chaudhuri, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, 1951

~ Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969 ~ Ronald Reagan, An American Life, 1990 ~ Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom, 1995 ~ Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, 1996 ~ A P J Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire, 1999 ~ Craig Thompson, Blankets, 2003 ~ Chelsea Handler, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands, 2005 ~ Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries, 2007 ~ Fidel Castro, My Life – A Spoken Autobiography, 2006 ~ Eminem, The Way I am, 2008

Writing Captivating and Creative Titles

The article title or the newsletter title is the key to getting people to open up and read your article. Catchy titles for science projects can make the reader enthusiastic. A good title sums up what the essay is all about. With the help of a nice title, you can influence a book buyer to buy your book. People do judge the book by its cover. Without an attractive title, the rest of your words may be in vain.

Splendid subject matter

~ For writing impressive titles, you should first take into consideration the subject matter, how you are going to argue, etc. If you have chosen one word, then you should look for the synonyms; as you may get a catchier word than the original word you’ve chosen.

Crisp title

~ Your title should not be either too long or too short. Don’t cram too much information into the title. Re-read your title aloud and check whether it sounds like a paragraph, cut out some words to make it as concise as possible. The title should sound catchy.

~ Being specific will make your reader pay more attention to your articles, essays or newsletters. The title should reflect the things which the audience is looking for.

Target audience

~ Determine your audience and then decide on a title. For writing a better title, you should put yourself in the reader’s shoes.

~ You can then try puns or play on words which can give your title a clever element as long as they’re not overly cheesy.

Imitating famous titles

~ You may try imitating any famous TV show title or select a phrase from any famous song which can work as a catchy title.

Simple words

~ You should avoid difficult to pronounce words in your title. The language should be simple.

If your articles or essays are on the Internet, title plays a major role in the whole phenomenon. By using title as a part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, you can cover the top 10, top 20 and top 30 results to increase your on-line exposure. Writing attention-seeking titles involves imagination and creativity. Skillfully designed titles lure people into clicking. These days, software that generate random albeit super catchy titles for articles that are bound to make people click, are available. You can enter subjects to generate titles related to them. So, generating attractive titles is no big problem.

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Some people think books are losing importance as a source of information and entertainment. To what extent do you agree? (Reported 2017, GT)

Children who start reading earlier in life perform better later on in their school studies. How important are early reading skills in a child’s academic performance? What other preschool factors influence a child’s academic success?

Some people think that children who spend a lot of time reading children’s story books are wasting their time which could be better used doing other more useful activities. To what extent do you agree?

Some people think that e-books are the death of paper books, while others think that paper books will never disappear. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

Libraries should focus on improving their technological resources rather than on building a larger collection of paper books. To what extent do you agree?

Public libraries will soon no longer be housed in a building as all facilities and books will be available online for everyone to access. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public libraries only existing online.

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Importance Of Reading Essay

Importance of Reading Essay

500+ words essay on reading.

Reading is a key to learning. It’s a skill that everyone should develop in their life. The ability to read enables us to discover new facts and opens the door to a new world of ideas, stories and opportunities. We can gather ample information and use it in the right direction to perform various tasks in our life. The habit of reading also increases our knowledge and makes us more intellectual and sensible. With the help of this essay on the Importance of Reading, we will help you know the benefits of reading and its various advantages in our life. Students must go through this essay in detail, as it will help them to create their own essay based on this topic.

Importance of Reading

Reading is one of the best hobbies that one can have. It’s fun to read different types of books. By reading the books, we get to know the people of different areas around the world, different cultures, traditions and much more. There is so much to explore by reading different books. They are the abundance of knowledge and are best friends of human beings. We get to know about every field and area by reading books related to it. There are various types of books available in the market, such as science and technology books, fictitious books, cultural books, historical events and wars related books etc. Also, there are many magazines and novels which people can read anytime and anywhere while travelling to utilise their time effectively.

Benefits of Reading for Students

Reading plays an important role in academics and has an impactful influence on learning. Researchers have highlighted the value of developing reading skills and the benefits of reading to children at an early age. Children who cannot read well at the end of primary school are less likely to succeed in secondary school and, in adulthood, are likely to earn less than their peers. Therefore, the focus is given to encouraging students to develop reading habits.

Reading is an indispensable skill. It is fundamentally interrelated to the process of education and to students achieving educational success. Reading helps students to learn how to use language to make sense of words. It improves their vocabulary, information-processing skills and comprehension. Discussions generated by reading in the classroom can be used to encourage students to construct meanings and connect ideas and experiences across texts. They can use their knowledge to clear their doubts and understand the topic in a better way. The development of good reading habits and skills improves students’ ability to write.

In today’s world of the modern age and digital era, people can easily access resources online for reading. The online books and availability of ebooks in the form of pdf have made reading much easier. So, everyone should build this habit of reading and devote at least 30 minutes daily. If someone is a beginner, then they can start reading the books based on the area of their interest. By doing so, they will gradually build up a habit of reading and start enjoying it.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Importance of Reading Essay

What is the importance of reading.

1. Improves general knowledge 2. Expands attention span/vocabulary 3. Helps in focusing better 4. Enhances language proficiency

What is the power of reading?

1. Develop inference 2. Improves comprehension skills 3. Cohesive learning 4. Broadens knowledge of various topics

How can reading change a student’s life?

1. Empathy towards others 2. Acquisition of qualities like kindness, courtesy

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Reading is Good Habit for Students and Children

500+ words essay on reading is good habit.

Reading is a very good habit that one needs to develop in life. Good books can inform you, enlighten you and lead you in the right direction. There is no better companion than a good book. Reading is important because it is good for your overall well-being. Once you start reading, you experience a whole new world. When you start loving the habit of reading you eventually get addicted to it. Reading develops language skills and vocabulary. Reading books is also a way to relax and reduce stress. It is important to read a good book at least for a few minutes each day to stretch the brain muscles for healthy functioning.

Benefits of Reading

Books really are your best friends as you can rely on them when you are bored, upset, depressed, lonely or annoyed. They will accompany you anytime you want them and enhance your mood. They share with you information and knowledge any time you need. Good books always guide you to the correct path in life. Following are the benefits of reading –

Self Improvement: Reading helps you develop positive thinking. Reading is important because it develops your mind and gives you excessive knowledge and lessons of life. It helps you understand the world around you better. It keeps your mind active and enhances your creative ability.

Communication Skills: Reading improves your vocabulary and develops your communication skills. It helps you learn how to use your language creatively. Not only does it improve your communication but it also makes you a better writer. Good communication is important in every aspect of life.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Increases Knowledge: Books enable you to have a glimpse into cultures, traditions, arts, history, geography, health, psychology and several other subjects and aspects of life. You get an amazing amount of knowledge and information from books.

Reduces Stress: Reading a good book takes you in a new world and helps you relieve your day to day stress. It has several positive effects on your mind, body, and soul. It stimulates your brain muscles and keeps your brain healthy and strong.

Great Pleasure: When I read a book, I read it for pleasure. I just indulge myself in reading and experience a whole new world. Once I start reading a book I get so captivated I never want to leave it until I finish. It always gives a lot of pleasure to read a good book and cherish it for a lifetime.

Boosts your Imagination and Creativity: Reading takes you to the world of imagination and enhances your creativity. Reading helps you explore life from different perspectives. While you read books you are building new and creative thoughts, images and opinions in your mind. It makes you think creatively, fantasize and use your imagination.

Develops your Analytical Skills: By active reading, you explore several aspects of life. It involves questioning what you read. It helps you develop your thoughts and express your opinions. New ideas and thoughts pop up in your mind by active reading. It stimulates and develops your brain and gives you a new perspective.

Reduces Boredom: Journeys for long hours or a long vacation from work can be pretty boring in spite of all the social sites. Books come in handy and release you from boredom.

Read Different Stages of Reading here.

The habit of reading is one of the best qualities that a person can possess. Books are known to be your best friend for a reason. So it is very important to develop a good reading habit. We must all read on a daily basis for at least 30 minutes to enjoy the sweet fruits of reading. It is a great pleasure to sit in a quiet place and enjoy reading. Reading a good book is the most enjoyable experience one can have.

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How to do a close reading essay [Updated 2023]

Close reading refers to the process of interpreting a literary work’s meaning by analyzing both its form and content. In this post, we provide you with strategies for close reading that you can apply to your next assignment or analysis.

What is a close reading?

Close reading involves paying attention to a literary work’s language, style, and overall meaning. It includes looking for patterns, repetitions, oddities, and other significant features of a text. Your goal should be to reveal subtleties and complexities beyond an initial reading.

The primary difference between simply reading a work and doing a close reading is that, in the latter, you approach the text as a kind of detective.

When you’re doing a close reading, a literary work becomes a puzzle. And, as a reader, your job is to pull all the pieces together—both what the text says and how it says it.

How do you do a close reading?

Typically, a close reading focuses on a small passage or section of a literary work. Although you should always consider how the selection you’re analyzing fits into the work as a whole, it’s generally not necessary to include lengthy summaries or overviews in a close reading.

There are several aspects of the text to consider in a close reading:

Literal Content: Even though a close reading should go beyond an analysis of a text’s literal content, every reading should start there. You need to have a firm grasp of the foundational content of a passage before you can analyze it closely. Use the common journalistic questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why?) to establish the basics like plot, character, and setting.
Tone: What is the tone of the passage you’re examining? How does the tone influence the entire passage? Is it serious, comic, ironic, or something else?
Characterization: What do you learn about specific characters from the passage? Who is the narrator or speaker? Watch out for language that reveals the motives and feelings of particular characters.
Structure: What kind of structure does the work utilize? If it’s a poem, is it written in free or blank verse? If you’re working with a novel, does the structure deviate from certain conventions, like straightforward plot or realism? Does the form contribute to the overall meaning?
Figurative Language: Examine the passage carefully for similes, metaphors, and other types of figurative language. Are there repetitions of certain figures or patterns of opposition? Do certain words or phrases stand in for larger issues?
Diction: Diction means word choice. You should look up any words that you don’t know in a dictionary and pay attention to the meanings and etymology of words. Never assume that you know a word’s meaning at first glance. Why might the author choose certain words over others?
Style and Sound: Pay attention to the work’s style. Does the text utilize parallelism? Are there any instances of alliteration or other types of poetic sound? How do these stylistic features contribute to the passage’s overall meaning?
Context: Consider how the passage you’re reading fits into the work as a whole. Also, does the text refer to historical or cultural information from the world outside of the text? Does the text reference other literary works?

Once you’ve considered the above features of the passage, reflect on its relationship to the work’s larger themes, ideas, and actions. In the end, a close reading allows you to expand your understanding of a text.

Close reading example

Let’s take a look at how this technique works by examining two stanzas from Lorine Niedecker’s poem, “ I rose from marsh mud ”:

I rose from marsh mud, algae, equisetum, willows, sweet green, noisy birds and frogs to see her wed in the rich rich silence of the church, the little white slave-girl in her diamond fronds.

First, we need to consider the stanzas’ literal content. In this case, the poem is about attending a wedding. Next, we should take note of the poem’s form: four-line stanzas, written in free verse.

From there, we need to look more closely at individual words and phrases. For instance, the first stanza discusses how the speaker “rose from marsh mud” and then lists items like “algae, equisetum, willows” and “sweet green,” all of which are plants. Could the speaker have been gardening before attending the wedding?

Now, juxtapose the first stanza with the second: the speaker leaves the natural world of mud and greenness for the “rich/ rich silence of the church.” Note the repetition of the word, “rich,” and how the poem goes on to describe the “little white slave-girl/ in her diamond fronds,” the necessarily “rich” jewelry that the bride wears at her wedding.

Niedecker’s description of the diamond jewelry as “fronds” refers back to the natural world of plants that the speaker left behind. Note also the similarities in sound between the “frogs” of the first stanza and the “fronds” of the second.

We might conclude from a comparison of the two stanzas that, while the “marsh mud” might be full of “noisy/ birds and frogs,” it’s a far better place to be than the “rich/rich silence of the church.”

Ultimately, even a short close reading of Niedecker’s poem reveals layers of meaning that enhance our understanding of the work’s overall message.

How to write a close reading essay

Getting started.

Before you can write your close reading essay, you need to read the text that you plan to examine at least twice (but often more than that). Follow the above guidelines to break down your close reading into multiple parts.

Once you’ve read the text closely and made notes, you can then create a short outline for your essay. Determine how you want to approach to structure of your essay and keep in mind any specific requirements that your instructor may have for the assignment.

Structure and organization

Some close reading essays will simply analyze the text’s form and content without making a specific argument about the text. Other times, your instructor might want you to use a close reading to support an argument. In these cases, you’ll need to include a thesis statement in the introduction to your close reading essay.

You’ll organize your essay using the standard essay format. This includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Most of your close reading will be in the body paragraphs.

Formatting and length

The formatting of your close reading essay will depend on what type of citation style that your assignment requires. If you’re writing a close reading for a composition or literature class , you’ll most likely use MLA or Chicago style.

The length of your essay will vary depending on your assignment guidelines and the length and complexity of the text that you’re analyzing. If your close reading is part of a longer paper, then it may only take up a few paragraphs.

Citations and bibliography

Since you will be quoting directly from the text in your close reading essay, you will need to have in-text, parenthetical citations for each quote. You will also need to include a full bibliographic reference for the text you’re analyzing in a bibliography or works cited page.

To save time, use a credible citation generator like BibGuru to create your in-text and bibliographic citations. You can also use our citation guides on MLA and Chicago to determine what you need to include in your citations.

Frequently Asked Questions about how to do a close reading

A successful close reading pays attention to both the form and content of a literary work. This includes: literal content, tone, characterization, structure, figurative language, diction, sound, style, and context.

A close reading essay is a paper that analyzes a text or a portion of a text. It considers both the form and content of the text. The specific format of your close reading essay will depend on your assignment guidelines.

Skimming and close reading are opposite approaches. Skimming involves scanning a text superficially in order to glean the most important points, while close reading means analyzing the details of a text’s language, style, and overall form.

You might begin a close reading by providing some context about the passage’s significance to the work as a whole. You could also briefly summarize the literal content of the section that you’re examining.

The length of your essay will vary depending on your assignment guidelines and the length and complexity of the text that you’re analyzing.

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1. Keep it real. It’s normal to want to make a good impression on the school of your choice, but it’s also important to show who you really are. So just be yourself! Compelling stories might not be perfectly linear or have a happy ending, and that’s OK. It’s best to be authentic instead of telling schools what you think they want to hear.

2. Be reflective . Think about how you’ve changed during high school. How have you grown and improved? What makes you feel ready for college, and how do you hope to contribute to the campus community and society at large?

3. Look to the future. Consider your reasons for attending college. What do you hope to gain from your education? What about college excites you the most, and what would you like to do after you graduate? Answering these questions will not only give colleges insight into the kind of student you’ll be, but it will also give you the personal insight you’ll need to choose the school that’s right for you.

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