--- title: Openings that hook the reader — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Openings that hook the reader», a lesson of the english course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The first line of a piece of writing is a fishing hook: its job is to catch the reader and make them want the next line, and the next. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/) / Openings that hook the reader # Openings that hook the reader Lesson 40 of the english course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/0/) — The first line of a piece of writing is a fishing hook: its job is to catch the reader and make them want the next line, and the next. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/1/) — "Once upon a time there was a girl called Ella who lived in a house" tells us little and asks nothing, while "'Run!' shouted Max. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/2/) — Behind him, the gate creaked open" makes the whole class gasp, because we want to know what is behind the gate. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/3/) — Writers have a toolbox of hooks: speech, action, a sound ("CRASH! - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/4/) — The vase lay in pieces"), a question ("Have you ever wondered why cats purr?"), a strange detail, or starting in the middle of the action and explaining how we got there later. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/5/) — A hook must belong to the story: an explosion in line one that is never mentioned again, or a random "SKIBIDI!" shouted by a dog, grabs attention for a second and then feels like a trick. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/7/) — A hook is an opening that makes the reader want to read on; many readers decide in the first few lines whether to keep going. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/8/) — Common hooks are dialogue, action, a sound word, a question, a surprising fact and a strange detail. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/9/) — Starting in the middle of the action means the reader is hooked first and learns the background later through small hints. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/11/) — Setting openings can build mood, but a long list of things in the sky and on the ground slows a story down. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/12/) — Question openings work in stories and in information texts. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/13/) — A cliché is a phrase used so often that it has lost its power, such as "It was a dark and stormy night". - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/14/) — Fairy-tale openings like "Once upon a time" suit fairy tales, but other stories usually need a sharper first line. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/15/) — An ending where everything was a dream is a well-known cliché that makes the story feel as if it did not matter. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/16/) — A good ending answers the problem set up at the start. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/17/) — In Liverpool "boss" means great; in the East Midlands "me duck" is a friendly way to address someone. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/18/) — Gen Alpha children shout "skibidi" as a funny word that means nothing in particular. - ← previous: [Planning before writing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/39-planning-before-writing/) - next →: [Describing: senses, showing and precise words](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/41-describing-senses-showing-and-precise-words/) - ↑ back to [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/)