How to Find an Effective Title for My Essays
Writing an essay can be a big task, with many layers that include topic, an engaging introduction, researching sources, articulating ideas, detail, and formatting. An essay's title can be the glue that ties all of these elements together. As long as it is thought through properly, an engaging title can provide readers with enough clues to want to read more. Whether you think of a title before writing the essay or after, the key is to communicate these clues in as few words as possible through a carefully selected title.
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Instructions
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Highlight Key Words
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1
Highlight key words used in the body of the essay. If the essay hasn't been written yet, write down important key words you plan to use in your notebook.
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Think about what the project's goal is, or what the assignment is requiring you to do. For example, if you are being asked to write a persuasive argument, think about the main ideas that will need to be argued. Write these ideas down in the notebook, or highlight them if they are already in your essay.
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Re-read your essay's introduction and write down in your notebook the first thoughts that come to mind after reading it. If it hasn't been written yet, write the introduction. It doesn't have to be long or perfect, only enough to read and write down ideas.
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Review and highlight the details of the most important ideas in the essay, even if you must re-read the essay. Write down what the details have in common. For example, if there is a lot of background or historical information, write "history." If you aren't this far yet, think about what kind of detail you'll need to include, and write it down.
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Review information in the beginning, the middle, and the end. Write a short paraphrase of what each section discusses next to it. Titles need to connect to initial ideas that thread throughout the remainder of the essay. Look for common threads in the paraphrases, and add them to your notebook ideas.
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Review your notes and areas highlighted on the essay. Look for common phrases, and then condense these notes into a short list of title possibilities. For example, if the words are "effect, global, world, extreme," and the essay topic is Global Warming, a title possibility could be "Extreme World Effects of Global Warming."
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Select a title from among the condensed choices listed in your notebook.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are unable to decide on a title from among the condensed choices, complete the essay and re-visit the list. Make a final choice after it is written.
