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Essay Writing Guide

How To Title An Essay

How to Title an Essay - A Detailed Guide

10 min read

Published on: Nov 19, 2017

Last updated on: Dec 30, 2023

Why is it Important to Have a Good Essay Title?

A great essay title is very important, and it can make or break the overall quality of your essay.

The reason is pretty simple: the title you choose for your essay is the first thing that will decide if your readers will continue reading your paper or not.

That’s why the choice of words and how you create a title is very important. If you are thinking the content of your essay is what matters, then you are wrong. To get a good grade and impress your teacher, every part of the paper plays an important role.

Creating a title that convinces people to read your essay also allows you to showcase your knowledge and writing skills.

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What are the Basic Components of an Essay Title?

There are different types of essays , and each essay has a specific structure that can be followed for writing a well-written paper. Creating an essay title has it is own method, too.

Below, you can find the main components of an essay title.

The Catchy Hook: It introduces the topic in the most interesting and creative way.
Topic Keywords: It is the ‘what’ question of your essay. This component of an essay title identifies the concept that you will discuss in your essay.
Focus Keywords: It is the ‘when’ and ‘where’ question of your essay. It provides more information about the headline and makes it more professional.

How To Make A Good Title For An Essay?

There are a few principles that you should keep in mind when titling an essay.

Write Essay First, Title in the Last

One effective approach is to complete your entire essay first and then tackle the title last. This method allows you to gain a comprehensive understanding of what would resonate with your readers.

Utilize Your Thesis

Your thesis statement , typically found in your essay's introductory paragraph, can be a goldmine for title inspiration. Reworking it can lead to a compelling and relevant essay title.

Take into Account the Tone of Your Paper

Consider the tone of your essay, as it significantly influences the title's choice. For serious topics, maintain a serious and appropriate tone in your title.

Use Relevant Keywords

Incorporate two to three relevant keywords within your title. These keywords should reflect the core themes of your essay and help potential readers find your work.

Get Help from Online Tools

Exploring online title generator tools can provide valuable insights into crafting an effective essay title. These tools can spark creativity and suggest suitable phrases that resonate with your essay's content.

Essay Titles in Different Formats

When titling an essay in different formats, it's important to follow the specific guidelines and formatting requirements of the style guide you are using. Below, you can find the basic guidelines for titling an essay for different formats:

Essay Title APA Format

Let's see what an APA title should include:

The title should be centered but not in bold or italics.
Use title case for the title.
Capitalize the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as any major words within the title (e.g., The Psychology of Motivation: Understanding Human Behavior).
Use a 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font.

The Impact of Climate Change on Global Biodiversity

Essay Title MLA Format

Here is what an MLA paper title should include:

Title should be centered.
Use title case, which means capitalizing the first and last words of the title and all major words in between (e.g., The Art of Writing: Crafting Engaging Essays).
Do not underline, italicize, or use quotation marks for the title.
It's common to use a 12-point Times New Roman font.

Exploring the Themes in Shakespeare's Sonnets: Love, Time, and Beauty

Essay Title Chicago Format

Chicago style offers two options for formatting titles: headline-style and sentence-style.

Headline style: The title is in the title case and is centered. Major words are capitalized.

Example: The Decline of the Roman Empire: A Historical Analysis

Sentence style: The title is in sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized). It is also centered. Use a 12-point Times New Roman or similar font.

Example: The decline of the Roman Empire: a historical analysis

MLA Format for a Book or Film Title Within the Essay

So, how to write a book title in an essay? If your essay discusses a book or film title, you would follow MLA formatting for titles within the essay. Enclose the title in double quotation marks.

Example: "The Catcher in the Rye": A Study of Adolescent Alienation

AMA Format (American Medical Association)

The title should be centered.
Use title case, with the first letter of major words capitalized (e.g., The Role of Genetics in Disease Prevention).
Do not use bold, italics, or quotation marks.
Use a 12-point Times New Roman font.

Example: The Impact of Nutrition on Cardiovascular Health

What are the Characteristics of a Good Essay Title?

A good essay title serves as a preview of the essay's content and should be engaging and informative. Here are the characteristics of a good essay title:

Clarity: The title should clearly convey the topic or subject matter of the essay. It should give the reader a sense of what to expect when they read the essay.
Relevance: The title should be directly relevant to the content of the essay. It should not mislead the reader by promising something that the essay does not deliver.
Conciseness: A good title is concise and to the point. It should be relatively short and avoid unnecessary words or phrases. Brevity is key.
Engagement: An effective title should be attention-grabbing and stimulate readers' interest. It should make them want to read the essay. This can be achieved through the use of intriguing language, a question, or a thought-provoking statement.
Originality: Aim for a title that is unique and original. Avoid clichés or overly generic titles that don't distinguish your essay from others on the same topic.
Balance: A good title strikes a balance between being descriptive and not giving away the entire essay. It should provide a sense of the topic without revealing all the details.
Appropriateness: Consider the context in which the essay will be read. The title should be appropriate for the intended audience and purpose of the essay.
Grammar and Style: The title should adhere to the rules of grammar and style for the chosen writing format (e.g., title case, sentence case) and should not contain errors.
Keywords: If relevant, include keywords or terms that are important to the subject matter. This can help with searchability and SEO if the essay is published online.
Readability: Ensure that the title is easy to read and understand. Avoid overly complex or jargon-filled titles unless the audience is well-versed in the subject matter.
Tone: The tone of the title should match the tone of the essay. For example, if the essay is serious and academic, the title should reflect that tone.
Memorability: A memorable title is more likely to stick in the reader's mind. If it's clever, thought-provoking, or evocative, it can make a lasting impression.

Additional Rules To Create a Good Essay Title

Here are additional rules and tips for creating a good title, summarized and rewritten in simpler language:

Title Each Section: Give every part of your writing a clear title. This helps organize your text and make it more understandable.
Reflect the Theme: Make sure your title reflects the main idea of your essay. It should give readers a good idea of what your essay is about.
Use Title Case: Capitalize the first letter of every word in your title, except for small words like pronouns (e.g., "it," "they"), articles (e.g., "a," "an," "the"), prepositions (e.g., "in," "on," "at"), and conjunctions (e.g., "and," "but"). These small words are not capitalized unless they are the first word in the title.
Avoid Underlining: Don't underline your title. Bold text is usually sufficient to emphasize the title. Some experts suggest that if you really want to underline it, don't bold it at the same time to avoid overemphasis.
Review and Edit: Always review the final version of your title. Check for grammar, structure, spelling, and overall quality. Re-read it to make sure it effectively represents your essay's topic and captures your reader's attention.
Using a Colon: If you decide to use a colon in your title, remember to follow the rules. A colon is used to separate two interesting parts of the title.
Simplify and Keep It Short: Rewrite your title in simple words and try to keep it short. Concise titles are often more effective.

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Some Interesting Example Essay Titles

If you are struggling to come up with a good essay title, refer to the following section. Here, you will find some interesting title examples for different kinds of essays.

How to Title an Essay About Yourself - Examples

Things that make you happy
The significance of personal growth
Your definition of feminism
Why is volunteering important?
The importance of a healthy lifestyle
Your favorite memory
Your proudest moment
Your secret talent
A place you’d want to go
Your most unfortunate day

How to Title an Essay for College - Examples

Poop, animals, and the environment
From homeschooling to the football field
The civil rights movement and its effects
Internet Influence on Kids
The popularity of Sports in the United States
A book that sparks your love for literature
The steps you took to fix an error in coding a program
A serious illness you battled
A talent you have had since you were young
A documentary that made you aware of a particular issue

Example Argumentative Essay Titles

Should animal testing be banned?
Is healthcare a basic human right?
Why does homework not improve learning?
Should video games be considered a sport?
Should teachers be paid more?
Is standardized testing effective?
Is space travel a waste of money?
Effects of video games on children
Is cloning ethical?
Is globalization good or bad?

How to title an essay examples - MyPerfectWords.com

Example Research Paper Titles

How does a search engine work?
Attention deficit disorder
Limitations of the media
What are the gender issues in education?
What are the pros and cons of school uniforms?
Discrimination in education
Education and funding
Disadvantages of homeschooling
How can eating disorders be treated?
Interracial marriage

Example Descriptive Essay Titles

The most beautiful place on earth
The beauty of the starry sky
A perfect companion for me
The best concert I attended Why I like my smartphone
An unusual room
Your favorite food
A favorite photograph
An accident scene
Your favorite car

Hopefully, now you understand how to title an essay in the best way possible. Refer to the above guidelines before you begin the writing process.

However, you can also get help from our essay writing service if you don’t know how to title an essay. Professional essay writers at MyPerfectWords.com can help you write a creative title or even the whole essay from scratch for you.

Feel free to contact our paper writer online anytime and get the best essay writing help.

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Nova Allison is a Digital Content Strategist with over eight years of experience. Nova has also worked as a technical and scientific writer. She is majorly involved in developing and reviewing online content plans that engage and resonate with audiences. Nova has a passion for writing that engages and informs her readers.

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How to Title an Essay

Well, neither does your teacher, professor, or boss. The difference is that they don’t have a choice and have to. A good title helps you stand out, and that’s part of the reason why a title is so important. Just knowing the right way to title an essay can boost your grades!

A good title has to grab the reader’s attention. It’s the first thing someone sees, so think of it as your first opportunity to impress. The title needs to be catchy but focused on the content of your essay. A good title is simple yet informative. Sounds tough? Don’t worry, this article will cover all you need to know about how to title an essay perfectly.

How to Choose a Good Title for an Essay

A good title makes a reader think “Yes! I want to read the rest of this!” but a title also has to accurately reflect the content of the paper. It’s not just students, one of the differences between an average writer and an expert is how well they can write a title. If you want to work in social media, advertising, or any kind of content writing, learning how to write a title for an essay is an essential skill to have.

There are two main components of a good essay title.

Catchy Hook

Anyone that’s ever written anything knows that having a catchy hook in your introduction is a requirement, but most people forget that you can include a hook in the title itself. Remember, you want to stand out and differentiate yourself from the competition.

There are a few places to hunt for keywords to fit into your title. The essay prompt or research question is a good place to start but using words in your thesis statement ensures that your topic accurately reflects the main point of your essay. The use of keywords like this ensures that your title reflects what the essay is about. You’ll know you’ve found the right keywords if they seem like two or three word summaries of the main point of your essay.

How to Come up With a Title for an Essay

How to create a title for an essay in a way that makes it stand out from the crowd requires creativity, hard work, and time. That may seem like a lot just for a title, but it’s worth it. Follow these bits of advice and craft the perfect title!

Write your title at the end

Just because the title is the first thing someone reads doesn’t make it the first thing you should write! Coming up with a good title is tough and requires a deep understanding of the content of the paper. That means it’s usually better to write the title at the end after you’re done with a couple of drafts of your paper.

Though it’s good to write according to a plan, often, new thoughts can take your essay in an unexpected direction, this is another reason why its good to start with a working title as a placeholder and go back to write the final title at the end.

Use your thesis

A good title hints at what the thesis statement will be. A thesis statement is a summary of the main argument and purpose of the paper, so use your thesis statement as a source of inspiration for your title. This makes sure that your title has predictive power since it’s drawn from the thesis statement itself.

Simple but not too simple

There is no rule about how long a good title should be - there are benefits to short titles and benefits to long titles. Short titles are direct and clear and better suited for simpler, straightforward essays. Longer titles may be more appropriate for complex or very specific essays. No matter what though, make sure that your titles are easy to understand.

Make sure your title is specific

A title that’s too general may seem like it’s describing your essay, but it isn’t. Is your essay just about “Mobile Gaming in 2020” or is it about “The Impact of Coronavirus Lockdowns on the FTP Mobile Game Industry”? The first title may be short and to the point, but it doesn’t give enough specific information about the content of the essay. Remember, a good title hints at what the essay is going to be about, but also intrigues the reader. Generic and broad titles don’t do that.

Your title needs to be believable

Just because a lot of titles you see on the internet are clickbait, doesn’t mean that you need to write an over the top title as well. Especially if you’re writing a paper for academia, make sure your title doesn’t over-promise what you’re going to cover in the essay.

Write your title in the active voice

Write your title in the active voice, that is, the subject acts upon the verb rather than the subject receives a verb's action. Writing in the active voice uses fewer words and is more concise and engaging - perfect for writing a catchy title.

Rewrite famous movies, books, quotes, phrases, quotations, etc.

Creativity is an important element of coming up with a catchy title. If you can find a famous phrase that you can rework into the perfect title for your essay, go for it! For example, a paper about mitosis and meiosis (cell division) can be titled “Live Long and Prosper”.

Match the style and tone of your essay

It wouldn’t make sense to have an amusing title for an essay about a refugee crisis. Make sure that your title reflects the tone of your essay. Some titles work better depending on the essay style. For example, the title of a persuasive essay would be different than the title of a reflective essay.

Who’s the audience?

Of course, how you title an essay depends on who you’re writing it for. A blog post targeted towards your friends or prospective followers is going to have a different title than an essay for your stuffy old history teacher. Your young science teacher who loves memes and blows up things in class might appreciate a different type of title. A university application essay usually needs to be more formal. Try and find out as much as you can about who is going to read your essay and cater both your essay and title to them.

To use or not to use: Colons in essay titles

Using a colon to separate an essay title into two sections used to be the norm. It became so common in fact, that now they are considered cliche. There may be a few occasions when using a colon is just perfect, but avoid overusing it. The best way to use a colon is by inserting a creative phrase or clever quote behind the colon. For example, the title of this section.

Use evocative imagery

An easy way to make your title catchy is by using imagery. If you can make the reader imagine something in their mind based on your title, you’re starting off with a win. “Stepping into the void: The first spacewalk” is a much better title than simply “The first spacewalk.

These tips should help you answer how to come up with an essay title!

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Common Titling Mistakes

The deadline is racing towards you and you still don’t have a title! After panicking and writing whatever pops into your head, check to make sure you don’t do any of the following.

Either bold your title or underline it - Doing both is overkill and rather than stressing the title, makes it look cluttered and messy.
Don’t make your title too short - A good title should let the reader predict what the essay is going to be about.
Don’t make your title too long.- A long title might give more information about the essay, but it can be cluttered and overloaded with dense information.
Don’t use slang, jargon, or abbreviations - You want to make sure that the title is clear. If the teacher has to look up a word in your title, you’re starting off badly.
Don’t get too personal - Your title should entice the reader. Whatever strong arguments you want to make should be made in the body of the essay. ‍

Make sure your title reflects the content of the essay - This often happens when the title is written first and then the essay. Start with a placeholder title and after the essay is done, work on creating a title that accurately reflects the main purpose of the essay.

Improved Essay Titles

You might have an idea about what the title should be as you’re working on your essay, but there are still things to watch out for. Sometimes the perfect title pops into your head fully formed, but more often than not, a good title takes thought, effort, time, and several rewrites. Make sure to set aside some time just to work on the title.

An Exploration of the Best Way to Spend Time During Lockdown Based on Personal Experience

This title might do a good job of explaining what the essay is about but it’s too long and wordy.

Better title: My Lockdown Chronicles: What to do With Unexpected Free Time

An Analysis of Avengers: Endgame

This title is too broad. The topic is interesting but there’s no hook to engage the reader.

Better title: Why Avengers: Endgame is Modern Storytelling at its Best

Badly Breaking the myths about drug overdose

This title seems forced. The topic is very serious, so trying to use a pun in the title can come across as incongruent. It also depends on the reader knowing the show Breaking Bad and making the connection. Depending on the audience, this might be the perfect title though, so make sure to consider your audience when writing and titling an essay.

Better Title: An Analysis of Drug Overdose Deaths in the 2010s

The Best Colorful Birds

This title doesn’t give any specific information or talk about what the reader can expect to learn from the essay.

Better Title: Why Birds of Paradise Evolved to Become the Brightest Birds

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Essay Title Ideas

Catchy essay title examples

A catchy title can start your reader off intrigued, entertained, and overall, just in a positive state of mind. That’s a good way to get noticed and boost your grade on the essay! Here are some examples of attention-grabbing essay titles.

Underage Romance: An Analysis of the Ages of William Shakespeare’s Characters

An Alien Among Us: What if Superman Was Real?

The Day the Planet Caught a Virus

The Rise and Fall of the Alpha Male

Memes Before the Internet

College Essay Title examples

When answering a college essay, make sure you read and follow the instruction carefully. Not following the often very strict requirements is. Generally speaking the tone of the essay, and therefore the title should be more serious but don’t be afraid to let your personality come through. Have a look at these examples.

Why Building Houses in a Third World Country was Unsatisfying

The Daily Struggles of an International Student

Energy Equals MC Hammer: My First Day of Dance Class

A Showdown Between William Shakespeare and Hamilton

Mahatma Gandhi’s Disobedience Without Violence

Argumentative Essay Title Examples

An argumentative essay is an opportunity to convince the reader about your view on a topic. Since the goal of an argumentative essay is to make an argument using facts, research, and logic, your title should state your position on the issue. These examples should steer you in the right direction.

Artificial Intelligence Will Not Matrix Humanity

The Best Soup Is Your Grandmother’s

Oh, the Humanity: Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

Scientific Backing for the Benefits of Video Games

Trial and Error: Better Than the Scientific Method?

Persuasive Essay Title Examples

A persuasive essay appeals to emotions to influence the reader. The main difference between an argumentative essay and a persuasive essay is that an argumentative essay uses facts and research while a persuasive essay relies on emotional appeals. How do these title examples make you feel?

A Glamorous Path to Self Hatred: Modern Beauty Standards

Surreptitious Racism and Why It’s More Difficult to Erase

Saving the Planet, One Tree at a Time

The Natural Way to Heal: Ayurvedic Medicine

Testing the Uneducated: Medical Testing in Third World Countries

Narrative Essay Title Examples

Narrative essays can be thought of as short stories. They ask a writer to share an experience clearly and concisely while making a clear point. The titles of these essays can be more playful and ambiguous. Take a look at some examples.

The Pleasure of Discovering an Amazing New Anime

A Missed Opportunity: Why I Didn’t Attend My Uncle’s Funeral

When my Teacher Became a Father Figure

How Being Bullied Made Me a Kinder Adult

Bloody Victory: My First Mixed Martial Arts Win

Research Paper Title Examples

Research papers test your ability to find credible sources and synthesize complex information into a well-structured format. These are almost exclusively academic, and as such, have formal titles. The first versions of these titles often end up being very long, so spend some time whittling away any extra information. Take a look at the examples below.

The Effects of Caffeine on Attention and Sleep

Experimental Evidence for the Use of Music in Boosting Agricultural Yields

Not Stinky: Bathing Culture in Ancient China

The Impact of Western Media on 13 to 30-Year-Olds in Asia

The Marvel Cinematic Universe: A Guide on How to Plan Ahead

English Essay Titles Examples

Writing a title for an English essay doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, if you’re studying literature, you should take the opportunity to flex your creative writing skills. Don’t overdo it though! Titles still need to be predictive, comprehensible, and engaging. Examples down below.

Akala: A Modern Day Shakespeare

Why We’re Already Living in the Brave New World

The Impact of Foreign Writers on Modern English Literature

The Terrifying Origins of Folk Tales

The Times They Are a-Changing: Analyzing Mark Twain’s Writings in 2019

Quick Recap

A great title piques the interest of the reader and starts their journey at a high point. Whether it’s online or for school, you have to find a way to stand out from the very beginning. A good title takes time and effort, but coming up with the perfect title can also be fun, and it absolutely makes a difference to your grade.

Ask these questions to make sure that your title is good.

Does the title predict what the paper is about?
Does the title use keywords effectively?
Does the title accurately reflect the tone of the essay?
Is the title appropriate for the audience?
Is the title interesting?

Remember these tips when brainstorming an essay title.

Think of an interesting hook
Use keywords (Your thesis is a good place to look)
Write your title after you’ve written the essay, not before
Simple but not too simple, it should be predictive
Use as few words as possible while being informative and interesting
Keep it believable
Match the tone and style of your essay
Think about the audience
Use imagery
Rework a popular phrase
Use active voice
Avoid unnecessary words and jargon
Avoid abbreviations ‍

The title of your essay can make or break your grade, so it's important to choose one that is attention-grabbing and relevant to your topic. If you're struggling to come up with a good title, don't worry! Studyfy has compiled a list of over 300 essay topics to inspire you. And if you still need help with your essay, including proofreading and editing, or if you need to " pay someone to do my essay ", Studyfy's team of experts is always available to help. They offer dissertation writing services , research paper service , and even have an admission essay writer to help you get into your dream school. Just reach out to them for all your academic needs!

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How to Write Essay Titles and Headers

The deadline for your latest writing assignment is mere minutes away. You’re rushing to get the final details together and suddenly realize you’ve forgotten a title. You quickly throw something random on top of the page and submit it to your teacher.

You’re not satisfied with your title, but you vow to do better next time. And you will!

Waiting until last minute to come up with a title for your writing assignment is never a good idea. This is the first detail your readers notice and should not only prepare them for what they’ll read but intrigue them as well.

You’ve learned from your mistake: essay titles are not a last-minute detail. They’re an integral part of any piece of written work and should be planned out earlier on in the writing process.

Titles lead to your reader’s first impression of your essay, and the headings help organize your thoughts and make the essay easier to read. Let’s take a look at how you can turn your titles from an afterthought into a well-thought-out writing element.

How Do You Write a Great Title?

People DO judge a book by its cover, and they will judge your essay by its title. So writing a strong title is an important part of starting your writing off on the right foot.

Your essay title has two main functions:

Inform your reader
Spark your reader’s interest

Additionally, keep in mind these three pointers:

Be clear and concise

Vague titles do not inform the reader. Provide a specific description of what your focus will be. Your audience wants to know precisely what they will be reading.

Bad Example: Oceans

Good Example: Disappearing Ocean Life in the Pacific Rim

Offer an exciting tidbit or interesting fact

If your title is boring, readers will not want to keep reading. Offer them something that will get attention.

Bad Example: How Consumers are Wrongly Spending Money

Good Example: The Seven Million Dollar Mistake

Everyone may be writing a college admissions essay, but don’t title yours: My College Admissions Essay . No matter what the prompt, make your title something that stands out from the stack.

Bad Example: My Research Project

Good Example: Relocating the Human Race to Mars

How Do You Create a Great Header?

Essay headers are often overlooked by writers, but they can really help your readers as they journey through your essay. While the title may get the reader hooked, the headers keep them moving smoothly through your paper. They enhance readability and help explain what is most relevant in the essay.

Each essay header should answer these two questions:

What will I learn?
What is the focus?

When readers approach a new section of your essay, they will have a better reading experience if they have a small preview of what’s to come.

Essay headers should answer two questions for your reader: What will I learn? and What is the focus?

Writing a useful header should be relatively easy. Read through your paragraphs and see what the main idea of is. From here, make a list of sub-topics that are discussed in each section. The best way to do this is to pull from the main points you listed out in your outline (which you, of course, remembered to do!).

Remember the following details about writing a header:

Be simple, but informative

You don’t want to give away all of your ideas here, but you need to give some guiding information.

Bad Example: Eating Too Many Fatty Foods Can Increase Your Cholesterol Levels

Good Example: How Your Diet Affects Your Health

Be consistent throughout your essay.

Choose a pattern and stick with it throughout the entirety of the assignment. If you start off by having a heading for each paragraph, keep it that way until the end. Also, make sure the format remains the same. If your first heading is in the form of a question, all of the rest should be as well.

Bad Example: Beaches, What is Up With Littering?, I Want to Clean Up the Planet

Good Example: Neglected Beaches, Effects of Litter, Motivated Activists

Just like when you are writing a title, there are generic headings you can lean on to get it done quick and easy. But don’t use these. Your conclusion shouldn’t have the header, "Conclusion." Come up with something unique for each part of your essay to keep your reader from feeling fatigued as they read on.

Bad Example: Conclusion

Good Example: Will the Pandas Survive?

Be organized and helpful

Your essay should be scannable. This means that if someone needs information fast, they can find it without having to read every word of your piece.

Although titles and headers are often neglected, they are very important to your pieces of writing. They grab your reader’s attention from the start and keep them focused throughout the rest of your essay. Taking the time to craft great titles and headers can advance your writing to the next level.

Don’t overlook the title and section headers when putting together your next writing assignment. Follow these pointers for keeping your writing organized and effective.

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Writing an effective title

Writers often omit or underuse the helpful tool that is an essay title. Feeling stuck, writers may give up on generating a title, or merely label their essays by assignment sequence (“Paper #2”) or task (“Rogerian Argument”). An absent or non-specific title is a missed opportunity: titles help writers prepare readers to understand and believe the paper that is to follow.

Remember the functions of a title.

As composition and rhetoric scholars Maxine Hairston and Michael Keene explain,

a good title does several things: First, it predicts content. Second, it catches the reader’s interest. Third, it reflects the tone or slant of the piece of writing. Fourth, it contains keywords that will make it easy to access by a computer search. (73)

Keeping these functions in mind will help a writer choose a specific and meaningful title, not a mere label.

Think of title-writing as a process, and allow yourself to stretch your thinking during that process.

Like any piece of writing, an effective title does not appear in one magic moment; it takes brainstorming and revising. Richard Leahy's “Twenty Titles for the Writer” exercise helps writers slow down and engage in the process of title-writing.

Although it can feel painstaking and a little silly, actually doing all the steps of Leahy’s exercise takes your thinking in new directions, and almost always guarantees an interesting and effective title. (Of course, how you use the exercise is up to you.) “Twenty Titles for the Writer” is below.

Twenty Titles for the Writer

1. Copy out of your draft a sentence that could serve as a title.

2. Write a sentence that's not in the draft to use as a title.

3. Write a title that is a question beginning with What, Who, When, or Where.

4. Write a title that is a question beginning with How or Why.

5. Write a title that is a question beginning with Is/Are, Do/Does, or Will.

6. Pick out of the essay some concrete image—something the reader can hear, see, taste, smell, or feel—to use as a title.

7. Pick another concrete image out of the essay. Look for an image that is a bit unusual or surprising.

8. Write a title beginning with an -ing verb (like “Creating a Good Title”).

9. Write a title beginning with On (like “On the Titles of Essays”).

10. Write a title that is a lie about the essay. (You probably won't use this one, but it might stimulate your thinking.)

11. Write a one-word title—the most obvious one possible.

12. Write a less obvious one-word title.

13. Write a two-word title.

14. Write a three-word title.

15. Write a four-word title.

16. Write a five-word title.

17. Think of a familiar saying, or the title of a book, song, or movie, that might fit your essay.

18. Take the title you just wrote and twist it by changing a word or creating a pun on it.

19. Do the same with another saying or title of a book, song, or movie.

20. Find two titles you've written so far that you might use together in a double title. Join them together with a colon [ : ].

Hairston, Maxine, and Michael Keene. Successful Writing . 5th ed. New York: Norton, 2003.

Title exercise adapted from Richard Leahy's “ Twenty Titles for the Writer .” College Composition and Communication 43.4 (1992): 516–519. JSTOR. University Libraries, U of Minnesota. 19 July 2007 <http://www.jstor.org>.

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How to Title an Essay?

Purpose and importance of essay title.

An essay title bears great importance, which is why a wrong headline choice can make or break the quality of the paper you submit. Why? The reason is simple. The title you choose has to intrigue your professor or other readers. It must make them want to start reading the whole thing to find out what you wrote and how you developed an argument. This is especially important for an argumentative essay topic . That is why the words you use are vital to the success of the entire work.

The title is, in fact, the first thing your professor, client, or other readers see and your job is to get the “This seems very interesting” reaction, rather than “Oh God, this will be boring.”

Some may assume that the text is the only thing that matters. Every part of your paper plays a huge role if you want to get positive feedback and a good grade. Choosing a title that encourages people to read your essay because they’re curious also allows you to find fertile ground to showcase your knowledge, wisdom, and writing skills simultaneously. This is particularly important for freelance writers whose success depends on the number of people who open and read their essays and articles.

What Are the Qualities of a Good Essay Title

Before you start writing a title for your essay, it is always useful to know more about the qualities that every headline should have. When you know all characteristics of good titles, you’re bound to make wise decisions and complete this part of the essay writing process successfully.

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Below we present the most important qualities for the title of your paper:

Eye-catching – think about it. Do you prefer reading content or academic papers with boring headlines, or you’re more inclined to opt for something with an interesting, eye-catching deadline? The answer is obvious

Credible – most students and freelance writers make mistakes by trying to make their titles catchy. In such a way, they stray from the truth, thus making the headline inaccurate or a complete, blatant lie. Nothing will anger your professor like a heading that doesn’t correspond to the truth

Easy to read – nobody likes complicated and tricky titles, not even your professor. Stay away from strange phrases, complex structures, and even some uncommon fonts when writing your headline

Active voice – if your heading contains verbs, always make sure they’re in active rather than passive voice. For instance, instead of “Is regression of society caused by celebrity culture”, you should write “How does celebrity culture contribute to the regression of society?”.

Brief – whenever you can, make an essay title concise. Long headlines are confusing and don’t demonstrate your skills for laconic writing

Accurate – regardless of the topic or niche and under no circumstances write an inaccurate essay title. It would help if you gave your readers a clear idea of what they will read in an essay. Never try to mislead. It can only harm the overall quality of the essay, and your professor will not appreciate it

What Are The Components of the Essay Title?

Our experts state that all types of essays have their outline formula you can use to write a high-quality paper. If you build your heading, you can create your formula too. Below are the main components of your essay’s title:

A catchy hook – introduces the paper in a creative way
Topic keywords – the “core” of your essay. This component identifies concepts you’ll be exploring
Focus keywords – the “where/when” of your essay. Together with topic keywords, these are vital for your headline and provide more info that makes it professional

Example: Buy Me a Date: Consumerization and Theories of Social Interaction in 21st Century Online Dating Sites

Let’s deduce:

Catchy hook – “buy me a date”
Topic keywords – “consumerism, social interaction, dating”
Focus keywords – “21st century”

checklist for writing a title for an essay

Stuck on How to Title an Essay?

Check out these example essay titles. Essay Topic Generator Look for topic View more

How to Create Essay Title

Now that you know the importance of essay titles and the qualities they should have, it’s time to learn how to create them. Don’t feel bad about yourself if you can’t make a good essay title on the spot. Even the most prolific writers experience writer’s block when choosing an ideal headline. The writer’s block isn’t the issue here. It matters how you overcome it and create the title. Here are a few ideas that you’ll find useful.

Write Essay First, Title Last

Creating the title and writing your essay may seem logical, but doing the opposite can be more beneficial. Most authors never start with the title. Of course, you may have some working headline in mind, allowing you to focus, develop an argument, and so on. But, writing your paper will give you a clear idea of what to use in your title. As you write and reread your essay, you’ll know what to say in the title and intrigue your reader. You’ll experience your “Aha; I’ll write this” moment.

Another benefit of creating a title is that you won’t waste too much time. It is not uncommon for students to spend hours just figuring out the proper title for their essays. That’s the time you could have spent researching, creating an outline, or writing. If you still feel confused, you can get professional online writing help at Edusson.

Use Your Thesis

Here is yet another reason to leave the title for the end. Good titles offer your reader (or more of them) the reason for reading your paper. Therefore, the best place to find that reason is the thesis statement you’ve already written in the introduction. Try working the thesis statement, or at least a part of it, into a title.

Let’s say your thesis statement is this: “The American colonies rebelled against Great Britain because they were tired of being taxed, and they resented British military presence in their lives and homes.”

To create a title, you may use the alliteration “Tired of Taxes and Troops,” or you can opt for “Rebellion of American Colonies against British Rule: Taxes, Troops, and other factors.”

Use Popular Phrases and Clichés You Can Re-work

Popular catchphrases that apply to the essay’s topic make eye-catching titles, too, particularly when the phrase is amusing or creates an interesting pun. Besides popular phrases, you can also go for clichés and make some tweaks to re-work and adapt them to the topic of your essay and title itself. For instance: “Fit to be tried: The battle over gay marriage in the courts”.

Consider the Tone of Your Essay

Of course, the tone of your essay plays an important role in creating a perfect title. If you are writing about a serious topic, don’t be witty, silly, or off-the-wall with your headline. If your essay is a personal statement with some anecdotes, you can go for a sparkling yet intelligent title. Always make sure the tone of the title and essay match. Bear in mind that even in amusing titles, you should avoid using jargon. Don’t use abbreviations in your headlines as well.

Use Quote or Central Idea

This isn’t a general rule, but it is handy when applicable. Your title can feature a quote or a part of it taken from our similar interesting essay topics and ideas you’re writing about. If appropriate and relevant to the subject, even a part of a song lyric can serve the same purpose. You can take a fragment of a thought-provoking quote when your essay is about a book. For example: “Toil and trouble: Murder and intrigue in Macbeth”.

Sum Up Your Essay in THREE WORDS

This is a useful technique for creating essay titles. All you have to do is to sum up your entire essay or a thesis statement in three words and use them to build the headline, put a colon and then insert what your essay is all about.

How to Punctuate an Essay Title

Many authors find it difficult to punctuate titles in essays. Properly punctuating titles may be tricky, because the standards aren’t always consistent. Here are some professional tips from our expert that used to write a college essay for students for appropriately punctuating titles using italics, capitalization, and quotation marks.

Although the criteria for proper title capitalization vary widely, here are a few guidelines. Except for articles and prepositions, capitalize the first and final word in a title and every other word in the title. Some people recommend capitalizing prepositions with five or more letters. Of course, just the initial letter is capitalized.

Use punctuation marks only when essential, not at random . Commas, colons, and semicolons are examples of punctuation marks that should be used when they are required. Quotation marks should be placed wherever one occurs in the text of an essay or on the works-cited page.

If your essay contains a subtitle, place a colon after the title and the subheading on the following line underneath it . Even if your headline and subtitle are very short, use two lines. Your work’s additional titles or headers should be bolded but not bigger than the text that follows them. Arrange them to the left and insert them either at the beginning of a section with a period or on their line without a period.

Self-sufficient works or collective essays are italicized . For example, the title of a newspaper might be placed in italics. The title of an article, a song from an album, and a TV episode would be in quotation marks.

Using italics instead of quotation marks consistently throughout your text is critical. The standards for capitalizing and punctuating titles differ in writing. Certain writing assignments need to use one writing handbook’s format over another. Therefore, it might be useful to consult your professor to choose the best guidebook to follow for academic work.

Examples of Good and Bad Titles for Essays

Unsurprisingly, the reader is drawn to an essay title immediately. Nobody loves lengthy and clumsy headlines that do not convey the paper’s main argument. Pay close attention to the word choice as you angle your work. Make use of your rational thinking and creativity. Our specialists that can gladly help you to write essays for money produced the sections below for further information.

It should be simple to read

Essay titles that are completed yet difficult to grasp will not aid you. As a result, it is better to avoid using difficult terms and ideas. Choose something that every level of the reader may read and understand.

Good: “Joseph Stalin vs. Winston Churchill”, “How to Deal with Depression”, “Pros and Cons of Freelance”.

Bad: “Employees Use Social Networking Rather Than Concentrating During Work Hours”, “When Should You Start Giving Your Baby Solid Foods”

It must be short

The title of your essay should not be overly lengthy. It should instead be succinct and straight to the point. Long essay headlines will mislead your readers and not highlight your writing abilities.

Good: “Best App for Writers”, “The Effect of Racism”.

Bad: “What Do School Shooting Survivors Do When They Return to School”

It must be captivating

If you write a good title, it might become an attention-grabbing aspect. Don’t pass up the opportunity to wow your audience right away.

Good: “Suppose This Happened on Your First School Day”, “Do You Engage in Any of These 10 Awkward Behaviors?”

Bad: “Everlasting Feelings”, “Recent Advances in Kidney Failure Treatment”

Mistakes to avoid

Avoid negative tone and sensitive problems
No dramatic and unclear titles
Don’t overuse fonts and punctuation
Be simple and avoid complicated language
Try to sound professional, don’t use filler words

25 Captivating Titles For An Essay

Do you want your essay to persuade your readers or professor? Start with the right words in the title. How your words sound matter more than how sensible they are. One of the greatest principles every student must adhere to is to create meaningful and persuasive papers. The first important step is choosing a catchy topic. If you feel lost, you can look up a list of argumentative topic examples from your field of study. A captivating subject can do a ton of wonderful things: increase the readers’ engagement, grab the professor’s attention, make your paper more interesting, and score higher marks.

What topic idea do you think would make someone start reading your paper immediately? Interesting, confident, creative, striking, bold are some of the words that describe the best essay titles.

Regardless of the paper, you handle, use the following steps on your way to crafting an interesting topic.

Find a creative hook, fact, or quote
Get the right words to describe your idea
Think about a statement that summarizes your paper

Are you stuck wondering how to title your essay? Don’t worry – we have a great selection of catchy college essay titles that will capture the reader’s attention. Our list is sure to help you make a lasting impression on your professor or any other reader. If you need further assistance, you can also take advantage of our literature review service for the best results.

Argumentative Essay Title Examples

Society Has The Responsibility Of Fighting Anorexia
Every Country Must Activate The Death Sentence
Is The US Education System Of Any Help To International Students?
The Most Corrupt Nations In The World
Is Politics A Practical Art Or An Inborn Talent?
Does Alcohol Destroy The Brain?
The Most Appropriate Age To Vote
Spanish Is Not The Easiest Language To Learn
Do Steroids Help Or Destroy Human Body?

Persuasive Essay Title Examples

Capitalism: The Perpetrator Of Social Development
Are Illegal Immigrants A Big Issue?
Alternative Medicine: Pros And Cons
What Role Do Guidance Counselors Play In The Mental Health Of Teenagers
TV As A Major Contributor To Violence In Society
How Would Superman Be In The Real World?
Horror Movies Must Be Banned For Kids’ Sake

Catchy Essay Title Examples

Team Games Should Be Played By Both Boys And Girls
Zoos Vs. Human Prisons
The Good Side Of War
Marijuana Can Assist In Peacemaking
School Kids Should Stop Wearing Uniforms
The Use Of Filthy Language On The Internet
Technology Is Turning People Into Zombies
The Pros And Cons Of Globalization
Tsunami Is A Death Wave

Bottom line

The success of your essay doesn’t only depend on the argument you develop, research you do, the title matters as well. Most students struggle to find an ideal headline, but with a few easy tips and tricks from this post, you can forget about frustrations, save some time, and create a catchy and informative headline to intrigue readers. But if you have some doubts, why not try custom essay writing at Edusson and make sure you have everything in place for a successful essay?

FAQ About How to Title an Essay

Can an essay title be a question.

Yes, it can be a question. It should be related to the facts presented in the essay and should represent the thesis that the author intends to prove. But don’t overuse it. Sometimes it may add to your essay a less formal tone.

How Long Should An Essay Title Be?

Excellent research paper titles include precise terms and phrases that appropriately reflect the article’s key topic. Come up with a title for essay that is brief yet contains enough keywords. This will allow others to locate it while searching related databases. A typical rule of thumb is 5 – 10 words.

Should An Essay Title Be Italicized?

If the source is independent, italicize the title. Write the titles of books, films, websites, and magazines in italics. If the paper belongs to a larger piece of work, add the quotation marks. Writers use them for articles, websites, essays, and songs .

Effective Ways to Improve Creativity

How to Write a Synthesis Essay

How to Use Sentence Starters for Essays
How to Write a Hook for your Essay or Paper [Examples Included]

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Writing a Great Research Summary and where to Get Help on it

How To Write A Process Essay: Essay Outline, Tips, Topics and Essay Help

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How to Write a Great College Application Essay Title

Learn why you should craft an effective title and how to make it work

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Your application essay' s title is the first thing admissions officials will read. Although there are many ways to approach the title, it's important that the words at the top of the page make the proper impression.

Key Takeaways: Application Essay Titles

Don't skip the title. It's the first thing the admissions folks will read, and it is your chance to grab their interest.
Avoid vague titles and cliché phrases. Make sure the title gives a sense of your essay's content.
A little humor can be fine in a title, but it isn't necessary and cleverness should never be forced.

Importance of the Title

Ask yourself which work you'd be more excited to read: " Give Goth a Chance " or "Carrie's Essay." If you don't provide a title, you don't give your reader—in this case, busy admissions officials sorting through thousands of applications—any reason to be interested in reading your essay other than a sense of duty. Ensure that college admissions officers are motivated to read your essay due to curiosity rather than necessity.

Alternatively, imagine a newspaper in which every article lacks a title: You would be unlikely to pick up the paper and read anything. Clearly, a newspaper without titles would be confusing for readers. Application essays are similar in that way: Your readers want to know what it is that they are going to read.

The Purpose of an Application Essay Title

A well-crafted title should:

Grab your reader's attention
Make your reader want to read your essay
Provide a sense of what your essay is about

When it comes to the third item, realize that you don't need to be too detailed. Academic essays often have titles that look like: "Julia Cameron's Photography: A Study of the Use of Long Shutter Speeds to Create Spiritual Effects." For an application essay, such a title would come across as cumbersome and even pompous.

Consider how a reader would react to an essay with the title, "The Author's Trip to Costa Rica and How It Changed His Attitude Toward Biodiversity and Sustainability." After reading such a long and belabored title, admissions officials would have little motivation to read the essay.

Essay Title Examples

A good title can be clever or play with words, such as "Porkopolis" by Felicity or "Buck Up" by Jill. "Porkopolis" is a nonsense word, but it works well for an essay on becoming a vegetarian in a meat-centric world, and "Buck Up" employs both a literal and figurative meaning of the phrase. However, don't try to be too clever. Such efforts can backfire.

A title can be provocative. As an example, a student who wrote about encountering new foods while abroad titled her essay "Eating Eyeballs." If your essay focuses on a humorous, shocking or embarrassing moment in your life, it's often easy to write an attention-grabbing title. Titles such as "Puking on the President," "Romeo's Ripped Tights," and "The Wrong Goal" are sure to pique your reader's interest.

Simple and direct language can also be quite effective. Consider, for example, "The Job I Should Have Quit" by Drew, "Wallflower" by Eileen, and "Striking Out" by Richard. These titles don't play with words or reveal great wit, but they accomplish their purpose perfectly well.

In all of these examples, the title provides at least a sense of the essay's subject matter, and each motivates the reader to continue reading. After viewing such titles, even harried admissions officials are sure to ask: What the heck does "Porkopolis" mean? Why did you eat eyeballs? Why should you have quit your job?

Avoid These Title Mistakes

There are some common missteps that applicants make when it comes to titles. Be aware of these pitfalls.

Vague language . You'll be off to a remarkably bland start if your essay is titled "Three Things That Matter to Me" or "A Bad Experience." "Bad" (or "good" or "evil or "nice") is a painfully subjective and meaningless word, and the word "things" might have worked well in Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," but it rarely adds anything of value to your essay. Be precise, not vague .

Broad, overly general language . This is a continuation of the vague language problem. Some titles try to cover far too much. Don't call your essay "My Life Story" or "My Personal Growth" or "An Eventful Upbringing." Such titles suggest that you are going to attempt to narrate years of your life in a few hundred words. Any such effort is doomed to failure, and your reader will doubt your essay before beginning the first paragraph.

Overblown vocabulary . The best essays use clear and accessible language. When a writer attempts to sound intelligent by adding unnecessary syllables to every word, the reading experience is often torturous. For example, if an essay's title is "My Utilization of Erroneous Rationalizations During My Pupilage," the reader's immediate response is going to be pure dread. No one wants to read 600 words on such a subject.

Strained cleverness . Be careful if you're relying on wordplay in your title. Not all readers are fans of puns, and a title may sound ridiculous if the reader doesn't understand a supposedly clever allusion. Cleverness is a good thing, but test out your title on your acquaintances to ensure that it works.

Clichés . If your title relies on a cliché, you're suggesting that the experience that you are narrating is unremarkable and commonplace. You don't want the first impression of your essay to be that you have nothing original to say. If you find yourself writing "When the Cat Got My Tongue" or "Burning the Midnight Oil," stop and reevaluate your title.

Misspellings . Nothing is more embarrassing than a misspelled title. There, at the top of the page in bold letters, you've used the word "it's" instead of "its ," or you wrote about "patients" instead of "patience." Take extra care to check the spelling of your essay title—and, indeed, your essay in general. An error in the title is sure to eliminate any confidence your reader has in your writing ability.

A Few Title Tips

Many writers—both novices and experts—have a difficult time coming up with a title that works well. Write your essay first and then, once your ideas have truly taken shape, go back and craft the title. Also, seek help with your title. A brainstorming session with friends can often generate far better titles than a solitary session of pounding your head on your keyboard. You want to get the title right so that the admissions officials read your essay in a curious and eager state of mind.

If you're writing your essay for the Common Application , keep in mind that your title will go in the text box with the rest of the essay, and the title will count toward your essay's overall word count.

Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application
Sample Application Essay - Porkopolis
How to Write an Outstanding College Application Essay
"Grandpa's Rubik's Cube"—Sample Common Application Essay, Option #4
Tips for Writing a Winning College Application Essay
Private School Application Essay Tips
Ideal College Application Essay Length
Bad Essay Topics for College Admissions
Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs
The Title in Composition
How to Write and Format an MBA Essay
The Five Steps of Writing an Essay
Should an Application Essay Be Single-Spaced or Double-Spaced?
The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
Tips for an Application Essay on a Significant Experience
2020-21 Common Application Essay Option 4—Solving a Problem

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How to Create an Essay Title: 7 Best Practices

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The title of your essay is probably the first thing that your readers or professors will read, so it has to be perfect. If the title is appealing, you can consider half the battle won.

Your title is like a window to your mind and your power of expression. Through your title, your readers will determine if they are interested in reading your essay or not.

Choosing the right essay title gives a good impression, sets the tone of the paper, and augments the argument that is later discussed in the main body of the essay.

In this article, you will learn how to create an essay title that attracts attention and generates interest in your professor.

What are the Components of a Good Essay Title

A title can make or break the eagerness of wanting to read the entire essay. If you have an uninspiring title for an interesting, well-researched paper, your professor will most likely be put-off, making your entire effort go waste.

On the other hand, a clear and concise title helps to evoke inquisitiveness in your readers, making them open to what you have to say and the arguments you’ve addressed.

A good and clear title also emits the fact that you have researched and understood the prompt, you know what you want to write about, and you know how to frame it. This is a tremendous plus point as it's very important to bring your audience to attention so that you can get them to engage with and relate to your writing.

Before we talk about how to create an essay title, let’s take a look at the three components of a strong essay title:

A catchy hook - A creative way to introduce your subject argument to your readers. This is what draws your readers in.
Topic keywords - These keywords are related to the important topics that you will be exploring further and detailing in your essay. This is majorly relying on the “what” part of your paper.
Focus keywords or source - These stand firm on the “where/when” aspect of your essay. These keywords will help your readers understand a little more about the source of the argument and where the concepts that are to be discussed have originated from.

Example of an essay title for better understanding

“ What is the truth: Is Veganism a privilege for the 21st Century? ”

Hook : What is the truth?

Topic Keywords : Veganism; privilege

Source : 21st Century

7 Best Practices to Create an Essay Title and Captivate Readers

We know that the naming of the essay is just the first step, but it is one of the most important aspects of essay writing.

Here are seven practices to keep in mind while framing an essay title.

1. Craft the title at the end

People often waste too much time thinking about coming up with a good essay title first and then begin writing their essays.

It may seem like a logical thing to do, but it is not the most practical idea. If you still have a working headline in your mind, write it in the top corner of your essay for backup.

But as you write your essay, you will immediately come up with a variety of perfect essay titles that are brief and summarize the gist of the essay in a few words. This is because as you read and re-read your essay, you will have a clear idea as to what you are really saying in your draft and your title should represent the focus of your writing.

The time that you’ll spend thinking about your title could well be used to do research or creating an outline .

2. Use your thesis statement

A good title will influence your readers to be interested in your essay and explore it further. It will make them eager to know more about what you are writing. This is where your thesis statement plays an important role and provides a clear understanding of your title.

Your thesis statement and your title should be interdependent and since this statement is the focal argument of your paper, it should be incorporated at least as a part of your headline.

3. Consider the tone and audience of the essay

The title should grasp the reader's attention, and this can only be accomplished when you know who your target audience readers are going to be.

When you are submitting an essay as part of your college curriculum, you are reaching out to a learned faculty. It is important to keep your tone grave and your argument seriously. Avoid the usage of flippant language or slang because you are not talking to 16-year-olds. The audience is rooted in the transfer of knowledge, and your address to them should be likewise.

Similarly, in the case of the tone of the essay, a descriptive essay will have a fairly different tone from an argumentative essay . Since you are writing an academic essay, use a formal setting for writing your essay.

The subject of the essay also determines the tone. For instance, the way you title a fashion innovation essay would be quite different from the way you do a write-up about an archeological excavation.

The theme and audience of your essay should determine the method of crafting your essay title as well as give you a head start in framing your content.

Always make sure that the tone of your essay and your title match and have a similar theme, and don’t mislead the readers.

This video by Language Centre University of Groningen will help you determine the purpose, audience, and tone of your essay

4. Sum up your title in 5 words

Your essay title should be brief but should give your readers an idea regarding the main argument of your essay.

Think about it: if you had to summarize the focus of your essay in 5 words, what would it be? Long and detailed titles look cumbersome while making it tedious for readers to read or understand the context of your essay. The key is to get straight to the point.

5. Keep it simple

Don't use fancy or complicated words that might confuse your readers, instead go for straight-to-the-point words and avoid adding any unnecessary details in the title of your essay. Pick out important and useful keywords from your essay to frame a great title.

6. Look for creative quotes

There is no hard and fast rule for choosing essay titles from the content written. You can get creative and pick any quote, phrase or slogan that is relevant or appropriate to your specific paper and that suits as a headline.

You can also use popular phrases or idioms to generate that perfect title. This will make your topic look more approachable and relatable to your readers.

7. Avoid abbreviations

Why should you opt for using abbreviations, jargon, or slang in your essay title when you can write full, proper words?

You doesn't want all that hard work and commitment in crafting a great essay to go down the drain only because you used a “misc.” instead of writing ‘miscellaneous’ or a ‘vs.’ instead of ‘versus’.

Your readers will see an abbreviation on your essay title and think of your topic as too casual and not worth spending time on. Thus, they would move on to other topics and that will result in your essay being sidelined.

Conclusion: create a strong essay title

Generating a great essay title takes diligence, commitment, and proper time. The structure, each component, the appropriate words, and the clear but specific meaning and argument of your essay should be showcased in the title.

This ability, if cultivated well, will surely go a long way in earning you good grades and impressing your professors with your writing skills, your research competence, and your strengths in thinking through a topic.

When you need help in grabbing the reader's attention right from the outset, implementing these seven best practices will help you craft a strong essay title. If you’re not happy with your essay title or need help brainstorming, you can reach out to our experts at Writers Per Hour.

From researching topic ideas and framing essay titles to delivering an original, well-written fast essay - our professional essay writers are here to support you with all your essay writing needs!

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How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2024]

It’s not a secret that the reader notices an essay title first. No catchy hook or colorful examples attract more attention from a quick glance. Composing a creative title for your essay is essential if you strive to succeed, as it:

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causes the first impression;
reflects the tone, topic, and the purpose of the writing;
indicates the author’s credibility.

Thus, how you name your paper is of the same importance as the paper itself.

Good titles for essays should be concise and eye-catching. Nobody likes long and cumbersome headings that do not reflect the point of the paper. While tilting your work, pay enough attention to the word choice. How do you come up with a good title? Use your common sense and imagination. For more details, our experts prepared the sections below.

💭 What Are Good Titles?

✔️ Finish Your Essay

🤲 sum it up, 🏷️ define the keywords, 🖊️ follow the format, ⚖️ change words, ✨ 23 creative title examples, 💭 what are good titles for essays.

A title is a critical part of any academic paper, so you must understand what to include and how to choose it. Here are some features that your heading has to show.

👩‍🏫 How to Title an Essay?

Are you struggling with formulating a heading? Yes, this task is quite challenging. But let’s figure out the basic rules.

The title of any paper should reveal:

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What the paper is about. Cover the general idea of your work in the title.
Why the reader might be interested in it. Prove the relevance of your paper to the audience.
The context of the issue. A good title previews the full picture of the topic regarding its “when” and “where.”

To nail your essay heading, follow the guide below. Check our title examples if you are not sure about your abilities. You can also try and use a creative title page generator for a faster result.

Before writing a title to your essay, you should finish your paper. This way, you’ll be able to reread and get the whole idea to incorporate it into your title.

Moreover, you’ll see how long a title should be for an essay after finishing the entire piece. But remember: not too lengthy and not too wordy.

The essay title depends on the type of essay:

Narrative essay . For this kind of essay, the title should not provide any detailed info or reflect your position. It should only present the general idea of your piece of writing. For example, the narrative essay topic may look like this: My Thorny Pass to Success.
Argumentative essay . The title for an argumentative essay should clearly state the point you are going to support. For instance, you can choose the following heading: Social Media Has a Negative Effect on Teenagers.
Cause and effect essay . For this kind of essay writing, the title should be clear and provide a background of the issue. The reader should immediately understand what the problem is, what its cause is, what an effect is. Usually, writers use the words “due to” or “because” to highlight the cause-effect correlation. Look at the example: Because Coronavirus Attacks, People Start to Explore New Ways of Remote Working.
Persuasive essay . A persuasive essay should have a dynamic title that immediately calls to action. Moreover, the topic has to be relevant to the audience. For example, for students, the following title would be compelling: Sleep 7-8 Hours a Day: the Lack of Sleep Affects Academic Performance.

The most straightforward way of creating an essay title is summarizing. Sum up the whole paper in one sentence, focus on the central idea, cut the details, and use it as the title.

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For this purpose, you can take your thesis statement and restate it, adding creativity. Or use the best summary generator you can find to simplify the task. But don’t forget to make sure that it sounds catchy and explains why the potential reader should check your essay.

For example:

Let’s imagine, you are writing about Artificial Intelligence, and your thesis statement sounds like this:

The purpose of this paper is to explore the advantages of Artificial intelligence’s influence on society and to discover possible outcomes.

Then, the title may be the following:

Artificial Intelligence – the Next Step into the Bright Future.

Every essay includes the key concepts that you explored and the terms that you used for this. You should find essential words and phrases and incorporate them into the essay titles. The keywords will focus the reader’s attention on the central topic of your paper.

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You are writing about the negative impact of deforestation on the environment. These are your keywords, as they are the most vital ones. Thus, the title would sound like this:

Protecting the Environment: Deforestation Should be Stopped.

Every educational institution requires to format the academic papers for a particular writing style. Among a wide diversity of citation styles , the most popular ones are APA and MLA formats.

There are a lot of specific requirements regarding the essay title formats. So, let’s investigate these styles.

The APA style requires a title page at the beginning of your research paper. Here, where the readers first meet the heading. The title page should include the following:

The paper’s title. Centered, bold, capitalized, 3-4 lines below the top margin.
The author’s name (first name, middle initial, last name). Centered, not bold, two lines below the title.
The author’s affiliations. Centered, not bold, immediately after the name.
Number and name of the course.
The instructor’s name and title.
Page number in the top right corner.

See the example of an APA title page below:

The MLA style does not require a separate title page. Still, some formatting rules are to be strictly followed.

The MLA paper should start one inch from the top of the document, flush left.
Write the author’s name, then the instructor’s name, the course number, and the date. Each item should be on a separate double-spaced line.
Add the title of your paper. It should be centered and capitalized.
Do not put quotation marks, underline, italicize, or boldface your MLA title. Just make it centered and capitalized.

Here is an example of an MLA title formatting.

Before choosing a title, figure out is the tone of your essay. Is it more formal or friendly? Do you write it for a college or a personal blog?

Change the wording to make your title sound more catchy and positive. Or serious and official. You can try something new and come up with a creative title for your essay.

You need to write an article about the benefits of healthy eating for university and your online blog. For an academic essay, your title would probably look like this:

A Well-Balanced Diet Is a Key to a Healthy Organism.

In contrast, for a blog article, it would be better to write something like this:

An Apple a Day Keeps a Doctor Away: How Healthy Eating Helps us Be Fit.

Do you see the magic? One topic, different wording, and completely diverse tones as a result. So, try until you reach the most appropriate version of the title for your piece of writing.

Are you still struggling with the selection of a heading for your paper? Take a look at our creative essay title examples! Inspire, then turn on your imagination, and create a personal title.

Argumentative Essay Titles.

Intercultural Community at University: Prosperity or Constant Encounters.
Leadership Nature: a Congenital or an Acquired Feature?
Do Energetic Drinks Help or Harm the Organisms?
Why Should Sex Education Be Taught at Schools?
Should the Law Punish Bullying?
Guns Legalization is an Unsafe Way of Self-Protection.

Narrative Essay Titles.

Lady Macbeth – One of the Most Frightening Female Characters of Shakespeare.
The Art of Overcoming Failures: How to Deal with the Downfalls Easily.
Steve Jobs: from a Poor Student to a Multi-billionaire.
The Most Influential Person in my Life.
Three Biggest Events of my Life that Shaped me as a Person.
What Does it Mean to be a Loving Kid for your Parents?
What Does “Family” Mean to You?

Persuasive Essay Titles.

Never Judge the Person by their Appearance.
Music Should be Implemented as a Medical Treatment.
In the Battle Between E-Books and Paper Books, the Last Ones Should Win.
Remote Learning Cannot Replace Face-to-Face Classes.
Technology Addiction is a Threat to the Future Generation.
Murderers Should be Sentenced to Death Penalty.

Cause and Effect Essay Titles.

Because of Traveling Around the World, People Expand their Horizons.
Due to Massive Immigration, Countries Lose their Cultural Identity.
Home Abuse as a Cause of Depression and Suicide as its Effect.
Drug Addiction: a Cause for Psychological Disorder or an Effect?

Thank you for reading our article. Now you get how to come up with a good title for an essay. Don’t forget to share our page with your friends.

Writing an Effective Title: Quick Tips, Student Support Writing Center, University of Minnesota
Choosing a Title, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at University of Southern California
How Do I Write a Great Title: U-M LSA Sweetland Center for Writing, College of Literature, Science, and Arts, University of Michigan
General Format: Purdue Online Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
Formatting a Research Paper, Heading and Title: The MLA Style Center
Title Page Setup: APA Style, American Psychological Association
APA Title Page (Cover Page) Format, Example, Template: Saul McLeod, Simply Psychology
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How To Write An Essay

How To Title An Essay

Learn How to Title an Essay Like a Professional Writer

15 min read

Published on: Mar 1, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 29, 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 readerâs 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 âwhereâ and âwhenâ 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 essayâs 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 donât 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 instructorâs 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 clichÃ© 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.

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 - H3

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.

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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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How to Write a Strong Title for an Argumentative Essay

Last Updated: June 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Diane Stubbs . Diane Stubbs is a Secondary English Teacher with over 22 years of experience teaching all high school grade levels and AP courses. She specializes in secondary education, classroom management, and educational technology. Diane earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Delaware and a Master of Education from Wesley College. 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 163,855 times.

In most cases, a title for an essay is only required for college papers. A title for an argumentative essay isn't much different than a title for any other essay. You need to present what your essay is about in phrase form, as well as provide a hook to encourage the reader to read your essay. One main difference is you also need to make sure you establish your stance on the subject, so the reader knows where your argument is headed from the beginning. In order to create a strong title, you should write your essay before coming up with a title for it.

Summarizing Your Ideas

Also, read through your paper. Start making notes on the main ideas. If you organized your paper well, you should have the paper divided into several main ideas.
Write down any ideas you have about what you think should go in your title.

In most cases, your thesis, or a version of it, is the best summary for the essay. The thesis should be stated at the end of your introduction, and perhaps restated at the beginning of your conclusion as well.
Try to get it down to one sentence if possible, such as, "Soup is significantly more flavorful when made with stock than when made with water."

Step 3 Make a list of keywords and phrases.

For instance, if you wrote a paper on why soup is better when made with stock than water, think about what words are essential to that paper.
Your list of keywords might include "soup," "stock," and "flavor," as an example.

Creating a Title

Step 1 Think about your audience and tone.

Also, think about the tone of your essay. If it's lighthearted, a lighthearted title will fit. For instance, an essay on stock and chicken soup lends itself to lightheartedness.
However, if your essay is very serious, stick to a serious title. For instance, if you're trying to convince people that poverty needs to end, that's a pretty serious topic and needs a serious title.

Read over your paper. You can use this opportunity to proofread while you look for a good sentence.
Write out any sentence that may work. For instance, one sentence that might work is "Soup is delicious, but it is even more delicious when made with stock."
Shorten it up to work as a title: "Soup Is More Flavorful With Stock."

For instance, you could write, "Why Does Stock Make Soup So Flavorful?" That establishes your topic, as well as invites your reader into your paper.
Just be sure you are answering the question you propose.
Choose a different question than the one you used for your hook, if applicable.

Come up with something that is contrasting or surprising. A concrete image works well, meaning something that invokes the senses. For instance, you could write something like "The Flavor of Boiled Chicken Bones Is the Best for Soup."
People don't necessarily think bones are tasty, but they are used to create your flavorful broth. Therefore, it's a bit surprising, but it plays into your essay.
Try to create a title that is both short and sweet.

Step 5 Make a pun or use a famous saying.

As an example, a pun you could use would be "Use Your Backbone to Make Soup." "Backbone" is a play both on the fact that you're using stock (made from bones) and that you need to use your backbone to stand up for stock.
As for a saying, you could use something like "Chicken Soup: Only the Opiate of the Masses If Made With Stock." "Opiate of the masses" is a reference to Karl Marx and will attract attention.

Finessing Your Title

That is, move words around to see if you can make a better statement.
Try mixing and matching among titles that you like. Pick the parts you like best.

For instance, if you are discussing a specific type of soup, add that in: "Chicken Stock Makes the Best Chicken Soup."
If you are specifically talking about homemade stock, add that in "Homemade Chicken Stock Makes the Best Chicken Soup."
If possible, try to give the reader just an idea of which side you plan to argue in favor of in the essay.

The most common method is putting the creative part first as the main title, followed by the informative part in the subtitle. However, you can do it either way.
For example, you could write: "Use Your Backbone: Why You Should Advocate for Stock in Soup."
If the titles are on the same line, separate them by a colon. If not, you don't need the colon.

Compare your title to the list you made earlier.

Step 5 Ensure you've covered your topic.

In the case of an argumentative essay, that not only means that you've presented what your topic is but also what your stance on that topic is.
Try it out on a parent. Ask her what she thinks the paper is about from your title.

The exception to this rule is very common abbreviations or abbreviations that are appropriate for your audience.
For instance, using "HIV" probably wouldn't confuse your readers.

Community Q&A

It can be helpful to look up titles of articles and essays for reference. Check major websites or networks for examples of effective titles. Remember to avoid “clickbait,” though! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

↑ http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/titles.pdf
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Writing Tips

Formatting Titles in Essays

2-minute read
8th May 2018

Handling your own headings is one thing, but how should you write the titles of other works? You need to mark them out somehow, and you have two standard options: italics or quote marks.

This is especially important in academic writing , as you’ll often have to discuss books and papers written by other people. Here, then, are some guidelines you should follow when formatting titles.

When to Use Italics

You can often spot a title from the capitalisation , but we still format titles to distinguish between different types of source. Titles of longer sources, for example, typically use italics:

Here, Kerrang! is italicised because it is the title of a magazine (i.e. a standalone work that is not one part of a larger whole). Other publications and productions that this applies to include:

Academic journals
Newspapers and magazines
Websites and blogs
Films and TV shows
Radio programmes
Plays and other stage shows
Book-length poems
Paintings and other works of art
Music albums

The key here, then, is that italics are used for longer published works .

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When to Use Quote Marks

We use quote marks for the title of anything that doesn’t fit in the list above. Usually, this will be something that is part of a more substantial publication, such as an article from a magazine:

In this case, we see both the magazine title and an article title. Using italics on the former and quote marks on the latter makes it immediately obvious which is which. Other cases where quote marks are required include:

Chapters from books
Academic papers and journal articles
Articles from newspapers and magazines
Single pages from a website or posts from a blog
Individual poems and short stories
Single episodes of a TV series
Single poems from a collection
Songs and other short recordings

In this case, the key is that quote marks are used for shorter works . However, quote marks are also used for unpublished works regardless of length (e.g. a draft manuscript or a PhD dissertation).

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How to Write Your College Essay: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

Getting ready to start your college essay? Your essay is very important to your application — especially if you’re applying to selective colleges.

Become a stronger writer by reviewing your peers’ essays and get your essay reviewed as well for free.

We have regular livestreams during which we walk you through how to write your college essay and review essays live.

College Essay Basics

Just getting started on college essays? This section will guide you through how you should think about your college essays before you start.

Why do essays matter in the college application process?
What is a college application theme and how do you come up with one?
How to format and structure your college essay

Before you move to the next section, make sure you understand:

How a college essay fits into your application

What a strong essay does for your chances

How to create an application theme

Learn the Types of College Essays

Next, let’s make sure you understand the different types of college essays. You’ll most likely be writing a Common App or Coalition App essay, and you can also be asked to write supplemental essays for each school. Each essay has a prompt asking a specific question. Each of these prompts falls into one of a few different types. Understanding the types will help you better answer the prompt and structure your essay.

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Identify how each prompt fits into an essay type

What each type of essay is really asking of you

How to write each essay effectively

The Common App essay

Almost every student will write a Common App essay, which is why it’s important you get this right.

How to Write the Common App Essay
Successful Common App Essay Examples
5 Awesome College Essay Topics + Sample Essays
11 Cliché College Essay Topics + How to Fix Them

How to choose which Common App prompts to answer

How to write a successful Common App essay

What to avoid to stand out to admissions officers

Supplemental Essay Guides

Many schools, especially competitive ones, will ask you to write one or more supplemental essays. This allows a school to learn more about you and how you might fit into their culture.

These essays are extremely important in standing out. We’ve written guides for all the top schools. Follow the link below to find your school and read last year’s essay guides to give you a sense of the essay prompts. We’ll update these in August when schools release their prompts.

See last year’s supplemental essay guides to get a sense of the prompts for your schools.

Essay brainstorming and composition

Now that you’re starting to write your essay, let’s dive into the writing process. Below you’ll find our top articles on the craft of writing an amazing college essay.

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Understand how to write a great hook for your essay

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Editing and polishing your essay

Have a first draft ready? See our top editing tips below. Also, you may want to submit your essay to our free Essay Peer Review to get quick feedback and join a community of other students working on their essays.

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Proofread and edited your essay.

Had someone else look through your essay — we recommend submitting it for a peer review.

Make sure your essay meets all requirements — consider signing up for a free account to view our per-prompt checklists to help you understand when you’re really ready to submit.

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Generate accurate MLA citations for free

Knowledge Base
MLA format for academic papers and essays

MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template

Published on December 11, 2019 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on March 5, 2024 by Jack Caulfield.

The MLA Handbook provides guidelines for creating MLA citations and formatting academic papers. This quick guide will help you set up your MLA format paper in no time.

Start by applying these MLA format guidelines to your document:

Times New Roman 12
1″ page margins
Double line spacing
½” indent for new paragraphs
Title case capitalization for headings

For accurate citations, you can use our free MLA Citation Generator .

Download Word template Open Google Docs template

(To use the Google Docs template, copy the file to your Drive by clicking on ‘file’ > ‘Make a copy’)

How to set up mla format in google docs, header and title, running head, works cited page, creating mla style citations, headings and subheadings, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about mla format.

The header in MLA format is left-aligned on the first page of your paper. It includes

Your full name
Your instructor’s or supervisor’s name
The course name or number
The due date of the assignment

After the MLA header, press ENTER once and type your paper title. Center the title and don’t forget to apply title-case capitalization. Read our article on writing strong titles that are informative, striking and appropriate.

For a paper with multiple authors, it’s better to use a separate title page instead.

At the top of every page, including the first page, you need to include your last name and the page number. This is called the “running head.” Follow these steps to set up the MLA running head in your Word or Google Docs document:

Double-click at the top of a page
Type your last name
Insert automatic page numbering
Align the content to the right

The running head should look like this:

The Works Cited list is included on a separate page at the end of your paper. You list all the sources you referenced in your paper in alphabetical order. Don’t include sources that weren’t cited in the paper, except potentially in an MLA annotated bibliography assignment.

Place the title “Works Cited” in the center at the top of the page. After the title, press ENTER once and insert your MLA references.

If a reference entry is longer than one line, each line after the first should be indented ½ inch (called a hanging indent ). All entries are double spaced, just like the rest of the text.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

Prefer to cite your sources manually? Use the interactive example below to see what the Works Cited entry and MLA in-text citation look like for different source types.

Headings and subheadings are not mandatory, but they can help you organize and structure your paper, especially in longer assignments.

MLA has only a few formatting requirements for headings. They should

Be written in title case
Be left-aligned
Not end in a period

We recommend keeping the font and size the same as the body text and applying title case capitalization. In general, boldface indicates greater prominence, while italics are appropriate for subordinate headings.

Chapter Title

Section Heading

Tip: Both Google Docs and Microsoft Word allow you to create heading levels that help you to keep your headings consistent.

Tables and other illustrations (referred to as “figures”) should be placed as close to the relevant part of text as possible. MLA also provides guidelines for presenting them.

MLA format for tables

Tables are labeled and numbered, along with a descriptive title. The label and title are placed above the table on separate lines; the label and number appear in bold.

A caption providing information about the source appears below the table; you don’t need one if the table is your own work.

Below this, any explanatory notes appear, marked on the relevant part of the table with a superscript letter. The first line of each note is indented; your word processor should apply this formatting automatically.

Just like in the rest of the paper, the text is double spaced and you should use title case capitalization for the title (but not for the caption or notes).

MLA format for figures

Figures (any image included in your paper that isn’t a table) are also labeled and numbered, but here, this is integrated into the caption below the image. The caption in this case is also centered.

The label “Figure” is abbreviated to “Fig.” and followed by the figure number and a period. The rest of the caption gives either full source information, or (as in the example here) just basic descriptive information about the image (author, title, publication year).

Source information in table and figure captions

If the caption of your table or figure includes full source information and that source is not otherwise cited in the text, you don’t need to include it in your Works Cited list.

Give full source information in a caption in the same format as you would in the Works Cited list, but without inverting the author name (i.e. John Smith, not Smith, John).

MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman , since it’s easy to read and installed on every computer. Other standard fonts such as Arial or Georgia are also acceptable. If in doubt, check with your supervisor which font you should be using.

The main guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style are as follows:

Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman
Set 1 inch page margins
Apply double line spacing
Include a four-line MLA heading on the first page
Center the paper’s title
Indent every new paragraph ½ inch
Use title case capitalization for headings
Cite your sources with MLA in-text citations
List all sources cited on a Works Cited page at the end

The fastest and most accurate way to create MLA citations is by using Scribbr’s MLA Citation Generator .

Search by book title, page URL, or journal DOI to automatically generate flawless citations, or cite manually using the simple citation forms.

The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.

This quick guide to MLA style explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

Your instructor requires one, or
Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2024, March 05). MLA Format | Complete Guidelines & Free Template. Scribbr. Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/formatting/

Is this article helpful?

Raimo Streefkerk

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IMAGES

💣 Strong titles for an essay. How to Title an Essay: Tips and Examples
How to Title an Essay: Tips and Examples
How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2023]
How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2023]
How to Title an Essay: Tips and Examples
Proper Essay Format Guide (Updated For 2021)

VIDEO

WRITING AN ESSAY
How to write an essay
GUIDE TO WRITING AN ESSAY📝
How to Write a Great Title B By Ann
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COMMENTS

How to Title an Essay, With Tips and Examples
In MLA format, your essay's title should be in title case. That means every principle word— words that aren't articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or the word "to" paired with an infinitive—is capitalized. The only exception to this is when one of these words is the first or last word in the essay's title.
How to Title an Essay: Tips and Examples
The main goal of a title is to name its paper. There is no need to tell an entire story in the title, or provide any useless details. Sum up your paper in a few words! Another way to do this is to sum up your thesis statement, as it represents the main idea of your essay. Take your thesis and squeeze it into 3-4 words.
Forging good titles in academic writing
Writing effective headings. Although similar, headings are not the same as titles. Headings head paragraphs and help structure a document. Effective headings make your paper easily scannable. Common high level headings in dissertations and research papers are "Methods", "Research results", and "Discussion". Lower level headings are ...
How To Write Titles in Essays (With Tips)
Writing titles in an essay requires attention to detail and an understanding of writing formats. Whether composing the essay's title and subtitles or citing other works, your titling should remain consistent. Essays inspire and inform the reader, and effective titles reflect the mood and purpose. In this article, we discuss how to format titles ...
How to Title an Essay: Examples and Tips
The Catchy Hook: It introduces the topic in the most interesting and creative way. Topic Keywords: It is the 'what' question of your essay. This component of an essay title identifies the concept that you will discuss in your essay. Focus Keywords: It is the 'when' and 'where' question of your essay.
PDF WRITING AN EFFECTIVE TITLE
11. Write a one-word title—the most obvious one possible. 12. Write a less obvious one-word title. 13. Write a two-word title. 14. Write a three-word title. 15. Write a four-word title. 16. Write a five-word title. 17. Think of a familiar saying, or the title of a book, song, or movie, that might fit your essay. 18. Take the title you just ...
How to Title an Essay
Don't get too personal - Your title should entice the reader. Whatever strong arguments you want to make should be made in the body of the essay. ‍. Make sure your title reflects the content of the essay - This often happens when the title is written first and then the essay.
PDF Writing a Great Title
Writing a Great Title. Titles are important for your reader. • A title contributes to the argument developed in the rest of the essay. By identifying the topic, argument, and method of the essay, a strong title begins the work of informing and/or convincing readers. • A strong title indicates to your instructor/marker that you have ...
How to Write Essay Titles and Headers
If your title is boring, readers will not want to keep reading. Offer them something that will get attention. Bad Example: How Consumers are Wrongly Spending Money. Good Example: The Seven Million Dollar Mistake. Be unique. Everyone may be writing a college admissions essay, but don't title yours: My College Admissions Essay. No matter what ...
Writing an effective title
Write a title beginning with On (like "On the Titles of Essays"). 10. Write a title that is a lie about the essay. (You probably won't use this one, but it might stimulate your thinking.) 11. Write a one-word title—the most obvious one possible. 12. Write a less obvious one-word title. 13. Write a two-word title.
How to Title an Essay? The Complete Guide to Essay Title
Below are the main components of your essay's title: Topic keywords - the "core" of your essay. This component identifies concepts you'll be exploring. Focus keywords - the "where/when" of your essay. Together with topic keywords, these are vital for your headline and provide more info that makes it professional.
How to Write a Great College Application Essay Title
Many writers—both novices and experts—have a difficult time coming up with a title that works well. Write your essay first and then, once your ideas have truly taken shape, go back and craft the title. Also, seek help with your title. A brainstorming session with friends can often generate far better titles than a solitary session of ...
How to Create an Essay Title: 7 Best Practices
5. Keep it simple. Don't use fancy or complicated words that might confuse your readers, instead go for straight-to-the-point words and avoid adding any unnecessary details in the title of your essay. Pick out important and useful keywords from your essay to frame a great title. 6. Look for creative quotes.
The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay
The essay writing process consists of three main stages: Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline. Writing: Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion. Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling ...
How to Write the Perfect Essay Title
Focus on the type of essay you are writing - Decide on the type of essay you are going to produce. This is important as, for example, a critical essay can be very different from a narrative essay or a research essay. Next, jot down your ideas related to the main theme of the essay. This allows the ideas you have to help generate a title.
How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2024]
The most straightforward way of creating an essay title is summarizing. Sum up the whole paper in one sentence, focus on the central idea, cut the details, and use it as the title. Receive a plagiarism-free paper. tailored to your instructions. Cut 20% off your first order!
MLA Titles
Punctuation in MLA titles. Use the same punctuation as appears in the source title. However, if there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space, even if different (or no) punctuation is used in the source. Example of a work with a subtitle. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.
Get Creative: Learn How to Title an Essay That Stands Out
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.
How to Write a Strong Title for an Argumentative Essay: 14 Steps
5. Make a pun or use a famous saying. One way you can lead into your essay is to play with your words. For instance, make a pun. Another way is to use a famous quote, poem, or song to lead into your title. [6] As an example, a pun you could use would be "Use Your Backbone to Make Soup."
Formatting Titles in Essays (Italics or Quote Marks ...
When to Use Italics. You can often spot a title from the capitalisation, but we still format titles to distinguish between different types of source. Titles of longer sources, for example, typically use italics: Here, Kerrang! is italicised because it is the title of a magazine (i.e. a standalone work that is not one part of a larger whole).
PDF Strategies for Essay Writing
oConsideration of counterarguments (what Sandel might say in response to this section of your argument) Each argument you will make in an essay will be different, but this strategy will often be a useful first step in figuring out the path of your argument. Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove themlater.
How to Write Your College Essay: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide
Next, let's make sure you understand the different types of college essays. You'll most likely be writing a Common App or Coalition App essay, and you can also be asked to write supplemental essays for each school. Each essay has a prompt asking a specific question. Each of these prompts falls into one of a few different types.
How to Structure an Essay
The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay. General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body. The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis.
MLA Format
This quick guide will help you set up your MLA format paper in no time. Start by applying these MLA format guidelines to your document: Times New Roman 12. 1″ page margins. Double line spacing. ½" indent for new paragraphs. Title case capitalization for headings. Download Word template Open Google Docs template.

How to Title an Essay - A Detailed Guide

Why is it Important to Have a Good Essay Title?

What are the Basic Components of an Essay Title?

How To Make A Good Title For An Essay?

Write Essay First, Title in the Last

Utilize Your Thesis

Take into Account the Tone of Your Paper

Use Relevant Keywords

Get Help from Online Tools

Essay Titles in Different Formats

Essay Title APA Format

Essay Title MLA Format

Essay Title Chicago Format

MLA Format for a Book or Film Title Within the Essay

AMA Format (American Medical Association)

What are the Characteristics of a Good Essay Title?

Additional Rules To Create a Good Essay Title

Some Interesting Example Essay Titles

How to Title an Essay About Yourself - Examples

How to Title an Essay for College - Examples

Example Argumentative Essay Titles

Example Research Paper Titles

Example Descriptive Essay Titles

Keep reading

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How to Choose a Good Title for an Essay

How to Come up With a Title for an Essay

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Common Titling Mistakes

Improved Essay Titles

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Essay Title Ideas

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