Read the following introductory paragraph, which is missing a hook:
New research on how the mind works suggests that doodling improves memory. In the study, a long, dull phone call was played for two groups of people. One group was told to doodle while they listened and the other was asked to just listen. Afterwards, tests showed that doodlers remembered a lot more of the conversation than those who only listened. The researchers concluded that listening by itself is not enough to keep your mind from wandering during a boring task. Doodling keeps your brain busy, and that helps you stay focused and attentive.
Which option below makes the most effective hook?
The dictionary defines doodling as the act of absentminded scribbling on paper.
Many of history’s most famous thinkers were also known for doodling, from artists and inventors to presidents and poets. Da Vinci doodled. Jefferson, Lincoln, and Kennedy: all doodled. Ronald Reagan. Picasso and Walt Disney, too. Even John Lennon doodled. Who didn’t doodle might be easier to list!
I think I owe approximately two hundred apologies. As a teacher, I’ve given at least that many students the skunk eye because I thought they weren’t learning when I saw them doodling during my lectures. Was I ever wrong!
Have you ever heard that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste?”