Finding the title can sometimes be the hardest part of writing an entire essay. Try the following techniques to find an interesting title for your thesis or essay.
Steps
Method 1 of 1: Find an Interesting Title for your Thesis
Step 1. Write your essay first
It is very difficult to summarize the core of the essay, unless you have already written a draft; however, since the essays often turn out to be different from what was planned, it is best to keep the title last.
Step 2. Establish the essay's theme
The titles are designed to allow the reader to understand in advance whether the content of the work will interest him or not. This means that the title will need to be specific enough to prepare the reader for your topic, and not just some vague general theme (e.g. death, symbolism, etc.).
Step 3. Select your audience
You should have done this when writing the essay, but think about your audience again when choosing the title. The title may change depending on the audience. Put yourself in your audience's shoes: what would prompt you to read your essay? Clarity? The brevity? A sense of humor?
Step 4. Reread your essay to find the right language
You may be able to find a word or phrase in your essay that captures your thesis (or theme) and your audience's imagination at the same time. The conclusion, for example, should already have done its part in condensing the core of the thesis. In fact, borrowing a sentence from the conclusion and using it as a title could give your essay a nice "closing circle" effect, and giving the reader a sense of completeness.
You can also try picking a few keywords from your essay's topic and looking for them on some citation search site (like Bartlett's quotes). If you find a relevant quote, choose a snippet and use it as a title
Step 5. Consider incorporating an important sentence from your sources
If the author of the book, work, or any other work you are referring to, has already said it better than you can ever do, don't worry and use a quote fragment in your title. However, do not let this solution stand on its own: modify the quote so that the purpose of your essay is evident (for example: "Pushed back relentlessly: retrospective narrative in The Great Gatsby").
Advice
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Don't use too many words. If you can summarize the theme in 4 words instead of 6, choose the title of 4 (but don't sacrifice a perfect interesting title, just because there is a short but more boring version).
On the other hand, if you are writing a formal research thesis, make the title as informative as possible, even if it should seem a little wordy
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Unless required, do not use too scientific language ("Life span of a South American tree frog" may be more specific, but far less interesting than "Life of a frog").
To get the best of both worlds, don't be afraid to use the subtitle. If you have an interesting title, but it seems to you that it doesn't give enough information, use it anyway but make it clear with a subtitle (for example: "Life of a frog. Lifespan of a South American tree frog")
- When you think about your essay, does a TV show or a song come to mind? If so, try to imitate the title of the TV show or select a phrase from the song to use as the title.
- To spice up a boring title, first put an interesting phrase or quote in the colon or title (for example: "The stronger sex? A comparison between the roles of women in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger").
Warnings
- If you are writing an essay about a book, avoid using the name of the book as a title (for example, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is not a very attractive title).
- Unless you value the title extra, avoid words like "you", "me", "us", which are informal and can be too youthful.
- Make sure your headline isn't offensive. Don't use profane or vulgar language. You need to give the potential reader the best possible image of yourself.
- Make the title as short and descriptive as possible.
- Don't worry too much about finding the perfect title. The most important thing is the content of the essay.
