working title essay

The Safety Record of Electric Toothbrushes The Surprising Benefits of Electric Toothbrushes Manual or Electric: Which Toothbrush is Better at Fighting Plague?

Of course this is all very basic yet, but it’s a start. And who knows—perhaps this outlandish example may come in handy when your writing skills land you a job in advertising…

Focusing Your Title

Once you’ve figured out a few key words, the next step is to make your title as specific as possible.

Here are some sample titles that sound dramatic, but are lacking in detail:

Hitler’s Final Days David Livingstone on Safari Decriminalizing Marijuana Fundraising for Terrorism

Each of these titles can be more specific:

Fear and Paranoia in the Führerbunker : Tracing Adolf Hitler’s Final Days. David Livingstone’s Impact on Christian Missionary Activity in Africa The Financial Impact of Decriminalizing Marijuana Fundraising for Terrorism: How the Columbian Drug Trade Benefits Rebel Groups.

Always ask yourself if your title sufficiently captures the ideas in your paper.

Formatting Titles

You should capitalize key words in your title. As a general guideline, we provide here the MLA rules for capitalization (also covered here ).

According to the MLA rules, you do not need to capitalize the following parts of speech unless they are the first word in your title or come right after the colon:

The Creative Touch

In academic writing, the emphasis is on being informative. Since you’re writing for a general audience (and not just your instructor), try make your title as clear as possible.

In a less formal context, you can be more dramatic or enigmatic. Whatever you do, though, avoid corny and melodramatic titles such as the following:

Everlasting Love To Be or Not to Be Into the Mist

Of course, creative titles are often on the cusp of being lame, so it’s a matter of knowing your audience and acting accordingly.

If you’re feeling experimental, you could use a question as a title:

Why Can’t We Impeach the President? Whatever Happened to the Novella?

Be careful though: using a question will make your tone more casual.

Using a Colon

Academic titles often employ a colon to connect ideas and phrases. The usual method is to insert a creative phrase or short quotation before the colon:

Suspiciously Delicious: A Brief History of Poison “These Romans are Crazy”: The Representation of Julius Caesar in Asterix

While such introductory phrases add flavour, they are easily overused. That’s why some people consider this use of the colon an abomination. Be careful, then, not to abuse this device.

Remove Metadiscourse

The term metadiscourse refers to language that describes the process of thinking and writing. Often you don’t need to draw attention to the act of doing research:

With metadiscourse: My Meditations on the Effects of Mediated Bargaining at Three Carefully Selected Australian Universities. Without Metadiscourse: The Effects of Mediated Bargaining at Three Australian Universities

The exception is if you’re trying to be clever:

An Analysis of Dialysis: Recent Advances in the Treatment of Kidney Failure.

Of course, such titles can easily seem corny.

Crafting a good title is not easy. It’s often best to add the title at the very end, once you have a clear idea what you’ve actually been meaning to say. So as you put the final touches on your essay, spend some time crafting a great title. That way you will make a great first impression.

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12:20 Literary Essay Titles

Like thesis statements, titles are a small but important part of your literary analysis essay. Why?

And, like your thesis statement, your title will likely change as you compose and revise your essay. It should reflect the topic, purpose, and content of your essay. It may hint at the thesis statement, but likely won't give it all away.

Literary Title Basics

Titles are a creative subgenre of the literary analysis essay. There is a lot of creative freedom in crafting them. But there are some common features of effective titles.

Let's start with what not to do when crafting a title. While it can be difficult to determine what makes a good title, it can help to determine some "bad" titles first. And by bad, I don't mean the title has a curly mustache and ties innocent victims to railroad tracks while laughing "mwahahaha!"; I mean they may not quite fit with reader expectations. That is, a "bad" title does not do justice to your essay.

The Missing Title

Example:

Why it stinks: titles help readers know what to expect. Without one, readers are not sure what to expect from the essay. They may feel the essay it starting off on the wrong foot because it's not following the expectations of the literary analysis genre. In terms of technical issues with missing titles, when it comes to publication, a title is necessary to catalogue a work of literary criticism. Without a title, readers won't be able to find your essay in the databases! (not to mention the essay probably wouldn't be published in the first place!)

The Lazy Title

Example 1: "Literary Analysis Essay"

Why it stinks: while it is better than a missing title, there are millions of essays with this same title. It's so general as to be basically meaningless. Readers know your essay is a literary analysis; what they want to know is what kind of literary analysis essay you're writing.

Example 2: "Literary Analysis of Hamlet "

Why it stinks: This is better than "Literary Analysis Essay" because at least it tells us the text we will be reading about. However, this title doesn't tell us anything about what aspect of Hamlet you're writing about. Plus, there are likely many, many, many essays with the same title. You want your essay to stand out!

Ya Basic Title

Example 1: " Hamlet as Tragedy"

Why it stinks: this is much better than The Missing Title or The Lazy Title , because we know what text you're examining ( Hamlet ) and we have an aspect of that text that you are focusing on (Tragedy as genre). However, there is nothing new or interesting here for readers. Readers know that Hamlet is a Tragedy. This is well-accepted among scholars. When writing a literary analysis essay, you're trying to create new knowledge and tread new ground. Be more specific!

Title Examples

So now that we have covered some "bad" titles, let's "Read Like a Writer" and think about what makes for an effective essay title. To do this, we will examine some essay titles written by literary scholars.

Exercise $\PageIndex{1}$

Which of these titles looks the most interesting to you? What makes it an interesting or effective title?

Regardless of which you chose, each of these titles gives you a strong sense of what topic(s) and text(s) will be the focus of the essay. They are specific enough to be unique. Each names the specific text, topic, genre, and/or time period. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness " tells you will be will be examining Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It also tells us that this will likely be an exploration of racism (topic); more specifically, racism in Conrad's depiction (image) of Africa. It hints at the thesis by presenting the start of its main argument (Conrad's images of Africa are racist). If you chose "Shut up in prose: gender and genre in Austen's Juvenilia", we know the text to be examined is Jane Austen's writings from when she was a teenager (juvenilia). We know the topics will be gender, genre, and prose. And we may have a hint of a thesis statement with "Shut up", which piques our curiosity because it is a brash and potentially offensive command that we can imagine will likely connect to gender representations. Lastly, "Superhero from the Margins: Darna and the Hybridity of the Filipino Superhero Genre" lets us know we will be examining a particular character (Darna) in the genre of the Superhero. It seems as if the topic will be "Hybridity" and marginalization.

Title Formula

If you're having a tough time, you can use one of the following formulas

How to Title an Essay, With Tips and Examples

If you read this blog regularly, you’ll notice something about our blog posts’ titles: They all summarize what their post is about. This is so you know exactly what you’ll find in the post, so if you’re looking for specific tips, you know exactly which post to read.

An essay title does the same thing. There are a lot of similarities between essays and blog posts , and one of those similarities is that for the title to be effective, it needs to be concise and clear. It should also contain one or more keywords, which tells readers the essay’s main topic. Write papers with confidence Grammarly helps you make the grade Write with Grammarly

What is the purpose of an essay title?

An essay title tells readers what your essay is about. This gives them a heads up on what to expect from the essay and, if they’re reading it to conduct their own research, whether it’s relevant to their area of study.

Ideally, an essay title also catches readers’ attention and stokes their curiosity, prompting them to read your work. How important it is to achieve this depends on the kind of essay you’re writing—if it’s an assigned essay and your instructor has to read it, an engaging title isn’t your top priority. But if you’re submitting your essay to a contest, as part of an application to college or graduate school, or pitching it for publication, it needs a catchy, intriguing title because the title is the first part of your work the editor or admissions committee will see. And depending on the title’s catchiness and other circumstances of your submission, it could be the deciding factor in whether they read your essay.

As we mentioned above, a strong essay title gives a clear preview of what the reader will find in your writing . You don’t have to give it all away, but it should act as a general briefing on what to expect from your work and make them want to continue reading it.

What are the rules for essay titles?

Guidelines for essay titles in mla format.

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. Here’s a quick example:

Looking Through the Rear Window: Perspective in Hitchcock’s Films

Guidelines for essay titles in APA format

Effects of Blue Light on Boston Lettuce Crops

See how straightforward this essay title is? You know exactly what the essay is going to be about: How exposure to blue light impacts growing Boston lettuce crops. Keep in mind that APA format is typically used for scientific and technical work, so it’s unlikely you’ll use figurative language in your title.

Guidelines for essay titles in Chicago Manual of Style format

Chicago style also requires that essay titles be in title case. Other than that, Chicago style doesn’t have specific guidelines for what a title should or shouldn’t include. Here is an example of an essay title in Chicago style:

2021 Returns: What We Projected vs. Actual Returns

How to brainstorm your essay title

When you’re brainstorming for your essay, think about the potential titles you can choose. Jot down your keyword and the kind of essay you’re writing, such as an analytical or compare-and-contrast essay . This won’t only help you determine an effective title, but it can also help you determine the best way to structure your essay .

Stay away from punny or otherwise funny titles unless you’re writing a humorous or personal piece—your creative writing class is probably the only course where that kind of title is appropriate.

Here’s what your essay title should include

Let’s take another look at the example essay titles from the section above. In the first example, Looking Through the Rear Window: Perspective in Hitchcock’s Films , we have the following elements:

Now take a look at the example APA title essay, Effects of Blue Light on Boston Lettuce Crops. This one is more straightforward and technical. But still, it’s got the key elements that make up a strong essay title:

Additionally, notice how the tone is different from the tone in the MLA essay title. This essay title feels more objective and detached from its subject, giving a preview of the tone the reader will find in the essay.

What not to include in your essay title

It’s usually best to stay away from negative or controversial terms. Do this even if your essay is taking a stand against something or arguing that another position is harmful. Instead, reframe your position using neutral or positive words to avoid potentially offending a reader or undermining your own position by coming across as aggressive or bitter. Compare these two essay titles:

See how the second option, the one that avoids negative language, sounds more engaging and promises a more resolution-oriented read? Remember, your reader is supposed to draw their own conclusions from your essay—don’t attempt to do their work for them by telling them what to think in your title.

As you brainstorm titles, write them down so you can revisit them after you complete your first draft. Once you have a finished draft , it can be a lot easier to determine the title that fits your essay best.

Essay title examples

Take a look at these example essay titles and take note of how the tones and vocabulary vary between essay types. A title that’s perfect for a persuasive essay might not be right for a college application or expository essay . And similarly, a title that works for a comparative essay might be too lackluster for a personal or argumentative essay .

Personal essays

Why I’ll Never Wear a Blue Baseball Cap Again

How 20 Years in Corporate America Made Me a Better Parent

Analytical essays

What is Love? How Romantic and Modern Artists’ Answers Differ

Three Reasons Why We Won’t See a Repeat of the 2008 Bubble

Argumentative essays

The Correlation between New School Buildings and Higher Test Scores—Three Stats You Can’t Ignore

Are We Using the Right Success Metrics for Students?

Persuasive essays

Four Ways Free Wi-Fi Will Boost the City’s Economy

Unless We Take Action, This Heat Wave Is Just the Beginning

Compare-and-contrast essays

Dynamite, Profit, and the Pursuit of Power: Chasing White Whales in Moby Dick and Jaws

Outdoor Growth Patterns of Shiitake and Lion’s Mane Mushrooms

College application essays

What Scooping Ice Cream Taught Me about Human Nature

Dancing and Math Are More Similar than You Realize

Essay title FAQs

What is an essay title.

An essay title concisely states what an essay is about.

Why is an essay title important?

An essay title is important because it accomplishes a few things:

What should you consider when creating an essay title?

When creating an essay title, think about the essay’s purpose. Then, explain the essay’s subject and purpose in a brief clause or short sentence, making it appropriately intriguing to draw readers’ attention.

How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2023]

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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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:

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:

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.

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.

Just $13.00 $10.40/page , and you can get an custom-written academic paper according to your instructions

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:

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.

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.

Narrative Essay Titles.

Persuasive Essay Titles.

Cause and Effect Essay Titles.

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.

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outlandish example may come in handy when your writing skills land you a job in advertising…
12:20 Literary Essay Titles
Titles are a creative subgenre of the literary analysis essay. ... a title is necessary to catalogue a work of literary criticism.
How to Title an Essay, With Tips and Examples
Ideally, an essay title also catches readers' attention and stokes their curiosity, prompting them to read your work. How important it is to
How to Title an Essay: Guide with Creative Examples [2023]
Will they decide to continue reading your work? Not likely. Comprehensive. A good title for an essay is the one that covers the entire topic
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Essay Titles. Writing Titles. Titles create the first impression of an essay: • It is important that your title creates interest and draws readers into your
Writing a Great Title
and method of the essay, a strong title begins the work of informing and/or convincing
Composing an Effective Title
work, it is conventional to include both the author's name and the title of the.
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View 6 qouestion.docx from ENC 1102 at Broward College. 1. What is the working title for your essay? 2. Explain your interest in this topic.