Read the introductory paragraph from a student's Hero's Journey narrative. Making their first steps on the red, dusty rock, they were surprised by the lack of heat they felt. They knew all there was to know about this place—its distance from the earth, its weather, and every living thing hiding in each crevice of its surface and core. Yet, being here was different. And then they saw something coming towards them, and it looked a lot like . . . them, actually. How could that be?

Which introductory sentence would make the most effective hook for the paragraph?

a.
“Not quite the warm welcome I was expecting,” Brett said to his fellow soldier Marena, trying to mask his nervousness.
b.
Taking a look around, Brett said something funny to his fellow soldier Marena in an attempt to seem less worried.
c.
Aristotle once said that, "a man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall."
d.
Brett and Marena are two soldiers starting to explore a new environment together, and they are feeling uneasy about it.