Introductions & Conclusions

Created by Judika Webb,MA Professional Writing & Rhetoric

Begin with a Lead

• The purpose of an introductory lead is to immediately grab the readers’ attention with a dynamic, interesting, and engaging hook into your more formal essay. Leads comprise the first portion of your introductory paragraph or exist as a paragraph or paragraphs before the introduction. In any case, the lead should blend into your essay to smoothly and gracefully guide the reader in.

• Narrative Lead: story or anecdote before information to interest readers

All you can do is sit there and watch as your ship lurches, signaling the exit of hyperspace. Suddenly your ship is put into the middle of a fierce intergalactic battle. You glance quickly behind you before your targeting system picks up a stray enemy fighter. Now just a hundred yards in front of you is your quarry. With a sudden burst of adrenaline your heart begins to beat faster and faster as you wait for the targeting crosshairs to turn red. Now just moments away from turning your enemy into disarranged particles of carbon, a warning light flashes. You turn around just in time to see a missile of another enemy fighter slam into the right engine of your craft. You wait for the next screen to appear, and you press “New Game.”“Okay,” you remark, “let’s try this level again.”[Video games help to escape and manage stress especially for kids. One study suggests that…]

• Quotation Lead: beginning with a conversation or statement

“Wrestling is a worthless sport!” cried my mother. I wrestle for the school’s team and it is important to me. Athletics are a big thing at my school but some parents, like my mom, think the money would be better spent on computers for the classrooms. I disagree. Being on an athletic team has taught me just as much as being a student.

• Question Lead: evokes curiosity by asking a question

Supposedly, Albert Einstein failed math in fifth grade. How did he become a famous scientist if he could not pass math? Just because you do not do well in school does not mean you are not smart.

• Statistical Lead: starts with facts or figures to impress the reader

Child abuse is becoming one of the fastest growing acts of violence in the United States. According to the American Humane Association, 1.4 million cases of child abuse were reported in the U.S. in 1982. Nearly 1/5 of these victims were teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. (Written by an eighth grader)

• Mystery Lead: keeps the reader in suspense by leaving out informationI was embarrassed. That’s the only emotion in the English language to describe a scenario that I shamefully remember as The Ballpark Incident. (Written by a middle school student)

Tense, and white to the lips, Angie Lowe stood in the door of her cabin with a double-barreled shotgun in her hands. Beside the door was a Winchester ’73, and on the table inside the house were two Walker Colts. The Gift of Cochise, Louis L’Amour

• Descriptive Lead: gives the reader a visual idea by using details

Leaping into the air and grasping the creature in her paws, the cat lands on all four legs victoriously. But this is no ordinary cat. This is a cat named Sunny. Sunny is my one year old kitten that is full of enough energy to pull a [tractor trailer] across the country.

(Written by a middle school student)

It was a dark and stormy night… (A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle)

• Imagine Lead: the writer asks the readers to put themselves in the situation

Imagine this, you are sitting at home and the next thing you know you get this disease and your blood starts to clot. In other words, you freeze, right there. This is what happens in Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain. (Written by a middle school student)

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me,… The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

Continue with History of the Topic

History used in a Compare/Contrast Essay of Australia and New Zealand.

Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to an independent republic, was defeated in 1999. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand withdrew from a numb...

Or Background of the topic

Essay on Apple Juice with background information and statement of purpose

Pectinase is used in the commercial production of apple juice. This essay will explore how the use of the biological enzyme pectinase speeds up the production of apple juice. It will also determine what the optimum temperature of the biological enzyme pectinase is by researching the enzyme pectinase and its uses in the commercial production of apple juice.

Provide Thesis Statement listing main

pointsAlways write a clear thesis statement at the end of your introduction. Usually this should be the last sentence of your introduction. Make sure to list the main points in your thesis statement in the order you will present them in the body of your paper.

CONCLUSIONS

• Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to summarize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note.

Strategies to Conclude your EssayPlay the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting, ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it. Here’s how it might go:•You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass.Friend: So what?You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen.Friend: Why should anybody care?You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.

• Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.

• Synthesize, don’t summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it all together.

• Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper.

• Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help her to apply your info and ideas to her own life or to see the broader implications.

• Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.