Introductions and Conclusions
Introduced| English |
|---|
| conclusion/kənˈkluːʒn/ |
| introduction/ˌɪntrəˈdʌkʃn/ |
| unified end/ˈjuːnɪfaɪd end/ |
The two positions a reader remembers
- Whatever else a reader forgets, they remember how a text opened and how it ended.
- Both positions therefore carry more weight per sentence than anywhere else.
- This topic is about what the CED permits each of them to do.
The opening greets the reader; the conclusion should not invite them back to the beginning.
What an introduction does
- The introduction 引言 introduces the subject and/or the writer to the audience.
- It may orient the reader, establish the exigence and context, and gain attention.
- Note what is optional: an introduction need not state the thesis.
An introduction must state the thesis.
It may; the CED lists orienting the reader, establishing exigence and gaining attention as its jobs.
What a conclusion does
- The conclusion 结论 brings the argument to a unified end 统一的收束.
- It may present the thesis, explain its significance, or situate the argument in a broader context.
- "Unified" is the key word — a conclusion shows the parts were one argument.
Which job is this opening or ending doing?
Match each move to the job the CED permits it.
A conclusion brings the argument to a ____ end.
"Unified" means the conclusion shows the parts were one argument.
Select all the jobs the CED permits a conclusion.
New evidence belongs in the body, where it can be developed.
An introduction is not required to state the thesis, and many published arguments do not. Reading an unfamiliar text on the assumption that the thesis sits at the end of paragraph one will regularly find the wrong sentence.
Match each opening move to what it reveals about the text.
What an opening chooses to do describes the audience it was written for.
Analysing a real opening
- Ask which of the permitted jobs this opening actually does.
- An opening that names the exigence tells you the text is responding to something specific.
- An opening that establishes the writer tells you the audience had reason to doubt them.
The weakest conclusion is one that...
It uses the most memorable position for the least new information.
The weakest conclusion
- The weakest conclusion re-lists what the essay already said.
- The reader has just read it; repeating it uses the most memorable position for the least new information.
- Say instead what the argument means, or what it obliges.
A column opens with the date a factory closed and nothing else. That single sentence does two of the permitted jobs at once: it establishes the exigence and the context, and it gains attention by refusing to explain itself.
An introduction introduces the subject and/or writer and may establish exigence and context — it need not state the thesis. A conclusion brings the argument to a unified end and may present the thesis, explain its significance, or situate it more broadly. Restating earns least.