Writing Introductions and Conclusions · 写引言与结论
Short, load-bearing, and then out of the way
- In a timed essay, every sentence spent on the introduction is a sentence not spent on evidence.
- Four of the six rubric points live in the body.
- So the introduction should do its job in two or three sentences and stop.
A timed introduction that starts with the history of everything leaves the body waiting outside.
简短、承重,然后让开
- 在限时写作中,花在引言上的每一句,都是没有花在证据上的一句。
- 六分中有四分在主体部分。
- 因此引言应当用两三句话完成它的工作,然后停下。
限时作文的开头若先讲“从古至今”，正文只好在门外等候。
A longer introduction generally improves a timed AP essay. · 在限时的 AP 写作中,更长的引言通常会带来提升。
Four of the six points live in the body; sentences spent on the opening are taken from evidence. · 六分中有四分在主体部分;花在开篇上的句子是从证据那里拿走的。
A working introduction
- One sentence positioning the subject — enough context that the claim makes sense.
- One sentence stating a defensible thesis that responds to the prompt.
- Optionally one more, if the shape of your reasoning is genuinely load-bearing.
一个可用的引言
- 一句为主题定位——足够的语境,使主张说得通。
- 一句陈述针对题目的可辩护论点。
- 如果你的推理形状确实起结构作用,可选地再加一句。
What to cut
- Cut the general opening — "Throughout history, humans have..." says nothing and costs a sentence.
- Cut the announcement of intent — "In this essay I will argue..." is a label, not an argument.
- Cut the definition of a word nobody disputes.
要删掉什么
- 删掉泛泛的开场——"纵观历史,人类一直……"什么也没说,却占掉一句。
- 删掉意图声明——"在本文中我将论证……"是标签,不是论证。
- 删掉对一个无人争议之词的定义。
Write an opening and an ending that earn their place · 写出配得上自己位置的开头与结尾
Neither paragraph exists to be present — ask what a reader gains from it that they did not have. · 这两段都不是为了"有"而存在——要问读者从中得到了此前没有的什么。
"In this essay I will argue that..." is best described as... · "在本文中我将论证……"最恰当的描述是……
It costs a sentence the body needed and takes no position of its own. · 它占掉了主体部分所需要的一句,而自身没有表明任何立场。
Select all · 所有 the openings this lesson says to cut. · 选出本课所说应当删掉的所有开篇。
Positioning the subject is the one opening job worth a sentence. · 为主题定位,是唯一值得花一句话去做的开篇工作。
"In this essay I will argue that..." earns nothing. It is a label announcing an argument rather than making one, and in a timed essay it costs a sentence that four of the six rubric points needed.
"在本文中我将论证……"得不到分。它是宣告论证的标签,而不是作出论证,而在限时写作中,它占掉了六分中四分所需要的那一句。
A strong conclusion restates the thesis in language you could not have used in the ____. · 有力的结论会用你在 ____ 中不可能使用的措辞重述论点。
The language is earned by the argument the essay has just made. · 这些措辞是由文章刚刚作出的论证所赢得的。
The conclusion worth writing
- Restate the thesis in language you could not have used in the introduction, because the argument had not been made yet.
- Or say what follows from it — its significance, or the wider question it belongs to.
- Either is stronger than a summary, and neither takes more than two sentences.
值得写的结论
- 用你在引言里不可能使用的措辞重述论点,因为那时论证尚未作出。
- 或者说出由它推出什么——它的重要性,或它所属的更大问题。
- 两者都强于概括,而且都不需要超过两句话。
Match each test to what it reveals. · 把每项检验与其揭示的内容配对。
Each test removes something and asks what was actually holding the essay together. · 每项检验都删去一样东西,并追问真正把文章连在一起的是什么。
A test for both
- Delete your introduction and read from the first body paragraph. Is anything genuinely lost?
- Delete your conclusion and stop at the last body paragraph. Does it end or just stop?
- Whatever was genuinely lost is what those paragraphs should contain — and nothing else.
对两者的一个检验
- 删掉你的引言,从第一个主体段落读起。是否真的损失了什么?
- 删掉你的结论,停在最后一个主体段落。它是收束了,还是只是停住了?
- 真正损失掉的东西,才是那两段应当包含的内容——除此之外别无其他。
A conclusion that earns: "The policy is not failing to measure its success — it is succeeding at measuring the wrong thing, which is why more of it will not help." That sentence could not have opened the essay, because the argument had not yet been made.
一个能得分的结论:*"这项政策并不是未能衡量自己的成功——它是成功地衡量了错误的东西,这正是加大力度也无济于事的原因。"*这句话不可能作为文章的开头,因为那时论证尚未作出。
Keep the introduction to two or three sentences: position the subject and state a defensible thesis. Cut general openings, announcements of intent and undisputed definitions. Make the conclusion restate the thesis in earned language or say what follows from it.
把引言控制在两三句:为主题定位并陈述可辩护的论点。删掉泛泛的开场、意图声明与无人争议的定义。让结论用已被赢得的措辞重述论点,或说出由它推出什么。