English 1302 Online

In the Beginning . . .
By now you should be familiar with the traditional "thesis-support" essay, often introduced as the "five-paragraph essay" with an introductory paragraph, a three-paragraph body, and a concluding paragraph. Whether five paragraphs or five hundred in length, the "thesis-support" paper is probably the most familiar essay pattern to most college students.

For the introduction, you learned that the thesis sentence (or "controlling statement") comes at the end of the paragraph. It is introduced by an effective title. Following the title, in the opening of the introductory paragraph, an interest device of some sort--a rhetorical question, catchy claim or startling statement, an emotional appeal, an anecdote, or whatever--that triggers the interest of the reader and provides transition to the thesis.

In the Beginning . . . (Revisited)
It may come as a surprise to note that not all effective expository compositions need to follow the traditional "thesis-support" outline; that, in fact, many academic papers do not begin with a fully developed introductory paragraph (at least like the one described above).

The conventional introductory paragraph presupposes an uninterested or uncommitted audience who need to be stimulated to accept a thesis sentence. But how do you begin a composition for the enthusiastic audience already "members of the choir," so to speak? Most business correspondences--memos, short informal reports, proposals, etc.--will begin with a sentence or two that states the proposal, the conclusion, the objective, or the request--or the "thesis," if you will--with no background or context information at the beginning.

In short, it is not always appropriate to begin with an interest device, and particularly in short academic papers--essays addressing, for example, a single source--the first paragraph may look very different. Below is an example of an opening paragraph for a paper that will analyze an argument addressed in a book review. Note that the opening paragraph reproduced here introduces the article under consideration, the main idea of the book under review, and a citation of both authors (the writer of the review and the author of the book being reviewed). The paragraph closes with an analysis of the reviewer's assessment of the text:

In his essay, "Author Affirms Campus Hypocrisy," in the April 22, 1991, issue of Insight, Stephen Goode reviews Dinesh D'Souza's Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus. The book, notes Goode, addresses the negative effects on higher education of "affirmative action plus all it has given birth to on college campuses: falling standards of student achievement, the loud, unceasing denunciation of Western civilization, the special consideration demanded by groups that call themselves oppressed--minorities, women, and homosexuals." Goode's review is sympathetic to D'Souza's attack on the "politically correct" movement in American universities, and he argues on behalf of D'Souza's thesis.

This paragraph is not unlike those found at the beginning of many academic papers--student papers that address very narrow topics about a secondary source (book, journal article, magazine article, etc.) That is, the paragraph is a "context" or "background" statement which helps to orient the reader to the task at hand rather than to "sell a thesis" as you find in the traditional introductory paragraph.

Longer Introductions
Of course, introductions in monographs (long essays) or book-length studies may run for a chapter or even longer. Even in those cases, however, they are frequently functioning to provide background rather to promote a thesis.

Introductions in "Exploratory" Essays
"Exploratory" essays, sometimes referred to as "non-deductive" essays or "inductive" essays, engage the reader in an analysis of a subject, and from that analysis a conclusion is derived as a kind of natural consequence or obvious point drawn from the exploration. In the case of the "exploratory essay," the introduction functions to stimulate reader interest in the broad subject area or related topic rather than in a position statement or "thesis." The "thesis" or major point of the exploratory essay will appear at the end of the essay--in the last paragraph or section of the paper, sometimes as the very last sentence itself (as often found in magazine editorials).

"In conclusion, just let me say . . ."
Just as important as the introduction (and often as frustrating to compose), concluding paragraphs function to help frame an essay, in the case of a conclusion, of course, to create a sense of closure to a discussion.

When many students think of a conclusion, they think of summary. While summary is a valuable pattern of development for conclusions (as well as other places in academic essays), summaries are not always appropriate. In fact, several other developmental patters offer writers a variety of approaches to closing essays.

Alternatives to Summary
Description
One alternative to summary is description. The conclusion can illuminate the final or finished product at the end of a process, or it might be used to reveal the fullest presentation of a concept that has been evolving, step by step, throughout the composition.

Projection
Another alternative to summary is projection, the anticipation of future studies or the direction(s) for subsequent explorations. Such projections help to establish a broader context for the content of the essay. Reference to a broader vision of the topic enhances the authority of the writer whose ideas reflect a greater understanding of the subject that stretch beyond the scope of the essay itself.

Appeal to an External Authority
A technique of public speaking, an appeal to the voice of an authority, imported from beyond the limited content of the paper itself, may enrich the sense of importance of final points made at the closing of a paper. Quote an immanent person easily recognized and highly respected by the reader to reinforce the value of your paper.

Emotional Appeal
Always perhaps a little exploitive, emotional appeals, nevertheless, provide incentive for action and reaction to compositions. Balanced by a carefully reasoned argument in the essay itself, the emotional appeal must be effected with tact and a sensitivity to the emotional limits of the reader. An emotional element that is too strong invites a reader's revolt.

Periodic Development
Periodic development of any expository unit--a sentence, a paragraph, an essay or longer composition--always places the most important concept last. Use the last paragraph to state and develop the most striking or significant idea of the paper if, in doing so, the paragraph will punctuate the progressive sequence of ideas.

Expansion
Expansion places the main ideas of the essay in a broader context than perhaps the original discussion developed. Expansion helps the reader to understand the fuller significance of the main ideas of the essay. Use the last paragraph to explain the relationship of the essay to larger or broader issues to which the discussion is related.

Echo
A concluding paragraph may "echo" or allude to key details used in the introduction. A reference to features of the interest device(s) signals the reader that the discussion has come "full circle." In other words, the echo creates a stylistic frame which suggests completeness and finality.

Evaluation
A final alternative to summary is evaluation, the use of the concluding statements to judge the subject under discussion or to frame a final persuasive appeal to the reader's allegiance or opinion(s). Evaluation always answers the critical question of "why?"--"why" the subject succeeds or fails according to some standard or criterion, or it seeks to persuade the reader, explaining why one alternative is the more acceptable from among others in the field.

Think "Combination"
As you approach the development of your conclusion, think of the possibility of one or more of these in combination as alternatives to a simple summary, or think about the possibility of combining summary with one of the patterns above.