Fundamentals: Introduction and Conclusion of an Essay

The beginning and ending of an essay can be the most inspiring, though provoking, dramatic and emotional part of an essay. Additionally, they are the most feared, challenging and difficult parts of writing an essay. Your first paragraph and last paragraph of a paper need to be memorable and noteworthy. Here are some helpful tips to make your college essays more successful.

The First Paragraph

The first paragraph of your essay is possibly the most important. In this paragraph you need to grab your readers’ attention through the use of a creative hook. Your hook should also be able to engage your reader enough to keep their attention and encourage them to continue reading. How do you accomplish this incredible feat? Read on for three ways to write quality essay hooks.

Expose the Author With Your Introduction

Allow yourself to expose your vulnerability in your introduction. This gives the readers the feeling that they are getting a real taste of your emotions and feelings. Revealing yourself through your introduction engages your readers and gives them something they can’t get

Infuse Humor Into Your Introduction

Determine who the audience you are writing for is before you start writing your essay. When you are focused on your audience, you will easily find a method to connect with them. Embrace the feelings they have within and relate to their issues that they are going through. Meet their needs by putting a humorous spin on your introduction.

Ask a Question in Your Introduction

A question can tantalize your readers and make them hungry for more. If you ignite their curiosity you will ensure that they read on to the end of your essay. However, don’t ask a question that isn’t pertinent to the overall theme. Readers will feel tricked if your question does not directly relate to the theme of your essay.

The Last Paragraph

The final paragraph, or conclusion, is the second most important part of your essay, second only to the introduction. Your purpose with your conclusion should be to leave your readers feeling satisfied and with a feeling of closure. Try to wrap everything up neatly and do not leave loose ends. The conclusion needs to organically fit in with the rest of the essay and shouldn’t seem like an afterthought. Leave readers satisfied with one of the following methods.

End with a Startling Statement

In your conclusion, you don’t want to shake things up too much by using anything too radical. If the information was that crucial, you should have used it earlier in the piece and featured it prominently. On the other hand, leaving your readers with a last bit to think about can be a good method.

End with the Beginning

Your conclusion can be written in a similar fashion to your introduction. This is a nice way to book-end your paper with the same thought. However, these two paragraphs should not be completely interchangeable but rather should just bring your paper full circle.

End with a Summary

Summarizing your essay in the concluding paragraph is most likely what you have been taught to do throughout your academic career. This old standby method is effective, but should not be used too often. If you use it at the end of every essay, your readers will become bored with your writing style.

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