A Sense of Doubt blog post #3035 - Introductions & Conclusions - English 102

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3035 - Introductions & Conclusions - English 102

Here's the next one in my tips of the day sequence.

It's worth noting and kinda funny that my recent "anger" series resulted from a major disappointment at work. During that week, I booted a post I was going to publish about rhetoric and pedagogy because I didn't give a fuck.

Now I have done a week on instructional tips for research projects. In part, I published these because they are easy posts as they are already written; however, publishing them also shows how deeply I care about my work.

Maybe my follow-up series to the "anger" posts should be deep sadness and verge of tears posts...

Thanks for tuning in.

Greetings Writers!

Welcome to Instructional Tip of the Day #6 on English 102-sized Introductions and Conclusions.

 

INTRODUCTIONS

The standard three parts of an essay introduction (especially in English 101) include an attention-getting hook, the context of the essay's subject (what does the reader to know - 6 Ws), and the thesis.

In English 102, we try to broaden that work with additional content:

• What is your scope? How is it limited?
• Do you have special qualifications for writing about your subject and/or what drew you to it?
• What's the organizational scheme of the project: describe the parts?
• What are some of the key research articles/studies about your subject that will be used in the project?

Additionally, a longer introduction (at least two paragraphs) allows the writer to create an extended hook that appeals to pathos and establishes common ground with the reader.

• Writing about distracted driving? Show me the mangled metal, the blood, the tragic injuries or death.
• Writing about reproductive rights? Describe the horrors of "back-alley abortions."
• Arguing for legalizing prostitution? Show me the horrible things sex workers endure without the protection of the law.
• Arguing for improving the state of healthcare for Native Americans? Share a specific story for how bad the current situation is.

All of these suggestions (from essays this quarter) and others that I did not list can benefit from a strong appeal to pathos, to emotions, to start the essay showing in graphic detail the seriousness of your issue and establishing common ground, agreement, with the reader. How can readers not agree unless they like seeing people suffer?

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions are somewhat the reverse of the introduction with content about scope, sources, parts, thesis, and a reverse hook or closing a frame started with the hook (come back to what you started with and conclude it).

My favorite example of a two-paragraph conclusion that ends with a new idea but one that does not need a lot of explanation is in this essay, "The Four Types of Courage."  Though this essay shows more of an English 101 example, it can be adapted to English 102.

Find a good way to end, like a song in a live performance winds up to a satisfying conclusion as the instruments join together to make that "ending" sound.

Often texts that explain conclusion writing will suggest summarizing the essay and re-stating the thesis (in new language). Though I am not a huge fan of this approach in any Composition class, many other teachers, especially outside of English love it and rely on it. Many read it first and then just flip through your essay to see if you cover what you said you covered.

As shown in the resources below, do not put your call to action about your solutions in the conclusion for the first and only time it appears in your text. That material should be in its own section prior to the conclusion. Forward-looking statements are okay, but only if based on previous content that is well-developed.

The resource below is a very good one for writing conclusions as is the introduction one. I suggest spending some time with them.

RESOURCES

Introductions - LUMEN - section 12.3

Conclusions - LUMEN - section 12.4

The entire LUMEN text

 

~ peace, chris tower, your friend in learning!
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/

#DisciplineIsAVehicleForJoy
“Always look on the bright side” - from THE LIFE OF BRIAN

"Didn't know what time it was, the lights were low
I leaned back on my radio
Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll
"Lotta soul," he said" 
~ David Bowie, "Starman"

 

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2306.10 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2899 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.