research paper for university on prison education programs

Introductions &

Conclusions

INTRODUCTIONS

How can you engage your reader in considering your position?

Introductions should: ❏ Establish a context of issues

❏ Introduce the subject matter

❏ Define the scope of the issue

❏ Make it matter to the reader (a sense of urgency or tension)

❏ State the thesis

Ways to accomplish: ❏ Give historical background to show the origins of the problem you’re going to address

❏ Define key terms or ideas you want or need the reader to know moving forward

❏ Explain any assumptions you or the reader might make

❏ Access elements of your identity or experience; this shows the reader your authority on the subject

❏ Paraphrase or summarize a key text or introduce a key figure that is critical to your essay

❏ Offer a short personal or descriptive narrative (story) as an example of the problem or situation

WHAT TO AVOID

Grand or sweeping generalizations Avoid introductions that start with phrases such as, “Since the beginning of time…” or “X is a big issue today…” or “Many people are talking about X…”, etc.

Opening like this is not only cliche, but it’s also not specific enough to inspire the reader to keep going. Starting too broadly or obviously is an automatic turn-off. The reader needs to be engaged and tuned into the central topic of the essay from the beginning.

Additionally, it puts you as the writer in a bad position, too. If you claim expertise on something “since the beginning of time” or on “all literature” or “all people,” your reader can hold you accountable for that.

Setting the parameters and scope of your essay from the start is key to avoiding these obvious and/or sweeping generalizations.

The dictionary definition This is a favorite, not because it’s useful but because it’s easy.

When writing an essay, you are grappling with ideas and questions from the perspective of a specific field (sociology, psychology, pharmacy, gender studies, political science, biology), and you want to engage in meaningful and challenging discussion. A Merriam-Webster definition won’t lead you to that kind of complex work.

Instead, define key terms in the context of the field in which you’re working/writing.

For example, I don’t want to know how Merriam-Webster defines “social media,” I want to know how expert(s) in the field define and talk about it.

The unproductive attack Successful writing is a matter of being aware of your intended audience. Think about what you want your essay to do. Are you trying to change someone’s mind or ask them to think anew about something they already have an opinion on?

If so, an opening that attacks or insults what they might already believe is likely to alienate them before they’ve even begun to trust you as a writer.

For example, say your essay is exploring cultural tensions over displaying the Confederate flag, and you are taking a position against it. Your intro begins, “While most of America has put our racist past behind us, the south still stubbornly refuses to enter the modern world.”

In this scenario, the people you are trying to persuade are those currently sympathetic or in favor of displaying the Confederate flag. And those are the exact people who will be put off by your aggressive opening lines. This makes them much less likely to trust you or consider the rest of your argument.

The introduction is the WHY BOTHER?

paragraph.

Why should the reader bother reading the rest of your essay?

CONCLUSIONS

APPROACHES FOR ENDING YOUR OWN THINKING

AND KEEPING THE CONVERSATION GOING

Suggest An Approach A “call to action” to your readers, presented in light

of your essay’s content. If your essay has been focused on exploring a

problem, readers will expect or hope for a solution.

ASK If you are critical of a policy, what else should be done?

If you have criticized an attitude, how can it be changed?

How might your suggestion for change actually occur?

What is necessary for the change to happen?

Speculate Imagine what will happen in the future if your line of

reasoning is followed to a logical end or if things do not change regarding the problem you’ve engaged.

ASK What might happen in the future based on your claims?

How might a future writer pursue your line of thinking?

In what direction can your conversation be expanded?

Reach Out Many readers get to the end of the essay and ask,

“What does this have to do with me?” or “So what?” The previous approaches can answer these

questions, but you can also answer them more directly.

Reach out to the reader and demonstrate exactly how relevant or pervasive the issue is that you’ve explored.

You might also use the conclusion as an opportunity to reach in and get personal. Exploring a personal connection to what you’ve written about in the ending is another way to reach out to the reader to show its human relevance.

Evaluate The Essay This is a good option if you cannot be conclusive.

Defend the ways in which you approached exploration of the topic, or the evidence used. Evaluate your essay’s timeliness, then explore how what you regard as true now might change as the

situation does.

ASK What other approaches could be taken to this topic (scientific, political, historical, etc.)?

Why did you go the route you did? Why is your approach best for making your case?

How might other approaches or strategies reinforce what you’ve already said?

Each of these conclusion approaches keep the discussion ongoing.

Ideally, a reader should arrive at the end of your essay feeling like they could immediately begin to write a response of their own (whether or not they intend to) because you’ve created not a definitive, closed position but an open, ongoing conversation.

INTRODUCTION: WHY BOTHER?

CONCLUSION: SO WHAT?