Unit 5: Introductions and Conclusions
We've come full circle in our writing lessons. We will now discuss effective strategies to write introductions and conclusions, which can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. While the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around it. An introduction and conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for the reader. In this unit, you will learn the importance of effective introductions and conclusions, and techniques that will leave your audience with a great impression. You will also learn about different kinds of academic essays and strategies for revising drafts of your writing. We will conclude by combining all of the skills and strategies you've been practicing to plan, develop, write, and revise an essay of your own.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 12 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- craft effective introductions and conclusions;
- differentiate among different types of academic essays with respect to purpose and writing elements;
- revise drafts to ensure effective organization;
- proofread to ensure spelling and usage appropriate to different writing contexts;
- write well-organized analytical paragraphs in response to writing prompts;
- demonstrate principles of active reading; and
- craft short essays employing a variety of organizational patterns.
5.1: Beginning and Ending an Essay
Earlier, you learned about the importance of guiding your reader through by using transitional words and expressions. This principle applies at all levels of an essay – you must signal to your reader what your argument will be, how it will be organized, and how your conclusions follow from the evidence you presented. In this unit, you will learn how to write effective introductions and conclusions to frame your essay for your readers. This article gives a brief overview of writing introductions and conclusions.
5.1.1: Writing Introductions
This article offers strategies for writing engaging and effective introductions. Earlier, you wrote a short essay about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle". After you read this article, go back and revisit your essay. Write a new introduction for the essay using one of the strategies suggested in the article.
5.1.2: Writing Conclusions
Effective conclusions require their own strategies. This article offers strategies for writing conclusions and notes some ineffective approaches to avoid. After you read, revise your essay again, this time focusing on conclusions. Write a new conclusion using one of the strategies suggested in this article.
5.2: Types of Essays
In a college English class, you may be asked to write several different common essays, including reflective essays, research essays, and expository essays. This page lists several common types of essays. Some of this terminology can be confusing, but don't worry. There's no need to memorize every type of essay. In almost every case, the writing assignment will identify the type of essay you are being asked to write and give instructions about what elements should be included in your essay.
Expository writing is meant to explain and inform. Most writing assignments you will encounter in a college-level course will ask you to complete some form of expository writing, in which you craft a clear thesis statement and support your ideas with evidence and examples. Compare-and-contrast, persuasive, and argumentative essays are all types of expository writing. Watch this short video about the elements of a typical expository essay.
Another common type of writing assignment is reflective writing. You may not realize it, but you've already written reflective writing assignments in this course. Watch this short video for an overview of reflective writing. Then, see if you can identify a reflective writing assignment you wrote earlier.
In a college writing course, as in many disciplines, you may be asked to write a research paper. Read this article that explains the components of a research paper.
5.3: Revision and Proofreading
Even if you carefully plan out your essay, your plans may change as you write. Maybe you discover a new piece of evidence in your research that changes your thesis. Maybe you realize that you have a lot more to say about one subpoint than you do about the others. Maybe something just doesn't seem to "flow" right, even if you can't figure out exactly what the problem may be. These scenarios call for revision.
Revision is an important step of the writing process. Often, your instructor will ask you to revise your writing after receiving feedback. As a result, many students approach revision by simply making minor changes suggested by the instructor without considering why they are making those changes or what effect those changes may have. Effective writers, from students to professional authors, will often revise throughout the writing process. They approach revision as an opportunity to re-envision the essay as a whole. This article outlines five strategies for reorganizing and revising an essay draft.
Once you have a complete draft of your essay, you will want to engage in a final round of revision and proofreading your work. Read this chapter about the revision process. Pay attention to section 8.2 on editing and proofreading. After you read, make a list of grammar, punctuation, spelling, or stylistic issues that you struggle with as a writer. For example, you may notice that you have a hard time remembering the difference between colons and semicolons, ensuring subject-verb agreement, or varying your sentences' length and structure. Next, make yourself a proofreading and editing guide: for each issue, write a quick overview of best practices for writing effectively. Use your personalized guide when revising the essay at the end of this unit.
5.4: Active Reading Practice
It's time to complete your final practice activities for this course. Read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Adventure of the Speckled Band" using active reading strategies. After you finish, take the quiz. Think of this as practice for the final exam. If the quiz is difficult, be sure to review active reading strategies and then retake the quiz. This will help you prepare for the final exam.
- Take this ungraded quiz to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
This will be your final short writing assignment before completing the essay at the end of this unit. Please the prompt about "Adventure of the Speckled Band" and write a response to the questions using the techniques and strategies for effective writing that you practiced in this course. Be sure to proofread your response carefully. When you finish, check the guide to responding.
5.5: Essay Writing Activity
In this course, you developed the skills you need to write an effective essay: prewriting; organization; thesis statements; supporting ideas with evidence and examples; introductions and conclusions; grammar and punctuation; and avoiding plagiarism. In this assignment, you will write an essay using all of these skills. You will also use your knowledge of the short stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read the prompt and follow the instructions carefully. When you finish, check the guide to responding.
Unit 5 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.