How To Begin and End Your Essay: An essay can be defined as a short, formal piece of writing which deals with a single subject. There can be various types of essays, depending on the purpose of writing and the type. There can be an academic essay, description essay, expository essays, first-person essays, and many more, to name a few. However, an essay consists of three primary divisions that include the following:
- An introduction (where one begins the essay) gives the reader an idea of what they are about to learn and presents an argument in the form of a thesis statement.
- A body, or middle section, provides evidence to prove and persuade the reader to accept the writer’s particular point of view and describe what the essay is for.
- Lastly, an exciting conclusion summarizes your essay’s content and findings and gives it a good wrap.
What Is The Introduction Of An Essay?
An introduction is an essential part of an essay. It helps the readers understand the context of the essay. It is a brief insight into the essay and the topic on which the essay is based.
The task of an introduction is to motivate its readers to read the essay as well as inform the reader about the topic as much as possible within a paragraph.
Introductions of an essay can be written in several ways, but one must decide which way suits the essay best for a given topic. In the following paragraphs, we will be discussing the different ways of writing an essay’s introduction.
Types Of Introduction for An Essay
- Directly Stating The Thesis In Brief: One could use this first type of introduction to write a short essay. It is crisp yet to the point with no writing around the bush. It is also crucial to keep in mind that it has to look exciting and not just stating the subject matter.
- Ask a Question Related To Your Topic: This is the most reliable and easy way by which one can start the introduction. Ask a rhetorical question or a familiar question related to the topic. Then answer the question in the later paragraphs of the introduction or body.
- Interesting Facts About The Subject: Stating some exciting facts about the topic attracts the attention of a lot of readers. It motivates the reader to read further in the essay and informs them regarding a lot of unknown facts about the topic. This increases the enthusiasm in the readers and develops interest among them.
- Reveal the Topic As A Discovery: one could make the introduction look interesting by starting with a brief background of the topic. This will make the subject of the essay look like a recent topic, and there will be many things to talk about the subject matter in the body of the essay.
- The revelation of a secret: the writer could reveal a small secret or share an awkward incident about themselves to make the essay look more relatable and familiar. This will lead the readers to read the essay and know more about the topic of the essay.
These are a few ways among all the ways that are being discussed here regarding the starting or the introduction of an essay. There are numerous other ways mentioned on the internet or any other books that one can refer to if one does not like the content here. These are the best way to start writing an essay, in our opinion, from the lot.
What Is The Conclusion?
To end any creative writing format conclusion is the next most crucial aspect to deal with after the introduction. A conclusion is nothing but the starting of the final part of a topic.
It is the end that discloses what happens after all the turn of events. The final result is a conclusion. This conclusion is fundamental in the case of an essay. It deals with bringing all the loose ends together and giving a final touch to it.
Thus, it is imperative to end the essay well by writing a compact conclusion and not missing out on any other point of the topic.
The following are some of the effective strategies for a satisfactory conclusion:
Play the “So What” Game: When you read a statement from the conclusion, ask yourself, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” try to ponder these questions and answer them in the concluding paragraph.
- I’m just saying that education was essential to Douglass.
- So what?
- It was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen.
- Why should anybody care?
- That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated to maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.
Return to the theme or themes as mentioned earlier in the introduction
- This brings the full reader circle.
- If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay helps create a new understanding.
- Refer to the introductory paragraph using keywords or parallel concepts and images you also used in the introduction.
Types Of Conclusion for An Essay
- The Retrospective Conclusion: For a narrative essay, or for any essay that uses chronology or traces a historic movement, you may want to consider the retrospective conclusion. This concluding paragraph uses “hindsight” to consider what came before with new insight gained from experience.
- Reflective Conclusion: The reflective conclusion is similar to the retrospective kind of conclusion, but it allows a broader train of thought as one considers the various themes, lessons, or insights that have emerged from the essay writing experience.
- Projective Conclusion: This type of conclusion works exceptionally well for research papers but can be used for most expository essays and some narrative ones. It involves projecting a future outcome of the circumstances you describe. It may project the negative results of a social issue if it remains unresolved or a threat to humanity. In other contexts, this conclusion can state a need for further research to enhance our understanding, or it could predict an interesting, unexpected outcome based on current trends.
- The Embedded Conclusion: In some cases, especially with a narrative essay that tells a personal story in chronological order, the conclusion can be the last paragraph of the body. For instance, if you tell the story of how you learned the English language, and the last paragraph brings us to your current state of increased confidence mixed with lingering cautiousness. That last paragraph gives us a reliable place to part company.
Steps To Write A Conclusion
While writing a conclusion, one must remember the following points that are discussed below in brief:
- It should be a summary, including all the crucial points from the body and the essay’s introduction. All the points should be covered in a small paragraph.
- The writer should ask the readers a provocative question so that they are not bored while reading the conclusion. It helps them to think and analyze the topic and the question.
- A quote from a famous person that is relevant to that topic does the trick. It lets the reader have the feeling that the essay does make sense, and whatever is happening is due to some reason.
- Using universal examples is another aspect of the conclusion. Universalising means to refer to the situation of the essay’s scenario and compare it with the other things of the world. Comparison of the same incidents, situations leaves the readers with a better understanding of the scenario.
- Last but not least is the ending. It is the concluding sentence or paragraph where the writer needs to focus now. This paragraph should end with a warning. A warning regarding no matter what happens or how things happen, life or destiny has different plans that are entirely unpredictable.
By stating these, the reader will be forced to think that it is the absolute truth as no one can ever guarantee or foresee what is awaiting them in the future. So this leaves the readers with a feeling of wandering.
So, these were a few ways in which one could conclude their essays. Ending an essay is not a big deal, but one must follow the above steps and keep the conclusion short but useful. If the conclusion becomes too lengthy, the essay’s essence will be lost, and the readers will lose their interest.
The last detail explained in the conclusion will leave the most significant impression on the readers’ minds. Hence, try to make it count and end the conclusion with something that is the most significant about the topic that you want your readers to remember.
FAQ’s On How To Begin And End Your Essay
Question 1.
How do I improve the clarity of my essay?
Answer:
Readout loud your essay to yourself. This helps to eradicate a lot of run-on lines, improper usage of grammar, wordiness, strange transitions, etc. if what you read does not make much sense, remove and replace the sentences; this will help you improve the clarity of your essay.
Question 2.
How can I improve the introduction of my essay to engage my readers?
Answer:
Giving a strong introduction is of utmost importance as it confirms whether a person will continue reading your essay or not. You can improve your introduction by including a thesis, citing an anecdote or starting with experience, etc.
Question 3.
How to make the conclusion of my essay more engaging?
Answer:
Conclusions play a crucial role in assessing the overall performance of an essay, thus providing a proper conclusion to any kind of essay becomes imperative. One can include a quote or finish off with some good examples and wrap up their essay on a good note to end it in a positive note.