The Art of the Audio Essay
PWR 2 Fall Quarter 2007
Jonah G. Willihnganz
Stanford University

Introductions and Conclusions

This is just a quick list of possible ways to introduce and conclude a research-based essay. We will talk about all of these in class, so this list serves just to remind you of your options as you put your essay together.

Introductions

The most important things to do in an essay's introductory paragraphs are the following. You might also create a short preview of what is to come in the essay, particularly if it is a long essay.

• Stimulate the audience's interest
• Suggest in some why we should care about the subject
• Provide context—a description of the conversation in which you are intervening

Some elements you might use to open an essay:

• Short Anecdote / Encounter
• Signal Event
• Question or mystery
• Representative Case
• Quotation (as an epigraph or within the text)
• Striking Statistic (with its implication)
• Analogy
• Hypothetical Situation

Conclusions

Effective conclusions typically do more than summarize the findings of the essay. Generally speaking, conclusions should synthesize rather than summarize and recall or even develop further why we should care about the subject.

Some elements you might use to conclude an essay:

• a new, further research question that the essay's findings pose or a description of what remains to be analyzed
• a significant implication of the essay's findings
• anecdote that dramatizes the argument of the essay, that drives home its point of view
• call to action, usually a specific proposal that flows from the essay's findings
• call to consciousness, usually a specific insight that flows from the essay's findings
• challenge or a warning that flows from the essay's findings
• a return to an example, anecdote, illustration from the introduction or within the essay to amplify argument