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Models for WritersChapter 6: Beginnings and Endings

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop," advised the King of Hearts inAlice in Wonderland.

"Good advice, but more easily said than done," you might be tempted to reply. Certainly, no part of writing essays can be more

daunting than coming up with effective beginnings and endings. In fact, many writers feel these are the most important parts of any

piece of writing regardless of its length. Even before coming to your introduction, your readers will usually something about your

intentions from your title. Titles such as The Case Against Euthanasia, "How to Buy a Used Car," and "What Is a Migraine

Headache? indicate both your subject and approach and prepare your readers for what follows.

BEGINNINGSWhat makes for an effective beginning? Not unlike a personal greeting, a good beginning should catch a readers interest and

then hold it. The experienced writer realizes that many readers would rather do almost anything than make a commitment to read, so

the opening or lead, as journalists refer to it, requires a lot of thought and much revising to make it right and to keep the readers

attention from straying. The inexperienced writer, on the other hand, knows that the beginning is important but tries to write it first

and to perfect it before moving on to the rest of the essay. Although there are no rules for writing introductions, we can offer one bit

of general advice: wait until the writing process is well under way or almost completed before focusing on your lead. Following this

advice will keep you from spending too much time on an introduction that you will undoubtedly revise. More important, once you

actually see how your essay develops, you will know better how to introduce it to your reader.

In addition to capturing your readers attention, a good beginning usually introduces your thesis and either suggests or actually

reveals the structure of the composition. Keep in mind that the best beginning is not necessarily the most catchy or the most shocking

but the one appropriate for the job you are trying to do.There are many effective ways of beginning an essay. Consider using one of the following.

Anecdote

Introducing your essay with an anecdotea brief narrative drawn current news events, history, or your personal experiencecan

be an effective way to capture your readers interest. In the following example the writer introduces an essay on becoming a man by

recounting an encounter he witnessed between two boys.

Two nine-year-old boys, neighbors and friends, were walking home from school. The one in the bright blue

windbreaker was laughing and swinging a heavy-looking book bag toward the head of his friend, who kept ducking

and stepping back. Whats the matter? asked the kid with the bag whooshing it over his head. You chicken?

His friend stopped, stood still, and braced himself. The bag slammed into the side of his face, the thump

audible all the way across the street where I stood watching. The impact knocked him to the ground, where he laymildly stunned for a second. Then he struggled up, rubbing the side of his head. See? he said proudly. Im no

chicken.

No. A chicken would probably have had the sense to get out of the way. This boy was already well on the

road to becoming a man, having learned one of the central ethics of his gender: experience pain rather than show

fear. Jon Katz

Analogy and Comparison

An analogy or comparison can be useful in getting readers to contemplate a topic they might otherwise reject as unfamiliar or

uninteresting. In the following multiparagraph example, Roger Garrison introduces a subject few would consider engrossing

writingwith an analogy of stone wall building. By pairing these two seemingly unrelated concepts he both introduces and vividly

illustrates the idea he will develop in his essay: that writing is a difficult demanding craft with specific skills to be learned.

In northern New England, where I live, stone walls mark boundaries, border meadows, and march through thewoods that grew up around them long ago. Flank-high, the walls are made of granite rocks stripped from fields

when pastures were cleared and are used to fence in cattle. These are dry walls, made without mortar, and the stones

in them, all shapes and sizes, are fitted to one another with such care that a wall, built a hundred years ago, still runs

as straight and solid as it did when people cleared the land.

Writing is much like wall building. The writer fits together separate chunks of meaning to make an

understandable statement. Like the old Yankee wall builders, anyone who wants to write well must learn some basic

skills, one at a time, to build soundly. This [essay] describes these skills and shows you how to develop them and

put them together. You can learn them.

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Building a stone wall is not easy: It is gut-wrenching labor. Writing is not easy either. It is a complex skill,

mainly because it demands a commitment of our own complicated selves. But it is worth learning how to do well

something true of any skill. Solid walls do get built, and good writing does get done. We will clear away some

underbrush and get at the job. Roger Garrison

Dialogue/Quotation

Although relying heavily on the ideas of others can weaken an effective introduction, opening your essay with a quotation or a

brief dialogue can attract a readers attention and can succinctly illustrate a particular attitude or point that you want to discuss. In the

following example, the writer introduces an essay about the three main types of stress in our lives by recounting a brief dialogue with

one of her roommates.

My roommate, Megan, pushes open the front door, throws her keys on the counter, and flops down on the couch.

"Hey, Megan, how are you?" I yell from the kitchen.

"I dont know whats wrong with me. I sleep all the time, but Im still tired. No matter what I do, I just dont feel well."

What did the doctor say?

"She said it sounds like chronic fatigue syndrome.

"Do you think it might be caused by stress?" I ask.

"Nah, stress doesnt affect me very much. I like keeping busy and running around. This must be something else."

Like most Americans, Megan doesn`t recognize the numerous factors in her life that cause her stress.

Sarah Federman

Facts and Statistics

For the most part, you should use facts and statistics to support your argument rather than let them speak for you, but presenting

brief startling facts or statistics can be an effective way to engage readers in your essay.

One out of every five new recruits in the United States military is female.

The Marines gave the Combat Action Ribbon for service in the Persian Gulf to twenty-three women.

Two female soldiers were killed in the bombing of the USS Cole.

The Selective Service registers for the draft all male citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.

Whats wrong with this picture? Anna Quindlen

Irony or Humor

It is often effective to introduce an essay with irony or humor. Humor signals to the reader that your essay will be entertaining to

read, irony can indicate an unexpected approach to a topic. In his essay "Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell begins bysimultaneously establishing a wry tone and indicating to the reader that he, the narrator, occupies the position of outsider in the events

he is about to relate.

In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of peoplethe only time in my life that I have

been important enough for this to happen to me. George Orwell

In his essay I Led the Pigeons to the Flag, language commentator William Safire uses humorous examples to introduce his

discussion what happens when we creatively reproduce what we think we hear.

The most saluted man in America is Richard Stans. Legions of schoolchildren place their hands over their hearts

to pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for Richard Stans.

With all due patriotic fervor, the same kids salute one nation, under guard. Some begin with I pledge a

legion to the flag, others with I led the pigeons to the flag.

This is not a new phenomenon. When they come to one nation, indivisible, this generation is likely to say,

One naked individual, as a previous generation was to murmur, One nation in a dirigible, or One nation and a

vegetable. William Safire

There are several other good ways to begin an essay; the follow paragraphs illustrate each approach.

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Short Generalization

Washington is a wonderful city. The scale seems right, more humane than other places. I like all the white

marble and green trees, the ideals celebrated by the great monuments and memorials. I like the climate, the slow

shift of the seasons here. Spring, so southern in feeling, comes early, and the long, sweet autumns can last into

December. Summers are murder, equatorialno question; the compensation is that Congress adjourns, the city

empties out, eases off. Winter evenings in Georgetown with the snow falling and the lights just coming on are as

beautiful as any Ive known. David McCullough

Startling Claim

Ive finally figured out the difference between neat and

sloppy people. The distinction is, as always, moral. Neat people

are lazier and meaner than sloppy people.

Suzanne Britt

Strong Proposition

Everyone agrees that weve got to improve academic

achievement in Americas public schools. So why is it that

districts distract students from core academics with a barrage of

activitieseverything from field hockey to music, drama,

debating, and chess teams? And theres more: Drug education

and fundraising eat away at classroom time. All manner ofholidays, including Valentines Day, get celebrated during the

school day, as well as childrens birthdays. These diversions

are costly. They consume money and time.

Theres a bold proposition: privatize school sports and

other extracurricular activities, and remove all but basic

academic studies from the classroom. Sound like sacrilege?

Look at what these extras really cost.

Etta Kralovec

Rhetorical Questions

Is a girl called Gloria apt to be better looking than one called Bertha? Are criminals more likely to be dark than

blond? Can you tell a good deal about someone is personality from hearing his voice briefly over the phone? Can apersons nationality be pretty accurately guessed from his photograph? Does the fact that someone wears glasses

imply that he is intelligent?

The answer to all these questions is obviously, No.

Yet, from all the evidence at hand, most of us believe these things. Ask any college boy if he`d rather take his

chances with a Gloria or a Bertha, or ask a college girl if shed rather blind-date a Richard or a Cuthbert.

Robert L. Heilbroner

ENDINGS

An effective ending does more than simply indicate where the writer stopped writing. A conclusion may summarize; may inspire

the reader to further thought or even action; may return to the beginning by repeating key words, phrases, or ideas; or may surprise the

reader by providing a particularly convincing example to support a thesis. Indeed, there are many ways to write a conclusion, but the

effectiveness of any choice must be measured by how appropriately it fits what comes before it. You might consider concluding witha restatement of your thesis, with a prediction, or with a recommendation.

Restatement of Thesis

In an essay contrasting the traditional Hispanic understanding of the word machowith the meaning it has developed in

mainstream American culture, Rose Del Castillo Guilbault begins her essay with a succinct, two-sentence paragraph offering her

thesis:

What is macho? That depends which side of the border you come from.

Beginnings to Avoid

ApologyI am a college student and do not consider myself an

expert on intellectual property, but I think file sharing and

MP3 downloads should be legal.

ComplaintId rather write about a topic of my own choice than the

one that is assigned, but here goes.

Websters DictionaryWebsters New Collegiate Dictionarydefines the verb to

snore as follows: "to breathe during sleep with a rough

hoarse noise due to vibration of the soft palate.

Platitude

America is the land of opportunity, and no one knows that

better Martha Stewart.

Reference to Title

As, you can see from my title, this essay is about why we

should continue to experiment with embryonic stem cells.

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She concludes her essay by restating her thesis, but in a manner that reflects the detailed examination she has given the concept of

macho in her essay:

The impact of language in our society is undeniable. And the misuse of macho hints at a deeper cultural

misunderstanding that extends beyond mere word definitions. Rose Del Castillo Guilbault

Summary

In the following conclusion to a long chapter on weasel words, a form of deceptive advertising language, the writer summarizes the

points that he has made, ending with a recommendation to the reader:

A weasel word is a word thats used to imply a meaning that cannot be truthfully stated. Some weasels imply

meanings that are not the same as their actual definition, such as help, like, or fortified. They can act as

qualifiers and/or comparatives. Other weasels, such as taste and flavor, have no definite meanings, and are

simply subjective opinions offered by the manufacturer. A weasel of omission is one that implies a claim so strongly

that it forces you to supply the bogus fact. Adjectives are weasels used to convey feelings and emotions to a greater

extent than the product itself can.

In dealing with weasels, you must strip away the innuendos and try to ascertain the facts, if any. To do this, you

need to ask questions such as: How? Why? How many? How much? Stick to basic definitions of words. Look them

up if you have to. Then, apply the strict definition to the text of the advertisement or commercial. Like means

similar to, but not the same as. Virtually means the same in essence, but not in fact.

Above all, never underestimate the devious qualities of a weasel, Weasels twist and turn and hide in dark

shadows. You must come to grips with them, or advertising will rule you forever. My advice to you is: Beware ofweasels. They are nasty and untrainable, and they attack pocketbooks. Paul Stevens

Make a Prediction

In the following conclusion to a composition titled Title IX Makes Sense, the writer offers an overview of her argument and

concludes by predicting the outcome of the solution she advocates:

There have undeniably been major improvements in the treatment of female college athletes since the

enactment of Title IX. But most colleges and universities still dont measure up to the actual regulation standards,

and many have quite a ways to go. The Title IX fight for equality is not a radical feminist movement, nor is it

intended to take away the privileges of male athletes. It is, rather, a demand for fairness, for women to receive the

same opportunities that men have always had. When colleges and universities stop viewing Title IX budget

requirements as an inconvenience and start complying with the spirit and not merely the letter of the law, collegiatefemale athletes will finally reach the parity they deserve. Jen Jarjosa, student

If you are having trouble with your conclusionand this is not an uncommon occurrenceit may be because of problems with

your essay itself. Frequently, writers do not know when to end because they are not sure about their overall purpose. For example, if

you are taking a trip and your purpose is to go to Chicago, youll know you get there and will stop. But if you dont really know where

you are going, its very difficult to know when to stop.

Its usually a good idea in your conclusion to avoid such over-worked expressions as In conclusion, In summary, I hope I

have shown, or Finally. Your conclusion should also do more than simply repeat what youve said in your opening paragraph. The

most satisfying essays are those in which the conclusion provides an interesting way of wrapping up ideas introduced in the beginning

and developed throughout so that your reader has the feeling of coming full circle.

You might find it revealing as your course progresses to read with special attention the beginnings and endings of the essays

throughoutModels for Writers. Take special note of the varieties of beginnings and endings, the possible relationship between a

beginning and an ending, and the general appropriateness of these elements to the writers subject and purpose.