Introductions and Conclusions for a Complex Argument: Study Guide (English Language 7.1)

What an introduction and a conclusion are for

Every argument has to start somewhere and finish somewhere, and neither place is neutral. The first words tell the audience who is speaking, what the subject is and why they should keep reading. The last words decide what the audience carries away.

Think about the rhetorical situation you already know (Unit 1): a writer addresses an audience about a subject, for a purpose, in a context. The introduction and conclusion are the two places where the writer most openly manages that situation.

• An introduction does three jobs. It orients the audience (what is this about, who is speaking), it engages them (why should they care), and it focuses them (what is the claim or question the rest of the text will answer). Often it also presents the thesis, but not always.
• A conclusion brings the argument to a unified end. That does not mean repeating the introduction. It means the audience should finish feeling that the parts have added up to something, and that something matters.

Neither is a template. A speech given to a hostile crowd, a column for a school newsletter and a timed exam essay all open and close differently, because the situations differ. The skill is to choose.

Moves an introduction can make

Writers can open an argument with any of these. They can combine them, and one sentence can do two jobs.

Move	What it does	Works best when
Quotation	Borrows authority or a memorable phrasing	The quoted voice is respected by this audience and is directly relevant
Intriguing statement	Surprises or provokes	The surprise is true and leads straight to the claim
Anecdote	Gives a small story with a human face	The audience needs to feel the issue before they weigh it
Question	Frames the issue as something to be answered	The question is specific and the argument answers it
Statistic or data	Shows scale or stakes	The number is credible, sourced and explained
Contextualised information	Gives the background the audience lacks	They would otherwise misread the claim
Scenario	Asks the audience to picture a situation	The issue is abstract or distant

Every move should then focus: by the end of the introduction the audience should know what the argument is about. An anecdote that never connects to the claim is decoration, not an introduction.

Moves a conclusion can make

Move	What it does	Works best when
Explain the significance within a broader context	Shows why the argument matters beyond the case	The topic could seem small or local
Make connections	Links the issue to another idea or field	The audience may not see the wider pattern
Call the audience to act	Names the step they should take	The purpose is to move people
Suggest a change in behaviour or attitude	Offers a new way to see or act	The aim is to shift belief more than policy
Propose a solution	Puts a specific remedy on the table	The argument has diagnosed a problem
Leave a compelling image	Ends on something the audience can picture	Emotion and memory matter
Explain implications	Says what follows if the argument is right	The claim has consequences the audience has not drawn
Summarise the argument	Gathers the main points	The argument was long or complicated
Connect to the introduction	Returns to the opening anecdote, image or question	You want a sense of completion
Present the thesis	Places the claim last	The writer wants the audience to reach it by following the reasoning

A summary on its own is the weakest ending, because the audience has just read the argument. The strongest conclusions use the summary: they gather the reasoning in one sentence and then do something with it.

Choosing by rhetorical situation

The same subject needs different framing for different people. Suppose the subject is later school start times.

• To parents at a governors’ meeting, an introduction might open with contextualised information (what the current timetable is, what the proposal would change) and a statistic. The purpose is to persuade a sceptical, busy audience, so the focus comes quickly.
• To students reading a magazine, an anecdote about a tired Monday morning is more likely to engage them, and the conclusion can end on an image or a call to sign a petition.
• In a timed exam essay, the reader is an examiner who needs to see your position quickly. Two or three sentences that set the context and state a defensible thesis are the efficient choice.

Ask three questions before you write either part: Who is reading? What do I want them to think or do? What do they already know or feel?

Reading a real introduction

Susan B. Anthony opened a speech in 1873 (public domain) with these words: “Friends and fellow citizens: I stand before you tonight under indictment for the alleged crime of having voted at the last presidential election, without having a lawful right to vote.”

The sentence orients the audience at once: it names who is addressing whom, and the occasion. It engages by putting the speaker’s own legal jeopardy in the first clause, which is a concrete scenario rather than an abstract complaint. The phrase “alleged crime” quietly focuses the argument: Anthony has not conceded that voting was a crime, and the rest of the speech will contest it. Notice that the thesis is not stated outright in this sentence; the situation itself frames the claim.

Reading a real conclusion

Abraham Lincoln closed his Second Inaugural Address (1865, public domain) with: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”

The ending is a call to act (“let us strive on”), a change in attitude (malice and charity) and a connection to the work the nation is already doing. The repeated “with” phrases make a rhythm that leaves a settled, unified feeling. It does not repeat the speech; it directs its meaning forward.

Weak and strong side by side

Prompt for a timed essay: Should public libraries stay open late on weekday evenings? The introductions and conclusions below were written by Marlbridge.

Weak introduction	Strong introduction
“Libraries have been around for a long time. Many people like libraries and many people do not. In this essay I will discuss whether libraries should stay open late.”	“On weekday evenings the busiest room in many towns is not the café or the cinema but the library’s study area, where students without quiet homes finish their work. When councils trim opening hours to save a little money, they remove the one free, supervised place those students have, so libraries should keep late hours.”
Opens with a vague fact, has no stakes and announces the essay instead of making the claim.	Opens with a concrete scene, shows who is affected, and ends on a defensible thesis.

Weak conclusion	Strong conclusion
“In conclusion, libraries should stay open late because of the reasons I have given above.”	“Savings made by closing at five are real but small; the cost of closing is a generation of students who learn that nowhere in their town is built for them to work. A council that keeps the lights on until nine is buying something more durable than a balanced budget.”
Repeats without adding anything.	Weighs cost against benefit, states the implication and ends on an image of what the town is buying.

Worked example 1: analysing an opening and an ending (reading)

Task. Explain how the introduction and conclusion below work together. The passage was written by Marlbridge.

Introduction: “At 6.40 on a winter morning, Mira Okafor stands at a bus stop with her violin case and a half-finished history essay. She is one of thousands of students in this district who must leave home in the dark. The board will vote on Thursday on whether to move the first bell from 7.45 to 8.30, and the evidence says it should.”

Conclusion: “Mira will still need to catch a bus on Thursday. The question for the board is whether, from next September, she catches it in the dark or in the light.”

Step 1: identify the moves. The introduction opens with an anecdote (the bus stop scene) that turns into contextualised information (the vote, the times) and ends on the thesis (“the evidence says it should”). The conclusion connects to the introduction by returning to Mira, and it ends on a compelling image (dark against light).

Step 2: explain the effect for this audience. The audience is a school board that must decide. The anecdote gives a human face to a policy figure, so the vote feels like it concerns a person rather than a timetable. The thesis appears after the scene, so the board has already felt the stakes. The conclusion rephrases the decision as a binary the board can act on.

Step 3: say how they work together. The opening poses a situation (a student in the dark) and the closing resolves the situation into a choice. That echo gives the argument a sense of completeness, which is the “unified end” a conclusion should provide.

Answer in one sentence. The introduction engages the board with a concrete scene and states the claim, and the conclusion returns to that scene to turn the claim into a decision, so the essay is unified by repetition with change.

Worked example 2: improving a weak opening and ending (writing)

Task. Rewrite the introduction and conclusion for this essay plan. The context is a timed essay; the audience is an examiner.

Position: Cities should plant more trees along streets, even though planting and maintenance cost money. Body: Cooler pavements in summer; lower stormwater runoff; a more walkable neighbourhood. A concession: costs and root damage.

Weak draft. “Trees are a very important topic today. Some people think cities should plant more trees but others disagree. This essay will argue that they should.” / “In conclusion, trees are good and cities should plant them.”

Diagnosis. The introduction orients vaguely (“a very important topic”), does not engage and merely announces. The thesis is thin: there is no reason. The conclusion repeats and adds nothing.

Step 1: choose a move. For an examiner, contextualised information plus a defensible thesis is efficient. A short scenario can engage.

Step 2: draft the introduction. “A bare pavement on a July afternoon is far hotter than the shaded street beside it, and the people who live on the bare streets are often those with the fewest ways to cool down. Cities that treat street trees as a luxury overlook what they do for heat, flooding and daily life, so councils should plant more, accepting the cost of planting and upkeep.”

(In a real essay you would support the heat claim with a source or an example from the task; here it is a model of structure.)

Step 3: write the conclusion to add significance. “The money is spent once and the shade grows for decades. A city that sees trees as infrastructure, as it does roads and drains, is planning for the summers its children will live through.”

Check. Does the introduction orient (July pavements, councils), engage (unequal heat), focus (thesis with reason and concession)? Does the conclusion add something (a time horizon and a reframing as infrastructure) and avoid repeating? Yes on each, so the rewrite meets the aims.

Common misconceptions

• “A conclusion should restate my introduction.” It should echo it at most. Add significance, implication or action.
• “Every introduction must start with a quotation or a question.” Those are two options among many. A weak quotation or an easy question is worse than a plain statement of context.
• “The thesis must be the last sentence of the introduction.” It is often there, but position is a choice, not a rule.
• “Starting with a dictionary definition is safe.” It orients no one and engages no one. Use a definition only when the meaning of a term is the point of dispute.
• “I should never use ‘I’ in an introduction.” First person is fine when it is purposeful, as Anthony’s is.
• “On the exam, I just need to say the introduction ‘hooks’ the reader.” Say how: which move, and why it suits this audience and purpose.

Where this leads

Next, Topic 7.2 looks at the complexity a strong argument has to respect, and a conclusion is one of the best places to acknowledge it. Practise now with the practice questions, skim the revision notes and test yourself on the checklist. Then read the Topic 7.2 study guide.