INTRODUCTIONS & CONCLUSIONS

Learning Goals:
I am learning to
Select the appropriate elements or features that will engage the audience and communicate your message clearly;
Use diction and voice to engage a specific audience and purpose;
Apply the writing process.

WHEW! We are almost at the research report finish line! Today, we will focus on writing the introduction and conclusion of our reports. And we will consider our level of language or diction in our writing. Tomorrow, we will assemble our writing into the report format modeled for us in Unit 3 and complete a peer edit.

Does the introduction

1.Tell the reader the topic
2. Inform the reader about your perspective or focus (thesis)
3. Arouse the reader’s curiosity so that he or she will want to read about your topic
How? (i.e. ask a question, tell an anecdote, describe a scene related to your topic, offer a statistic or quotation).

Does the conclusion

1. Summarize your subtopics, leaving out specific examples
2. Restate the main focus/thesis of the paper with different words
3. Make a “so what” statement, suggesting why this topic is important

Diction

The choice of words or phrases in speech or writing; the particular words chosen to express an idea.

We will review a handout on diction together. You may find it useful tomorrow when you are revising.