Chapter 16 Introductions and conclusions

CHAPTER 16INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

指導教授：郭育仁 教授 報告人：蘇俊旭 孔博仁 組員：沈宗穎 曾暇茵 黃詠芯

A good introduction encourages readers to read your report with interest and prepares them to understand it better.

A good conclusion leaves them with a clear statement of your point and renewed appreciation of its significance.

Grab readers’ attention with something snappy or cute.

Foreword

The common structure of introductions

Introductions

Response

ContextProblem

Step 1: Establish common ground

Open with a stable

context of common ground

Disrupt it with a

problem

The function of common ground It can describe a misunderstanding.

It can survey flawed research.

It can point to a misunderstanding about the problem itself.

Draft your introduction Imagine you are writing for someone

who does not know what specifically happened in your class.

Add more information only if you need to locate the problem in a wider context.

Step 2: State your problemThe statement of a research problem has two parts:

A condition of incomplete knowledge or understanding

The consequences of that condition, a more significant gap in understanding

When you imagine someone asking, so what?

• State the condition directly

• Imply it in an indirect question

Then spell out the consequence as an answer

• State that consequence as a direct cost

• Or transform the cost into a benefit

Should You Spell Out Consequences and Benefits?

To convince readers that they should take your problem seriously

• State the cost they will pay if it is not resolved

• The benefits they gain

• Tangible

• Costs that your research helps your readers avoid

Testing Conditions and Answering So What?

You have to “sell” your readers the significance of your research.

You have to convince readers of the cost of going on not knowing.

Maybe they are the wrong audience

Step 3: State your response

• State your main point / solution explicitly toward the end of your introduction

State the Gist of Your Solution

• Imply that you will present the main point in your conclusion; provides a launching point and creates a point-last paper

Promise a Solution

Setting the right pace for your introduction

Context

Problem

Response

Writing your conclusion

Start with Your Main Point

Add a New Significance or Application

Call for More Research

Finding your first few words

Don’t start with a dictionary entry

Don’t start grandly

Don’t repeat the language of your assignment

Open with a Striking Fact Relevant to Your ProblemOpen with a Striking Quotation

Open with a Relevant Anecdote

Three standard choices for your first sentence or two