How to Write an Excellent Introduction and Conclusion | UPSC Mains Essay Preparation PDF Download

The title of your essay communicates the topic to your reader, but it is the introduction, particularly the first sentence, that captivates their interest and determines whether they will continue reading the essay. Therefore, the introduction serves as the spearhead of your essay. Similarly, the conclusion is of equal significance to the introduction, providing the reader with a logically satisfying exit that they seek from the essay. Consequently, both these paragraphs need to be crafted strategically and methodically.

Introduction

Start to draw attention. The attention arrester you use is naturally your own, but here are some ideas: 

• Remarkable Information: This is not the new information but common, true and well-known one, but it must be relevant to the topic. It may be a quotation or a proverb with the intention of beginning the essay with an extra value to it. In this regard, you have to write one or two sentences in the introduction paragraph in relation to it. 
• Anecdote: An anecdote effectively opens an essay, but its careful use bears the intended result. An anecdote is a brief story-like statement that signifies a relevant topic or explains a relevant point. 
• Dialogue: Use of a dialogue as an opener is also highly effective to a relevant topic. The dialogue itself tells the reader its objective that the writer is trying to present in relation to the topic. Use only two to three exchanges of the speakers’ conversation. If you introduce your essay with a dialogue, you must elaborate it in the introductory paragraph in one or two sentences that will represent the connection. 
• Summary Information: A summary information also plays an opener role. It must consist of only few compact sentences that will gently lead the reader into the topic.

Conclusion

This paragraph secures the approval of your essay, guiding your reader to the culmination that fulfills their expectations regarding your topic.
There are no strict guidelines for making the conclusion interesting. Simply consolidate all the ideas discussed in the essay with a logical resolution, comprising only four to five sentences. Ensure that the final sentence articulates your conclusive perspective clearly. Optionally, you may incorporate a quotation or a pertinent statement to emphasize your insight.

Finishing Touch 

After you have completed your essay, check the paragraphs whether they are okay; if not, format them. 

Review the Sequence of your Paragraphs 

Now identify the weak and strong paragraphs according to construction. Then try to improve the weak ones into strong ones. If the order too appears asymmetrical and lacking complete sense throughout the essay, format it and bring the symmetry you think is appropriate. 

Review the Instructions for the Assignment 

Make sure whether the following points are rightly mentioned before you prepare your final draft.

• Are the margins correct?
• Is your title correct as per the direction? 
• What extra information you have provided?
• Have you double spaced your lines? 

Review writing 

There is no alternative to revision of your work. Check what you have improved by reviewing the essay. Improve the weak points, take care least you missed anyone, because these will be vital for your essay. 

• Do you think your essay has a logical sense? If you are not sure, leave it for a few hours, and then read it again to be sure. 
• Do your sentences have an orderly flow? If not, check them and try to improve up to your expectation. In this respect, the linking words like, ‘however’, ‘moreover’, ‘therefore’ sometimes make sentences well knitted. Be sure that these words are not missing in your paragraphs that help you making your construction compact.
• How do you check your spelling and grammar––by spelling checker or grammar checker? Don’t depend on these; these very often fail to check mistakes throughout a piece of writing. So, meticulous and patient editing will help you confident of your work that the work is correct.