How to Write Better Essays

could be retrieved each year under the right conditions to satisfy the

demand, if only we could find an effective and morally acceptable

way to do it.

Conclusion

None of us like to think of our bodies as just collections of spare-

parts, like old discarded automobiles. And we all probably realise that

for each of us who refuses to carry a donor card, someone, some-

where, pays the price. It may be the prisoner in his dark, damp cell,

or five-year-old Nicholas, who can wait no longer. But as long as a

doctor is free to omit treatment that might save our lives, to give up

on us after only two minutes of resuscitation, and as long as the def-

inition of death creeps under pressure for more organs, sadly this

tragic death toll seems set to continue.

If you do nothing more in a conclusion, always try to achieve at least

one thing: to wrap up the essay leaving your readers satisfied that they

have read something worthwhile – leave them with a sense of discov-

ery. Whether you use an idea that pulls everything together or extends

it, or whether you tie up the essay by picking up an anecdote you’ve

already used, let your readers participate, so that they feel they’ve been

able to come to their own conclusion and have discovered something

thought-provoking and interesting.

Conclusions 201

Assignment 9

The framework – introductions, conclusions

and paragraphs

We’ve now reached the point where we’re ready to write the essay. In

the last stage you completed the plan of the essay you have chosen to

work on. Now, with this in front of you, write the introduction to the

essay, the conclusion and the two paragraphs that follow the introduc-

tion. Once you’ve finished writing the whole essay, at the end of the

book, you may find that you think a little differently about the issues and

you want to change the conclusion, but for this exercise write it now,

you can always change it later if you want to.

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