Not sure if my idea for a conclusion is introducing a new argument
I hate conclusions, but one thing I know about them is that you're not supposed to introduce new arguments.
The theme of my essay is about how the class of characters in the work I'm writing about influences what happens to them, or more plainly: How class influences the situations of characters.
Would it be considered introducing a new argument in the conclusion if I wrote about the lack of social mobility and higher income inequality in the world today? Would it depend on how I stated this? I've been stuck on my conclusion for a while and would appreciate some help. If I wasn't clear enough, please tell me.
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1 answer
Rhetorically speaking, your conclusion should not be a mere summing up of arguments already presented. Rather, it should build a rising tide of emotion and conviction to carry your reader irresistibly to act as you would have them act. The whole point of communication is to change the reader's behavior. There are no points (except in school) for following the formula. There are only points for the actual effect of your essay.
If bringing in a new argument at the end, particularly tying your argument to something the reader already knows and already feels passionately about, can help build to that great crest of conviction you are trying to achieve, then go for it.
This is not to say that you should ignore the conventional form entirely, but it is to say that the conventional form is only a form and a convention. It is doubtless based on some valid principles, but slavish adherence to the form seldom brings any work to a resounding crescendo. If the mob needs to hear one more accusation of monstrous villany before they take up their torches and pitchforks and storm the castle, by all means throw it in.
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