Openings and Conclusions That Work

Junior Cycle English · Grammar & Language

The first line and the last line of any answer do far more work than their length suggests. A strong opening makes the examiner sit up and read on. A strong ending leaves them with a good final impression. Get those two lines right and everything in between feels stronger.

Why first and last lines matter

Think about the person reading your work. They have a stack of answers in front of them, and they form a first impression in seconds. Your opening line is your chance to make that impression a good one. Your closing line is the last thing they read before they decide what your piece is worth.

This is not about tricks. It is about respect for whoever is reading and confidence in your own writing. When you start well and finish well, you sound like someone who knew exactly what they wanted to say.

Openings that hook

The job of an opening is to pull your reader in and tell them what kind of piece this is. How you do that depends on what you are writing.

Creative writing

Drop us straight into something. Try one of these:

• Action: begin in the middle of a moment, not before it.
• An image: one sharp, specific picture we can actually see.
• A line of dialogue: someone speaking pulls us in fast.
• A surprising statement: say something that makes people want to know more.

Functional writing

State your purpose in the very first line. A letter, a speech, a report, a blog post: whoever opens it should know what this is and what you want from them straight away. Do not warm up. Begin.

Studied-text answers

Address the question in your opening sentence. If you are asked about a character, name that character and make a point about them at once. The examiner wants to see you answering, not circling.

Openings to avoid

Some openings warn the examiner to lower their expectations. Steer clear of these:

• “Hi, my name is…” in a piece that does not need it.
• “It was a normal day.” A normal day is a slow start to nothing.
• Long warm-ups that clear your throat for a paragraph before the writing actually begins.
• Repeating the question back word for word instead of answering it.

Conclusions that land

A weak ending can undo a strong piece. Do not trail off. Do not simply repeat what you have already said. A good ending does one of three things.

• It adds a final thought: a small idea that lifts the piece without opening a whole new subject.
• It circles back to the opening: an echo of your first image or line gives the ending a satisfying click.
• It lands a clear last line: short, deliberate, the kind of sentence you choose on purpose.

For functional writing, end with the purpose fulfilled. A speech might end with a call to action. A letter signs off properly. Your reader should close the piece feeling that you have finished, not stopped.

Worked examples

Here is a weak opening for a personal story:

“It was a normal day and I woke up and got dressed and went downstairs to have my breakfast like I always do.”

Nothing has happened yet, and anyone marking it is already drifting. Now the same story, opened with an image and a line of dialogue:

The kettle was still warm when I noticed the back door standing open. “Mam?” My voice came out smaller than I meant it to. Strong opening, personal story

We are already inside the moment, and we want to know what happens next.

Now a weak ending for the same kind of piece:

“And that is all that happened on that day. In conclusion, I have told you about my strange morning. The end.”

It trails off and repeats itself. Here is an ending that lands instead:

The door was only ever the wind. But I still check it now, every morning, before the kettle boils. Strong ending, personal story

It circles back to the kettle from the opening and leaves us with one quiet, deliberate line.

Common mistakes

Watch for these. Most of them come from nerves or rushing:

• Slow warm-up openings that take a whole paragraph to get going.
• Starting a conclusion with “In conclusion, I have told you about…” It signals that nothing new is coming.
• Trailing off with “and that is all” or “the end”.
• Repeating your introduction word for word at the close. The examiner has already read it once.

Using This in the Exam

You do not have long to plan, so spend a little of that time on your first and last lines on purpose. Decide how you will open before you start writing the body, and leave yourself room to finish properly rather than running out of time mid-sentence.

How to use it: Before you write the body, jot a first line and a rough last line in the margin. Pick an opening that suits the task: an image or dialogue for a story, a clear statement of purpose for functional writing, a direct point for a studied text. When you reach the end, read your opening again and try to echo it, or finish on one short, deliberate sentence. If you only fix two lines in any answer, fix the first and the last.

In short

Your opening earns attention. Your ending decides the feeling they are left with. Start inside the moment, or state your purpose, or answer the question at once. Then finish with a last line you chose deliberately. Skip the slow warm-up and the tired “in conclusion”. Two lines, well placed, can lift a whole piece.