ClearTips: Powerful paragraphs

Conclude with the point after introducing the subject

Occasionally, put the point at the end of a paragraph to build suspense. Do this sparingly, however, because readers tire of having to wait for you to get to the point.

One way to conclude with the point: introduce a subject, discuss it, then make a point about it at the end.

For as long as humans have co-operated in meeting their material needs, they have been falling out over who gets what. Quarrels over distribution have always been part of the background noise of politics. Sometimes they have been much more than that. At certain points they have mounted in intensity and provoked a crisis, later subsiding as they were resolved or otherwise forgotten. The turning points in this cycle have marked some of the most traumatic events of human history. If concerns over economic inequality are mounting once again, it is a matter of more than passing interest.

Imagine that a mad scientist went back to 1950 and offered to transport the median family to the wondrous world of the 1990s, and to place them at, say, the 25th percentile level. The 25th percentile of 1996 is a clear material improvement over the median of 1950. Would they accept his offer? Almost surely not—because in 1950 they were middle class, while in 1996 they would be poor, even if they lived better in material terms. People don't just care about their absolute material level, they care about their level compared with others.

Although it may be tempting, resist the urge to impose this design on perfectly sound leading-point paragraphs just to add rhetorical interest. One good place to use a concluding-point paragraph is at the start of a piece. In this prime location, concluding-point paragraphs lead readers into a piece gently.

Another place to use this pattern is when you're trying to make a point that you know might be hard for your readers to swallow. By putting the point at the end, you allow time for a softening preface and give yourself a chance to explain your position.

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