Conclusions
Most argument questions hinge， either directly or indirectly， on determining
the conclusion of the argument. The conclusion is the main idea of the argu
ment. It is what the writer tries to persuade the reader to believe. Most of
ten the conclusion comes at the end of the argument. The writer organizes th
e facts and his opinions so that they build up to the conclusion. Sometimes，
however， the conclusion will come at the beginning of an argument， rarely d
oes it come in the middle， and occasionally， for rhetorical effect， the conc
lusion is not even stated.
Example：
The police are the armed guardians of the social order. The blacks are the c
hief domestic victims of the American social order. A conflict of interest e
xists， therefore， between the blacks and the police.——Eldridge Cleaver， Soul
on Ice
Here the first two sentences anticipate or set up the conclusion. By changin
g the grammar slightly， the conclusion can be placed at the beginning of the
argument and still sound natural：
A conflict of interest exists between the blacks and the police because the
police are the armed guardians of the socialsgroupsand the blacks are the ch
ief domestic victims of the American social order.
The conclusion can also be forcedsintosthe middle：
The police are the armed guardians of the social order. So a conflict of int
erest exists between the blacks and the police because the blacks are the ch
ief domestic victims of the American social order.
It is generally awkward， as in the previous paragraph， to place the conclusi
on in the middle of the argument because then it cannot be fully anticipated
by what comes before nor fully explained by what comes after. On the rare o
ccasion when a conclusion comes in the middle of an argument， most often eit
her the material that comes after it or the material that comes before it is
not essential.
