Writing+-+Conclusions

Strategies for Writing a Conclusion Conclusions are often the most difficult part of an essay to write, and many writers feel that they have nothing left to say after having written the paper. A writer needs to keep in mind that the conclusion is often what a reader remembers best. Your conclusion should be the best part of your paper.


 * A conclusion should **
 * stress the importance of the thesis statement,
 * give the essay a sense of completeness, and
 * leave a final impression on the reader.

Show your readers why this paper was important. Show them that your paper was meaningful and useful.
 * Suggestions **
 * **Answer the question "So What?" **
 * **Synthesize, don't summarize **
 * Don't simply repeat things that were in your paper. They have read it. Show them how the points you made and the support and examples you used were not random, but fit together.
 * **Redirect your readers **
 * Give your reader something to think about, perhaps a way to use your paper in the "real" world. If your introduction went from general to specific, make your conclusion go from specific to general. Think globally.
 * **Create a new meaning **
 * You don't have to give new information to create a new meaning. By demonstrating how your ideas work together, you can create a new picture. Often the sum of the paper is worth more than its parts.

From the parking lot, I could see the towers of the castle of the Magic Kingdom standing stately against the blue sky. To the right, the tall peak of The Matterhorn rose even higher. From the left, I could hear the jungle sounds of Adventureland. As I entered the gate, Main Street stretched before me with its quaint shops evoking an old-fashioned small town so charming it could never have existed. I was entranced. Disneyland may have been built for children, but it brings out the child in adults. I thought I would spend a few hours at Disneyland, but here I was at 1:00 A.M., closing time, leaving the front gates with the now dark towers of the Magic Kingdom behind me. I could see tired children, toddling along and struggling to keep their eyes open as best they could. Others slept in their parents' arms as we waited for the parking lot tram that would take us to our cars. My forty-year-old feet ached, and I felt a bit sad to think that in a couple of days I would be leaving California, my vacation over, to go back to my desk. But then I smiled to think that for at least a day I felt ten years old again.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Strategies **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Echoing the introduction: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Echoing your introduction can be a good strategy if it is meant to bring the reader full-circle. If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay was helpful in creating a new understanding.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Example **
 * //<span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Introduction //**
 * //<span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Conclusion //**


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Challenging the reader: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> By issuing a challenge to your readers, you are helping them to redirect the information in the paper, and they may apply it to their own lives.

<span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Though serving on a jury is not only a civic responsibility but also an interesting experience, many people still view jury duty as a chore that interrupts their jobs and the routine of their daily lives. However, juries are part of America's attempt to be a free and just society. Thus, jury duty challenges us to be interested and responsible citizens.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Example **


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Looking to the future: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Looking to the future can emphasize the importance of your paper or redirect the readers' thought process. It may help them apply the new information to their lives or see things more globally.

<span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Without well-qualified teachers, schools are little more than buildings and equipment. If higher-paying careers continue to attract the best and the brightest students, there will not only be a shortage of teachers, but the teachers available may not have the best qualifications. Our youth will suffer. And when youth suffers, the future suffers.
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Example **


 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Posing questions: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Posing questions, either to your readers or in general, may help your readers gain a new perspective on the topic, which they may not have held before reading your conclusion. It may also bring your main ideas together to create a new meaning.

<span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Campaign advertisements should help us understand the candidate's qualifications and positions on the issues. Instead, most tell us what a boob or knave the opposing candidate is, or they present general images of the candidate as a family person or God-fearing American. Do such advertisements contribute to creating an informed electorate or a people who choose political leaders the same way they choose soft drinks and soap?
 * <span style="color: #111111; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Example **

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; text-align: center;">Writing a Conclusion
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">An effective concluding paragraph should provide closure for a paper, leaving the reader feeling satisfied that the thesis has been fully explained. Probably the shortest paragraph of an essay, the conclusion should be brief and to the point. The conclusion should provide a restatement of the thesis, a summary of the author's conclusions, and perhaps a solution to the problem, if this is the writer's intent. However, a good writer avoids a blatant repetition of the thesis statement which can leave a reader feeling annoyed an disappointed after reading an otherwise interesting paper. Repeating the thesis, word for word, in the conclusion seems lazy and is not very interesting. It is best to restate the ideas using different language, perhaps even to create a sort of dramatic effect that comes from repetition. Good conclusions might have a dramatic quality -- rather like a grand finale. The conclusion should leave the reader with an overall sense of how the writer feels about the subject. Concluding statements which refer back to the introductory paragraph are appropriate here. Frequently, the ideas in the body of an essay lead to some significant conclusion that can be stated and explained in this final paragraph. Finally, this is not the place to introduce ideas you forgot to mention in the body of the paper! <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Some effective techniques for creating a conclusion are: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">What **NOT** to do in a concluding paragraph:
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">restate the seriousness of a problem ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">summarize your thesis or proposed solution ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">recap the most important points of the paper ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">bring a chronologically organized paper up to the present and suggest future directions ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Call for awareness: If writing about new issues, an ending with a call for awareness seems fitting. ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Unanswered questions/Implications for further study: What issues can be resolved in this essay, and what questions remain about the issue? ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">pose some questions to your reader, encouraging him to continue thinking about the thesis ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Rationale: Why is this an important thing to study? (This is mainly for people doing comparison papers.) ||
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Call for action/What //you// can do: Kind of like a call for awareness, but with specific directions for the audience on how they can get involved and combat this problem. ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">DO NOT **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> use cliches which sound good but mean nothing ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">DO NOT **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> introduce new arguments, evidence, or details ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">DO NOT **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> apologize for doing a poor job of presenting the material ||
 * || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">DO NOT **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> qualify or blunt the impact of points made earlier ||

Strategies to avoid

 * Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase such as "in conclusion," "in summary," or "in closing." Although these phrases can work in speeches, they come across as wooden and trite in writing.
 * Stating the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
 * Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion.
 * Ending with a rephrased thesis statement without any substantive changes.
 * Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of an analytical paper.
 * Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper.