Conclusions
About conclusions
Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. The conclusion allows you to have the final say on the issues you have raised in your paper, to summarize your thoughts, to demonstrate the importance of your ideas, and to propel your reader to a new view of the subject. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to end on a positive note.The conclusion pushes beyond the boundaries of the prompt and allows you to consider broader issues, make new connections, and elaborate on the significance of your findings.
Your conclusion should make your readers glad they read your paper. Your conclusion gives your reader something to take away that will help them see things differently or appreciate your topic in personally relevant ways. It can suggest broader implications that will not only interest your reader, but also enrich your reader’s life in some way. It is your gift to the reader.
Strategies for writing an effective conclusion
One or more of the following strategies may help you write an effective conclusion.- Play the “So What” Game. If you’re stuck and feel
like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting,
ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever you make a statement
from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or
“Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and
answer it. Here’s how it might go:
- You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was
important to Douglass.
Friend: So what?
You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen.
Friend: Why should anybody care?
You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.
- Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This
strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin
by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as
proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding.
You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key
words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the
introduction.
- Synthesize, don’t summarize: Include a brief summary of
the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that
were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you
made and the support and examples you used fit together. Pull it
all together.
- Include a provocative insight or quotation from the
research or reading you did for your paper.
- Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or
questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s
thought process and help her to apply your info and ideas to her
own life or to see the broader implications.
- Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper
examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the Civil
Rights Movement, you could point out its impact on the Civil
Rights Movement as a whole. A paper about the style of writer
Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on
later feminists.
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.
- 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.
Four kinds of ineffective conclusions
- The “That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It”
Conclusion. This conclusion just restates the thesis and is
usually painfully short. It does not push the ideas forward.
People write this kind of conclusion when they can’t think of
anything else to say. Example: In conclusion, Frederick Douglass
was, as we have seen, a pioneer in American education, proving
that education was a major force for social change with regard to
slavery.
- The “Sherlock Holmes” Conclusion. Sometimes writers
will state the thesis for the very first time in the conclusion.
You might be tempted to use this strategy if you don’t want to
give everything away too early in your paper. You may think it
would be more dramatic to keep the reader in the dark until the
end and then “wow” him with your main idea, as in a Sherlock
Holmes mystery. The reader, however, does not expect a mystery,
but an analytical discussion of your topic in an academic style,
with the main argument (thesis) stated up front. Example: (After a
paper that lists numerous incidents from the book but never says
what these incidents reveal about Douglass and his views on
education): So, as the evidence above demonstrates, Douglass saw
education as a way to undermine the slaveholders’ power and also
an important step toward freedom.
- The “America the Beautiful”/”I Am Woman”/”We
Shall Overcome” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion usually
draws on emotion to make its appeal, but while this emotion and
even sentimentality may be very heartfelt, it is usually out of
character with the rest of an analytical paper. A more
sophisticated commentary, rather than emotional praise, would be a
more fitting tribute to the topic. Example: Because of the efforts
of fine Americans like Frederick Douglass, countless others have
seen the shining beacon of light that is education. His example
was a torch that lit the way for others. Frederick Douglass was
truly an American hero.
- The “Grab Bag” Conclusion. This kind of conclusion
includes extra information that the writer found or thought of but
couldn’t integrate into the main paper. You may find it hard to
leave out details that you discovered after hours of research and
thought, but adding random facts and bits of evidence at the end
of an otherwise-well-organized essay can just create confusion.
Example: In addition to being an educational pioneer, Frederick
Douglass provides an interesting case study for masculinity in the
American South. He also offers historians an interesting glimpse
into slave resistance when he confronts Covey, the overseer. His
relationships with female relatives reveal the importance of
family in the slave community.
Effective conclusions
- Reflect on how your topic
relates to larger issues (in the novel, in society, in history)
- Show how your topic
affects the reader’s life
- Evaluate the concepts you
have presented
- Issue a call for action on
the part of your audience
- Ask questions generated by
your findings
- Make predictions
- Recommend a solution
- Connect back to
introduction, esp. if you used a metaphor, anecdote, or vivid image
- Give a personal statement
about the topic
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