The conclusion of an essay is the final paragraph that ties everything together, giving readers a sense of closure and providing them with the main themes and arguments you’ve made. It’s also where you can sum up what you’ve learned from your research and express why this research was important in the first place.
In short, The conclusion is super important! Knowing how to write a conclusion will help readers understand what they just read (not to mention impress your English teacher).
Here are some tips on how write a conclusion:
- State your thesis
- Summarize the main points
- Point out the importance of your argument/research
- End with a flourish!
1. State your thesis
In your concluding paragraph, state your thesis once again. This is the last time you will have to do so in the essay, so it’s important that you make sure your audience remembers what the essay was about. A great way to do this is by using a topic sentence near the beginning of your conclusion:
To summarize, in my essay I discussed how people can influence themselves to become more positive thinkers.
In conclusion, I would like to say that everyone has within them an inner potential for greatness—it just needs some encouragement from outside sources to come out!
I’m going to end my essay with another quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The soul becomes.”
2. Summarize the main points
In the final paragraph, you will want to summarize all of the main points and sub-points that you’ve made in your essay. You can do this by rephrasing or summarizing what was said in each of these sections. The last sentence of your essay should also be a summary statement about what you learned from your research and writing process.
It is important to note that the conclusion should not simply be a restatement or regurgitation of information from earlier paragraphs! It should be a summation of everything that went before with new insights gained through writing as well as research.
The most effective conclusions are those that show how all things come together (e.g., “This research shows us how X connects with Y in this way…”). If possible, try to weave together several related ideas into one concluding paragraph so that readers can see how they fit together without having them explicitly explained (e.g., “This research shows us how X connects with Y because A leads B leads C leads D”).
3. Point out the importance of your argument/research
You should also summarize the importance of your argument or research. In order to do this, you need to explain how the argument and/or research have been useful and helpful to others.
If you’re writing a paper for a class, this could be as simple as saying “my teacher will find my paper interesting because it will provide new information about a topic that he/she has never taught me before.”
If you’re writing an essay for a journal or newspaper, go into more detail about how your work is relevant to people who are not in your immediate circle.
For example: “this study shows that alligators have digestive systems similar to those found in humans, which may lead doctors working with patients with Crohn’s Disease (a form of Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome) towards developing new treatments.”
4. End with a flourish!
You want your conclusion to be a bit of a flourish, something that ties the essay together and makes it memorable. A good flourish is:
- A rhetorical question or an interesting quote that adds to the conversation you started in your introduction
- A joke that helps end on a high note (no pun intended)
- An inspiring conclusion that leaves the reader wanting more—in other words, one that gets them thinking about some aspect of their own lives
Things to avoid while writing conclusion
Conclusions are the most important part of your essay. They tell the reader what you have to say about the topic and how you feel about it. But if you’re not careful, it’s easy to make a mistake here.
Don’t summarize everything you’ve written
You don’t want to repeat everything you’ve said in your paper. Instead, try to focus on two or three main points and explain how they fit into your overall argument.
Don’t make unsupported claims
In other words, don’t just say things like “this is why I think this,” or “this is what I believe.” These statements don’t make much sense unless you explain exactly why you believe them (and how they support your analysis). You can also use an example from your paper to illustrate your point — just be sure that it actually supports it!
Writing a good conclusion is hard. It takes time to practice and know-how, but you can get there! Practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes with your essay or thesis statement. You can learn from them and try again. You can also learn from other people’s mistakes—just look at history books for famous examples of bad conclusions. Or if you want some inspiration for writing your own conclusion, take a look at the conclusions of other people who excel at writing speeches: politicians, celebrities…the list goes on!
Conclusion
Conclusion is one of the most important parts of your essay, as it summarizes what has been discussed in the body and tells the reader what you think about it. Writing a good conclusion is not easy, but if you follow our tips and suggestions, you will surely be able to do it!
Credits:
Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash
What is a conclusion?
A conclusion is a statement of the main idea, or most important point of your essay. It should be brief, but it should also do one more thing: summarize your main point so the reader can remember it. A good conclusion will leave the reader with a satisfying feeling that they’ve learned something or gained insight into a topic, even if they didn’t agree with everything you said.
How long should a conclusion paragraph be?
The conclusion is one of the most important parts of an essay because it gives readers a sense of closure. The conclusion should not be too long and should only include the most important points of your essay to avoid overwhelming readers with unnecessary information.
