Name: _________________________ Pd. ____
THE CONCLUSION
So you're almost finished! Whew! I'm sure you're glad to be approaching the end of your
critical paper and relieved that you'll be able to take a break from the seemingly endless cycle of
writing, reading, editing, and rewriting, but don't be too hasty to hit print and turn in your paper.
After all the hard work you've put in, it would be a shame to make to degrade your paper by
failing to write an adequate conclusion that points out the true significance of your paper. So
hold on! It's only about six more sentences and could be the difference between an A and a B.
Where to start: You need to pull all your ideas together in a way that shows how they are all
linked, much in the same way you did with your thesis statement in your introduction. Indeed,
one way to start is to restate your thesis. NOTE: restate does not mean copy and paste! And to
those of you who are tempted: if I can remember where to find a quote in a novel over a hundred
pages long it only seems smart to assume that I can remember your thesis when your paper is
under 10 pages. Also it’s a good idea to include the author’s name and the title of the work on
which you focused. Remember to do this early on in your conclusion.
So what? The most essential thing your conclusion needs to do is address the questions “So
what?” and “Why should anybody care?” So if your thesis deals with Fitzgerald's/Nick's belief
the American Dream is not attainable what repercussions does that have for your reader/society
today? If you are discussing whether or not Gatsby is great why does this matter? In other words,
your conclusion does the opposite of your introduction. Your introduction went from a broad idea
(theme or concept) to a specific thesis. Your conclusion will start with your specific thesis and
broaden back out into the significance of your topic.
Clarity: Of all parts of your paper this paragraph needs to be as smooth and clear as possible as
this is your final impression on the reader and, as such, is often the most memorable. Be smooth,
be elegant, be unique, be memorable!
WORKS CITED
Your works cited should be the last page of your paper. It must adhere to the following rules:
1. entries must be listed in alphabetic order
2. must be double spaced
3. the first line of each entry is not indented but all subsequent lines are
FORMAT
1. Header: Your paper must have a header. This is easy enough to insert. You go to insert
and select header. The header should be positioned on the top right of your paper and
should include your last name and the page number. Be sure to use the insert page
number function rather than just typing a 1 or a 1 will repeat on every page.
2. Heading:
Your name
Miss O'Reilly
Honors American Literature
30 April 2015
3. Title: Should be unique, attention grabbing, and yet still relevant. Aim for less than ten
words.
4. Quotes: Remember your citation goes at the end of the sentence and includes the
author’s name and page number. For example: …. (Fitzgerald 5). This is true for both
primary and secondary sources. Remember long quotes, quotes which exceed three typed
lines (of which you should have no more than 3), should be single spaced and indented
one tab line for the entirety of the quote. You then resume your paragraph after it with no
indentation (see the website links for clarification). Also remember that your analysis
should be at least as long as the quote itself and typically longer.
5. Entire paper: Times New Roman, sz. 12 pt font, 1-inch margins
FINAL REVISIONS
1. Re-read the grading rubric to make sure you haven’t missed any essential components.
2. QUOTES: Count and label your quotes in the margins. All primary quotes should be
labeled P# (P1, P2, etc...) and all secondary quotes should be labeled S# (S1, S2, etc...).
Remember only literary criticism counts as a secondary quote, so if you opened with a
quote by a famous person it doesn't count towards your total of 25 primary or 10
secondary quotes. Also, remember NO FLOATING QUOTES
3. VOCAB: Make sure you have at least 10 vocab words used correctly in your paper and
that you've bolded them. And in this case, more is better :) Remember as you can see on
your rubric earning full points for vocab is not merely a matter of sticking 10 vocab
words into an otherwise weak worded paper.
4. GRAMMAR: Read your paper aloud to help catch the awkwardness your mind may
automatically try to fill in. Don't forget to evaluate every comma and word choice – after
all you know I will :) Also, NO CONTRACTIONS, NO INFORMAL PRONOUNS, and
double check to ensure you are in present tense, using parallel form, and have the correct
subject number agreement between subjects, verbs, and pronouns. Also, try to avoid
ending a sentence or clause with a preposition wherever possible.