WRITING CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSION The PURPOSE of CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHS BRING the ESSAY FULL CIRCLE CONCLUSION THE PURPOSE of CONLCUDING PARAGRAPHS • To stress the importance or relevance of your thesis (SO WHAT?!) • To give the essay a sense of completeness or finality • To leave the reader with a final impression: *This is your last chance to convince or persuade the reader, so make the most of it! CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS • REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT: – repeat your purpose – repeat your thesis NOT WORD FOR WORD • moral, lessons • point, argument • Dominant Impression – repeat your main ideas (support, proof) • examples, details, points, • arguments, traits CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS • • • • Discuss in full the lessons learned Suggest larger implications of your findings Suggest future papers or research Refer back to the purpose and/or scenario mentioned in your Introduction • Pose rhetorical questions • Offer a 3rd side to the issue • End with a CLINCHER SENTENCE* CONCLUSION CLINCHER SENTENCE • Just as you ended each Body paragraph with a concluding sentence that wrapped up that point/paragraph AND that segued into the next point, so too will you end the entire essay. Thesis Statement : Topic Sentence :: Clincher Sentence : Paragraph Clincher Sentence CONCLUSION CLINCHER SENTENCE • Clincher Sentences: – aphoristically summarize the main point – they signal that the essay is finished – they suggest future essay topics – they refer to your opening scenario (purpose) – they refer to your main point CONCLUSION CLINCHER SENTENCE • Avoid the empty cliché. • Wrap it all up. • *Relate to your point* – For example, if you wrote a process paper on making a PB&J sandwich, end by saying that you are now hungry for one. – If you wrote about your favorite band, end by waiting impatiently for their next disc or their next concert. – If you wrote that your car is a Junker, end optimistically by looking forward to the day when you can afford a new car or the car of your dreams. Clincher Sentence: TAKE a BOW GOODNIGHT, DETROIT! WE LOVE YOU! CONCLUSION • • • • Refer to opening GENERALIZATION or SCENARIO Repeat THESIS Repeat MAIN IDEAS End with CLINCHER SENTENCE CONCLUSION Helpful Websites When Writing Conclusions • http://www.gmu.edu/departments/ writingcenter/handouts/introcon.html • http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/ writing/introconslu.html • http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts conclusions.html • http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/ conclude.html THE END!
