Wrap Your Essays Up with Strong Conclusion Paragraphs

Along with introduction paragraphs, conclusion paragraphs pose a lot of problems for students. In my last post, I discussed my simple system for writing strong introductions; here, I want to talk about writing good conclusions. If you have trouble wrapping your papers up effectively, take heart: conclusion paragraphs are easier to write than introduction paragraphs, and should take far less time. Learn how to write good conclusions after the jump.A conclusion paragraph, as the phrase suggests, concludes an essay. It's an opportunity for you to pull all the information you've provided together and hammer your point home one last time. If done well--which isn't difficult--it will boil your paper down to its essentials, give your reader a sense of completeness and closure, and leave a lasting effect. Let's take a look at how to do all these things.

Start with a restatement of your thesis. For example, let's say I'm writing a paper arguing the thesis that " nutrition education and intervention during the school years is vital to the health of future generations." The first sentence of my conclusion paragraph might be something like: "Early health and diet education has a significant impact on future health."

After you've restated your thesis, spend a few sentences summarizing the key points you've used in your essay. In my conclusion, I might write: "Studies have shown that effective nutrition education at the elementary-school level leads to more healthful choices down the road. Simply providing children with nutritious food options during school meals, in fact, has been proven to positively affect their eating decisions outside of school. Ultimately, this will improve the overall health and quality of life of entire generations."

Finally, finish strong by reminding your reader of why your argument is important or relevant. In my example, I'll write something like: "The long-term health of our children is extremely important. To improve the futures of our children and our nation, we must look to solutions that teach them to make better choices and live healthier lives."

My finished conclusion will read:

Early health and diet education has a significant impact on future health. Studies have shown that effective nutrition education at the elementary-school level leads to more healthful choices down the road. Simply providing children with nutritious food options during school meals, in fact, has been proven to positively affect their eating decisions outside of school. Ultimately, this will improve the overall health and quality of life of entire generations. The long-term health of our children is extremely important. To improve the futures of our children and our nation, we must look to solutions that teach them to make better choices and live healthier lives.

If you look at the structure of this conclusion paragraph, you'll see that it's almost exactly an inversion of the funnel structure of the introduction paragraph I discussed in my last post. Here, instead of going from general to specific to draw the reader in to your topic, you're going from specific to general to remind your reader of why your specific topic matters in general. It's an effective way of not only hammering your key points home, but showing why what you've written is relevant.

A couple more things to consider:

I'm not a fan of signal phrases like "in conclusion." To me, a restated thesis is enough of a signal that you're wrapping up your essay. I'm also against using your conclusion to introduce new information. If the fact, statistic, quote, or whatever new information you want to put in your conclusion is important, then it belongs within the body of your essay. Avoid confusing your reader or muddling your conclusion by sticking only to what you've already discussed.

Writing conclusion paragraphs can seem daunting at first. The key is simple, though. All you need to do is conclude. You've already done all the hard work. Follow the system I've just described to wrap your essay up so that you can get your A and move on to the next assignment!