****Compiled by Denise Slavinski, 10/2/07

Conclusions

Minimum 3-5 sentences.

Purpose:

To bring all of your thesis points together in a reflective manner,

Reinforce the main points and blend them together,

Provide a feeling of closure to the essay,

Answer “So What?”, “Why is this important?”, “Why should I [the reader] care?” in terms of the entire essay and all of the points you have discussed.

A conclusion can (but not all do):

• End with obvious closure that gives essay sense of completeness.
• Refer to an example, fact, statistic made in the introduction.
• Leave reader with an understanding of what to think, do, or believe about essay’s subject matter. You can do this by: ending with a question that makes reader think, or commenting about the future.

DO NOT:

• Restate your introduction. Instead, bring in the points from the body of your essay and answer the “So What?” question.
• Apologize or cast doubt on your essay (ex: “Even though I’m no expert,” “This may not be convincing, but I believe it’s true.”)
• Start off in a completely new direction with a different or broader subject, or introduce unnecessary or irrelevant details.

DO:

• Revisit the thesis statement. Note: Do Not copy and paste your thesis from the introduction. Rather, reword the thesis in an interesting or clearer manner to allow for a little more detail and complexity. (i.e., now that you have all the points of the essay, how should you word the thesis?). When you do this, pause to mention the implications of the thesis, especially as it pertains to the subject matter of your essay.
• Recap (Briefly!) your argument. Remind the reader of your main points, making sure each point answers the “So what?” question.
• Take the conclusion a step further. This is not going off in a completely new direction. Rather, assume that because you have made a very solid argument, there are options for where the essay could go if you had space. In other words, since we now have X, we can discover Y. This tactic proves you understand the complexities of your argument and that you know the argument is not closed.  

Some Examples of Conclusions

      [1] Thus Whitman uses the bodies and the image of Christ to reveal the utter desolation and bewilderment the soldiers encounter in the Civil War. [2] Perhaps the speaker’s need to connect with the isolated dead is, in actuality, an attempt to combat the sudden absence of God in the war. [3] Whitman asserts that the bodies of all men help to magnify the consequences of war that all men experience, as well as creating a desolate society of death in which only living soldiers can also participate. [4] Whitman offers no solutions to the problem, except that the living may find solace in the dead.

      [1] The resistance to the traditional marriage plots in The Portrait of a Lady and in The Rise of Silas Lapham reveals the realist setting of the novels as well as the characters’ inability to fully evade the conventional plots dictated by society. [2] Their resistance furthermore illuminates an anxiety regarding social instability. [3] Society cannot “persuade” Isabel and Tom to do any thing; in fact, the more society tries, the harder Isabel and Tom push back. [4] Thus, the actions of Isabel and Tom show the diminution of society’s control over its subjects. [5] To survive and to prevent complete social breakdown, society must allow certain aspects of its plots to be restructured. [6] The malleability of society manifests in the fact that Isabel and Tom actually do make marriages. [7] However, society can only bend so far and change so swiftly, as evidenced by the death of Isabel’s child and by the physical removal of Tom and Penelope from America. [8] Their resistance to the conventional marriage plot will affect society overall, but they must pay the price as the instigators of this change.