31 Composition: Stronger Conclusions
What are the three parts of a conclusion paragraph in an essay?
- Restate the thesis – Remind the readers of your main idea, but say it in a different way. In other words, paraphrase your thesis statement from the introduction of the essay.
- Summarize the main points – Show the reader once more how the main points of your essay support your thesis statement. This helps your reader “connect the dots” and come to the same conclusion as you about your topic.
- Wrap it up – Give a final thought to bring your essay to a satisfying end. As you know, one strategy is to use the evidence of your essay to make a prediction about your topic. Other strategies include giving an opinion, making a suggestion, giving a quotation, or issuing a call to action (asking your readers to do something about the topic).
In other words, your conclusion paragraph not only shows how you have proved your thesis, but it also completes your essay and makes it feel finished.
- Level 6: Discrimination is bad because everybody has a right to be themselves. Everybody should be equal. One newspaper article says that more than 20% of adults in the United States experienced discrimination at least once while receiving health care.
- Level 7: Racial discrimination in healthcare leads to many negative effects. Sometimes people of color are charged more for the same medical services. Sometimes people of color receive different or inferior treatment. Sometimes people of color are rejected and do not receive care at all. When the government allows healthcare companies to discriminate against people based on the color of their skin, then the government is disrespecting its own citizens and denying them their basic human rights. As expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people deserve equal health care.
In the Level 6 version, you can see the author tries to restate the thesis, but it isn’t very clear. Furthermore, we cannot see how the essay proved the idea. The author gives an opinion, but then the author ends with a statistic. This kind of new information is better as a supporting detail in the body of the essay. Otherwise, it doesn’t “feel” like the end yet.
In the Level 7 version, you can see all three parts of a strong conclusion paragraph:
- Restate the thesis: Racial discrimination in healthcare leads to many negative effects.
- Summarize the main points: Sometimes people of color are charged more for the same medical services. Sometimes people of color receive different or inferior treatment. Sometimes people of color are rejected and do not receive care at all.
- Wrap it up: When the government allows healthcare companies to discriminate against people based on the color of their skin, then the government is disrespecting its own citizens and denying them their basic human rights. As expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people deserve equal health care.
Try it
INSTRUCTIONS: Put these sentences in the best order for a conclusion paragraph.
I will also need to prepare my resume and search for jobs.
My goal may not be an easy one to achieve, but things that are worth doing are often not easy.
Finishing school will take me a long way to meeting this goal.
Getting a job is a goal that I would like to accomplish in the next few years.
How do you restate your thesis?
You use a writing strategy called paraphrasing. That just means saying the same idea using different words. You already do this when you use indirect quotations, or reported speech. Think more about how to paraphrase. Here are some things you can do:
- Change vocabulary by using synonyms or antonyms
- Change grammar by using a different verb tense or form
- Change word order by moving clauses or phrases to different positions
Example
- Thesis in introduction: People often request asylum because they have to, not because they want to.
- Restatement in conclusion: Many external factors force people to request asylum, even when they would prefer to stay in their home country.
Try it
INSTRUCTIONS: Rewrite these thesis statements.
- With all the different options to consider, potential students should learn about the different types of colleges so they can find a school that best fits their personality, budget, and educational goals.
- Comparing and contrasting the two cities based on their history, their culture, and their residents show how different and similar Washington and London are.
- Like education, health care should be considered a fundamental right of all US citizens, not simply a privilege for the upper and middle classes.
How do you summarize the main points?
One way to do this is to review your introduction. How did you preview the main points of the essay? Use the same paraphrasing strategies to review the main points of your essay.
Example
- Preview of main points in the introduction: The primary reasons that people request asylum in the United States are fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, and political opinion.
- Review of main points in the conclusion: For people coming to the United States, the most common reasons are oppression due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Notice how some words are very specific and cannot be changed when paraphrasing (e.g., United States, race, religion, nationality).
Another strategy is to paraphrase the topic sentences of each body paragraph. For example, look at these topic sentences:
- Body paragraph 1: One reason for asylum is racial discrimination.
- Body paragraph 2: The second major reason for people to come to the United States is because of the lack of religious freedom.
- Body paragraph 3: Third, some people face problems based on their national identification.
- Body paragraph 4: Finally, even belonging to a social group or sharing a particular political philosophy can put a person’s safety into jeopardy.
- Review of main points in the conclusion: For people coming to the United States, the most common reasons are oppression due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Try it
INSTRUCTIONS: Use these topic sentences to summarize the main points for the conclusion of an essay about the effects of the internet on our lives.
- Body paragraph 1: The internet has led to immense changes in the economy.
- Body paragraph 2: However, it is not just in business that the internet has affected us so profoundly; communication has been revolutionized.
- Body paragraph 3: Finally, social media has transformed our social lives.
Add your summary of main points to this conclusion:
In conclusion, the internet has begun to control our lives in many ways. … In the future, if the internet continues evolving at such speed, it may be only a matter of time before we lose control completely; instead of a computer following our instructions, we will be following a computer’s instructions.
How do you wrap it up?
In the end, add a final thought. It could be a suggestion, opinion, or prediction. It could be a quote or a call to action. One strong strategy is to think about the implications (consequences) of the topic: When this happens, then … or If this does not happen, then …
Example
- Final thought: People who understand these reasons for asylum can help others create a safer space that respects the rights of all people.
Try it
INSTRUCTIONS: Read this conclusion to an essay about urban over-crowding; add one more sentence to wrap things up.
In conclusion, the reasons for the over-crowding of major metropolitan areas are complicated. They include both financial and social considerations, in addition to health and human services. That is to say, people will always move to the areas which provide opportunity and freedom. …
What are some common errors writers make when writing conclusion paragraphs?
Here’s one …
Many external factors force people to request asylum, even when they would prefer to stay in their home country. For people coming to the United States, the most common reasons are oppression due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. According to Pew Research Center, the most refugees to the U.S. in 2016 came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Burma (Myanmar) and Iraq. People who understand these reasons for asylum can help others create a safer space that respects the rights of all people.
Don’t introduce new information in the conclusion. Those kinds of details belong in the body of the essay.
Analysis
INSTRUCTIONS: Can you identify the different parts of a strong conclusion in this example paragraph from a student essay?
In conclusion, thanks to education, many people are able to benefit such as finding a good job and earning a great deal of money. However, education in remote areas of the world is challenging because of the lack of schools and the school fees. Nowadays, there are many plans to build schools for children who live in remote areas. Hopefully, in the future, all parents and their children can overcome the challenge and make an effort to go to school.
Practice
INSTRUCTIONS: Think back to the research we did about how to define “happiness”. Use the concluding sentence from that paragraph to write a conclusion for an essay about “happiness”. Be sure to restate the thesis statement, summarize the main points, and offer a final thought to wrap things up,.
Quiz
INSTRUCTIONS: Use the information above to answer the questions below.
1. Conclusion paragraphs are the same as introduction paragraphs because they start with a general statement and end with something more specific. True or false?
2. A conclusion paragraph shows how you have proved your thesis. True or false?
3. Read this conclusion paragraph:
Cell phones and teenagers have a clearly problematic relationship. In fact, 87% of the population now use cell phones regularly. This technology often leads young adults to struggle with academics, self-worth, and fatigue. However, it might be more important to focus on the apps, such as social media platforms, than the technology itself.
Remember that a good conclusion paragraph does not introduce new information or details. Which sentence does not belong in this conclusion?
A. Cell phones and teenagers have a clearly problematic relationship.
B. In fact, 87% of the population now use cell phones regularly.
C. This technology often leads young adults to struggle with academics, self-worth, and fatigue.
D. However, it might be more important to focus on the apps, such as social media platforms, than the technology itself.
4. Put the following four sentences in the correct order to form a strong conclusion paragraph:
A. For example, women still earn less money for the same work, and that slows the growth of the national economy.
B. Women are also less likely to be in charge at work, and this lack of diversity can lead to inequitable decision-making for the company and the community.
C. The solution to this problem is clear: if businesses create a more level playing field, the opportunities for women will increase and the workforce will be more inviting for all.
D. Even though women are the majority of workers in the office, there are still huge challenges for them at work.
5. What are the three basic parts of every conclusion paragraph? (choose three)
A. give a final thought to wrap things up
B. summarize the main points of the body paragraphs
C. restate the thesis statement (main idea) of the essay
D. avoid contractions, and use formal academic vocabulary throughout the essay
E. add new supporting details, such as statistics, facts, definitions, reasons, etc.
F. cite the source of your information, including the author’s name and title of the publication
G. write a hook that gets the reader’s attention
6. In your conclusion paragraph, you should start by paraphrasing your thesis statement. What are some ways to paraphrase your thesis statement? (choose all that apply)
A. change the articles from definite “the” to indefinite “a/an”
B. change the order of the words in a sentence, such as moving clauses to different parts of the sentence
C. keep the original statement and then add another sentence that says the same thing in a new way
D. change the main idea
E. prove the thesis statement wrong
F. use synonyms and antonyms
G. change the grammar, such as verb tense
H. change the grammar, such as active verbs to passive verbs
7. Summarizing the main points helps the reader “connect the dots” and understand your thesis. True or false?
8. Writers often talk about implications in the conclusion paragraph. What is a synonym for implications?
A. supporting details
B. thesis statements
C. predictions
D. consequences
9. When you paraphrase, some words are specific and cannot be changed. True or false?
10. A conclusion paragraph has three parts. What are they called? Which comes first? Which comes second? Which comes last?
