“And in Conclusion…”
Strategies for Writing Effective Conclusions

Do you remember the last words spoken by your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, the final advice given in your senior year by your favorite teacher, the words spoken by your mother or father as you left for college? These important moments ended a passage in your life; thus, they took on heightened significance and resonated long after they were spoken. In the same way, a good conclusion continues speaking to and resonating with a reader long after he or she has finished reading it.

A good conclusion should:

• Remind the reader of the thesis statement and answer the question, “So What?”
• Give the essay a sense of completion and closure
• Leave the reader with a final, lasting impression
• Make the reader glad that he or she read your paper

Several types of effective and memorable conclusions:

The Simple Summary: If you choose this common type of conclusion, be sure to synthesize, rather than merely summarizing. Avoid a dull restatement of your major points. Don’t monotonously restate your major ideas; instead, show your readers how the points you raised fit together and why your ideas matter. Also, try to avoid the phrase, “and in conclusion.” This can insult the reader’s intelligence: After all, if you’ve organized your paper well, it will be obvious that you have begun your concluding remarks.

The Frame or Circle Technique: Here, a writer circles back to the beginning, returning to the metaphor, image, anecdote, quotation, or example he or she used in the introductory paragraph. Echoing the introduction gives essays a nice sense of unity and completion.

The Panning to the Horizon Technique: This technique moves the reader from the specifics of a paper or essay to a larger, perhaps even universal, point. It redirects the readers, giving them something meaty to chew over. You can demonstrate the importance and broad significance of your topic by using an appropriate analogy, tying the topic to a larger philosophic or political issue, posing a challenging question, or encouraging the reader to look to the future.

The Proposal or Call to Action: Especially useful in a persuasive or argumentative essay, in this type of conclusion the writer makes a proposal and/or asks the readers to do something, calling them to action. It is frequently seen in sermons and political speeches.

The Concluding Story Technique: Here, the writer sums up the essay by sketching a scene or by telling a brief anecdote that illustrates the topic’s significance. Often, this approach makes an emotional connection with the reader.

The Delayed Thesis Conclusion: In some essays, the writer takes an exploratory approach, perhaps dealing with a variety of proposals and solutions. The conclusion states the thesis almost as if it is a discovery, allowing the reader to make the discovery along with you. However, this can be a difficult technique to carry off. The thesis, even though it may go unstated until the very end, should nevertheless serve as the inevitable controlling force for the entire essay.

Teresa Sweeney & Fran Hooker, Webster University Writing Center, 2005