A conclusion paragraph should echo your main idea and support or summarize your examples without dully restating them. Below are six ways to approach your conclusion:
The Simple Summary
- restates the main points of the essay
- is effective for long essays dealing in unfamiliar concepts
- BUT… can seem dull in short essays
The Plan to a Larger Landscape Approach
- demonstrates how the topic has a broad significance
- reveals the importance of the issue discussed
- may use an analogy as a tool for expressing significance
- may tie topic to larger philosophical question(s), political issue(s), etc.
- BUT… the writer must be careful to make the connection(s) to the thesis clear
The Proposal Conclusion
- asks readers to do something through a call to action
- is often used in analyses and arguments
- can also call for further study
The Scenic or Anecdotal Conclusion
- uses a scene or a brief story to subtly demonstrate the topic's significance
- established emotional connection with the reader
- can be effective in argumentative essays
The Hook and Return
- returns to the essay's "hook" or lead-in device
- reviews a scene or example that grabs the reader's attention in the beginning and takes it one step further
- unifies the essay
The Delayed Thesis
- can be used when the essay takes an exploratory approach, opening with a question or problem, and then deals with a variety of proposals and solutions
- states the thesis as a discovery
- is effective for controversial issues because all sides can be examined