If you think that once you’re done with writing the introduction and the body of an essay your work is complete and the rest is just a piece of cake. You would be very wrong to think that because in reality that is not the case.
In this article, you will find the various tips and tricks in order to make your essay conclusion more impressive.
Importance of an Essay Conclusion
The conclusion is a very important section of an essay, just as important as the intro and the body sections, if not more. Writing an essay conclusion is an art which you perfect with time. An essay conclusion has the power to make or break your grades. A good essay conclusion can take your essay to the next level and even hide some of the minor shortcomings of the rest of the essay or make all your hard work go to waste. As the conclusion is the last paragraph of the essay, you should put the most emphasis on it, as whenever a reader tries to recollect the contents of an essay, they only remember it through the essay conclusion. Thus, it can be said that an essay conclusion is the final link between the essay and the readers mind.
Here are 8 effective tips which you should keep in mind while writing an essay conclusion:
Rephrase the Opening thesis Statement: As mentioned above, the essay conclusion is the final link between the contents of the essay and the readers mind, therefore the conclusion of an essay must relate to all the questions you set out to answer. It should connect to the thesis statement or the question presented by you. A good conclusion leads the reader back to the starting point, by rephrasing one or two lines of thesis statement, and then brings everything together. Re-phrasing of the thesis statement should be done carefully, by providing the reader an over view of the arguments presented by you and how they are significant to the problem at hand.
Keep the introduction in mind: The conclusion of an essay must always be in correlation to the introduction of the essay. Meaning, it should somewhat be opposite to the introduction in a way that is highlights the main issues presented in the introduction of the essay. A good essay conclusion takes the reader back to the starting of the essay and then gradually brings back all the findings of the essay in their minds.
Summarise the key points in the Essay: The conclusion should summarize all the point and facts put forth in the essay, so as to provide value to the reader. But when I say summarize, I don’t mean just putting the summary of the whole essay as the conclusion and nothing else. The conclusion should point towards the most valuable information and its importance in a brief and concise manner. This part should be given special focus, as it highlight the most crucial arguments of the essay, therefore if you miss out on some points, then the reader won’t understand the significance of the matter.
It is a common rule that while writing an essay, that each paragraph must follow only one topic or idea. Therefore while writing the conclusion of the essay, you can pick the main idea or the findings from a paragraph and include that into your essay conclusion. Pointing towards the key points from each of the paragraphs from the essay can be quite tough as the conclusion has to be concise, therefore it is necessary that you put in the time in this step, and pick the points which have the most significance and are worth putting in the conclusion.
No new Information: That being said, you must always be careful, that all the information in the essay conclusion should lead back to the content already present in it. That is, no new information or arguments can be present in conclusion. The conclusion of an essay only highlights the main points and information which the reader should focus on, from the essay. Giving new information or questions in the essay can have a negative effect, as it can confuse the reader because of no explanation of the new point put forth. Including new ideas in the essay also disrupts the flow of thought of the conclusion and hence reduces the quality of the whole essay.
Plan it beforehand: The size of an essay conclusion should be about 10% of the total word count of the essay. That is why you must plan it before hand and figure out what you are going to write in the conclusion. While you are in the preliminary stages of writing an essay, always make a rough idea of the content that you are going to include in it and allocate 10% of the word count for the conclusion, so that you can write the body section more easily which will in turn help you in writing a better essay conclusion. When you get to writing the essay, take your time and go through the essay once again, and try to point out the main observations or the information giving through each of the paragraphs and statements. Write down these observations on a piece of paper and then analyse them on the basis of their significance in the whole essay topic. Then write the essay conclusion keeping these points in mind.
Subtlety is Key: The conclusion should be subtle and of supreme significance, therefore avoid using words such as , ‘in conclusion’, ‘to sum up’, and ‘in summary’ etc. Though it is not a rule, as it is very much in practice by many published writers, still there is no question that it does alter the subtlety of the conclusion paragraph. Let the sentences lead the reader in thinking that this paragraph is now concluding the whole essay. Using such words is acceptable in case your essay is quite long and thus the points need a more emphasis. Maintain a flow of thought while writing the conclusion which relates to the essay and transcends from top to bottom. This will remind the reader about the key points from each paragraph and by the time they finish reading the conclusion they will be pondering over the facts and arguments presented in it.
Use Short Sentences: Always keep in mind that a short and to the point sentence is always more effective than a longer sentence. The sentences in the conclusion should not be more than 10 to 12 words each. All of the sentences in the essay conclusion must explain only one thought or fact in a short and concise way. The use of multiple short sentences helps the reader in understanding the information in the paragraph better and makes them remember it for a longer duration. Use of proper punctuations also goes a long way as it increase the quality of the sentence by making it look more formal and thus increasing its credibility.
Leave the reader with a thought: Avoid using a question as a closing statement of the essay as it implies that you have not done your part correctly and have left room for more research to be done by someone else. Closing with a question can also make the reader free to interpret the statement in many ways. Instead, you can include a rhetoric quote or a thought provoking statement, which intrigues the readers’ curiosity and leaves them with a thought which they can ponder over. This style of writing an essay conclusion has been proven most effective as it induces a though inside the readers mind and makes them appreciate the essay even more.
Choose your words wisely: The language used in the essay should be to the point and the sentences should be brief, as it has the most effect. But in order to achieve that, your selection of words must be accurate and should describe your point in the best way possible. Do not use words which imply doubt and are ambiguous in nature, use confidence asserting words and present your facts and arguments as a credible source of information for the readers. Use of lousy words can make all your work turn into gibberish and reduce the quality of your essay significantly. Choosing the right words is also important as the use of correct terminology makes the information and ideas in the essay seem more original and formal in nature, which greatly affects its quality.
Layout of an Essay Conclusion
Since ideally your conclusion should occupy 10% of the total word count of the essay. Therefore, you must plan ahead and make an outline of what information is worthy enough to be put into the conclusion paragraph. Here is basic layout or outline of an essay conclusion which you can take reference from:
Use the starting lines of the conclusion, to link back to the introduction or re-phrasing the thesis statement and add some information presented in the essay to it. This should be brief and come in two to three sentences.
Use the next three to four lines, to highlight the arguments resolved and the key information provided in the essay. Now depending on the length of the essay and the information given by you, identify the points and arguments to be highlighted in these sentences beforehand.
Pick the key points from every paragraph and form each one in a separate sentence which can be included in the essay conclusion.
An lastly make use of the rest of the words, to articulate a lasting impression of the reader by forming a statement or prediction for future scope and aspects of the topic, or use a quote to further solidify the motive of your whole essay.
Now that we have explained to your what to write in an essay conclusion, let us now point out some of the big don’ts you need to know while writing an essay conclusion so that you don’t waste all of your hard work.
What not to do while writing an essay conclusion?
Do not just rewrite the thesis statement in the conclusion. Instead, rephrase it and include new bits of information which you put forth in the essay.
Do not write a question in the conclusion.
Do not include any new piece of information of concept in the conclusion which is not already present in the body of the essay.
Do not write in first person of present a personal opinion in the conclusion, unless asked for.
Do not write long sentences. All of the sentences in your conclusion must be short and concise.
Do not use informal and casual words and terminology in the conclusion.
Every essay conclusion is different. Since there multiple kinds of essay, it is not ideal to use the same format of way to write the essay conclusion for every essay out there. Each type of essay follows its own rules and guidelines and language, thus it is important that the essay conclusion also conforms to those rules, in addition to the points mentioned here. Go through different types of essays and checkout the way conclusion has been drafted, to learn the art of writing a good essay conclusion. You can find all types of essay samples and assignments on Total assignment help.
Thomas Smith is a renowned researcher. He has published multiple research papers on the different topics, including ecology and geology. Thomas has a keen interest in writing and has published numerous blogs and articles in many magazines and newsletters using his 12 years of experience as a writing expert. Currently he provides academic writing service at Total Assignment Help and gives guidance to students all over the world. Thomas also likes to explore wildlife and learn about the diversity in flora and fauna in different countries. You can follow me on Twitter.