A
conclusion is usually more subtle than just saying "The End,"
but its whole purpose is to let readers know the essay is over.
Writers should not give the impression they were interrupted and
forgot to add an ending. They certainly shouldn’t make the
readers wonder, "Did I lose the the last page of the manuscript?"
The only thing writers must do in the final paragraph is
give readers a sense that the essay is finished. How they
choose to do that is entirely up to them.
Conclusion is not a thesis
A significant number of my students have had serious problems understanding
what they were supposed to do in the final paragraph of their essays.
The problem turned out to be terminology.
When English teachers used the word conclusion, students thought
they were referring to a deduction that the writer reached
after considering all the relevant evidence.
That impression lead students to the false idea that the proper
way to write an essay was to write an introduction and body paragraphs
in hopes of discovering an idea for the essay by the time they had
written four or five paragraphs.
What students were doing, in effect, was writing an essay to discover
their thesis statement.
When their essays turned out badly, they blamed their English teacher.
After all, she was the one who insisted they write a conclusion.
Prevent such misunderstandings.
Protect your reputation.
That terminology will make it far easier for students to learn
that they must write their
thesis first before they write even one paragraph.
Make a quick end
The conclusion usually begins by echoing
the thesis statement that ends the introduction. The writer
then adds just enough more to make readers feel the essay is finished.
No matter how writers choose to end their essays, they should end
them swiftly. In a 500-word essay, the final paragraph is perhaps
25-50 words — a couple of sentences will do it.
Don't repeat unnecessarily
Writers rarely need to restate the thesis in a standard
five paragraph essay. If a writer does a halfway decent job, most
readers can remember the thesis for as many minutes as it takes
them to read the introduction and three body paragraphs.
(Some really bright teachers can remember a thesis for as
long as it takes to read a five-page paper. Wow!)
Similarly, writers rarely need to reiterate their main points
in their closing paragraphs. Of course, evidence should be restricted
to the body paragraphs so it never, ever appears in a closing paragraph.
Teaching tips
Your time is too valuable to spend much of it teaching students
how to write a conclusion. Even dummies can write two sentences
that give a sense of ending to an essay; that’s all anyone
must do.
Instead, when you
teach reading comprehension, draw attention to how various
writers end their work. I don’t mean just short story writers
and novelists. I also mean you should examine things like the endings
of units in the students’ language arts text.
That examination will help the brighter, more verbal students see
how to write a better closing paragraph. At the same time, it will
help the dummies get the point of the reading. Everybody wins.
created 13-Feb-2008; updated: 07-Sep-2008
