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Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. While the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around it. An introduction and conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas for the reader.
Just as your introduction acts as a bridge that transports your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives.
Such a conclusion will help your readers see why all your analysis and information should matter to them after they put the paper down.
If you still find yourself wondering why you should bother writing a compelling conclusion, here are three good reasons.
One or more of the following strategies may help you write an effective conclusion. Once you familiarize yourself with them, you can decide which will work best for you and your assignment.
1. Play the “So what?” game. If you’re stuck and feel like your conclusion isn’t saying anything new or interesting, ask a friend to read it with you. Whenever you make a statement from your conclusion, ask the friend to say, “So what?” or “Why should anybody care?” Then ponder that question and answer it.
IN CONTEXT
You: Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Frederick Douglass.
Friend: So what?
You: Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen.
Friend: Why should anybody care?
You: That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that the owners could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.
You can also use this strategy on your own, asking yourself “So what?" as you develop your ideas or your draft.
2. Return to the theme or themes in the introduction. This strategy brings the reader full circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding. You may also refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction.
3. Synthesize, don’t summarize. Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in your paper. Instead, show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together.
4. Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for your paper.
5. Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study. This can redirect your reader’s thought process and help her to apply your info and ideas to her own life, or to see the broader implications.
6. Point to broader implications. For example, if your paper examines the Greensboro sit-ins or another event in the civil rights movement, you could point out its impact on the civil rights movement as a whole. Alternately, a paper about the style of writer Virginia Woolf could point to her influence on other writers or on later feminists.
Source: This content has been adapted from Lumen Learning's "Conclusions" tutorial.