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Why You Should Pay Mind to Your Essay Conclusion
Not much thought goes into writing essay conclusions. Most students pay mind to the introduction and arguments in the body paragraphs, but not the essay conclusion. It’s akin to a world-class athlete running a marvelous 90% of the mile and relaxing on the final 10%. Why this analogy?It is because all essays follow the rules of synopsis and structure. The essay conclusion is always the climax of your essay. It is every good thing that your reader looks forward to. It is also a ripe place to convince someone of a certain course of action. Most students leave the essay conclusion for last. This approach in itself isn’t wrong and is often recommended.However, whether you write the conclusion first or last, the object remains the same. That is to show that you have fully comprehended the topic and addressed the issue at hand. You should be aware that there are specific aims to writing an essay conclusion. That is what this article seeks to address. Read on to find out!What Are the Main Aims of a Conclusion Paragraph?
The essay conclusion is usually one of the last sections of the essay to be written, so little thought goes into it. The aim of the conclusion isn’t merely to summarize the main points or to restate the thesis. Rather, it is to do the following;
- To bring back attention to what the main idea or what the crux of the matter was.
- To review the thesis statement and the topic sentences that introduced each of your arguments and key points of analysis.
- To provide, in some cases, a call-to-action.
Your reader needs a little bit of nudging to see things from your point of view, and the conclusion is the perfect place to do that.
Step-By-Step Guide to Writing the Essay Conclusion
The conclusion typically forms 20% or less of your total essay word count, even less on tightly-worded academic papers. Thus, you should think about your essay from the following perspective:
- Your reader might still not understand what the whole gist of your paper was about.
- The approach taken to analyze the subject might not be clear to the reader.
- The “so what?” question might still be lingering after all the reading.
Let’s dive a little deeper.
The First Sentence of Your Essay Conclusion
Ideally, you should review (or restate, albeit in slightly different words) the thesis statement in the first sentence of the conclusion. The thesis statement is like a clarion call for your work. It doesn’t hurt to remind the reader one last time what your writing intent was. However, don’t restate the thesis statement explicitly to fill up the word count.
The Middle Part of Your Conclusion
At this juncture, go over the main points of your middle body or your main arguments and key points. It will mean glossing over the various topic sentences, whether for or against the arguments. Keep it concise.
The Final Statement | The “So What?” Question
So, you’ve presented great arguments and provided sufficient evidence and detail. So what? Why do your analogy and contribution matter? What should be done with this information? Is the information new, and how does it add to the breadth of knowledge already existing?If you can answer this portion correctly and provide a call-to-action, you are on the right track.
How Long Should the Conclusion Be?
If your essay conclusion takes up more than 20% of your essay word count, it means you are unsure of your arguments and the rest of the presentation. If less than 7%, you might be missing out on some important parts, for example, a call-to-action. Always try to keep the conclusion between 10% and 20% of the total word count.
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