How to Write a Strong Conclusion for Your Essay

Writing an engaging conclusion for an essay is a significant part of the essay writing process for many students. Additionally, there are difficulties associated with selecting an excellent essay topic, writing a thesis statement, beginning an essay, and outlining the essay. Fortunately, we’ve shared strategies for overcoming them and producing an essay that stands out. Now it is our turn to deal with the elephant in the room; we have skinned the entire deer down to the tail. Enough with the metaphors. We want to teach you how to properly conclude an essay and earn a good grade for it.

Everyone wishes to impress their instructor or professor, which ensures an A. One way to accomplish this is to write a concluding paragraph. This comprehensive guide to writing conclusion paragraphs, outlining, examples, and tips is so comprehensive that you can use it to learn how to write a conclusion for a research paper.

For tips from our top writers, continue reading the following sections and learn how to write essay conclusions like a pro.

What Is the Conclusion of Essay Writing?

To begin, let us define what an essay conclusion is. In simple terms, a conclusion, also known as a concluding or closing paragraph, is the final paragraph of an essay or other college paper (term paper, research paper, thesis, statement of purpose, dissertation, or report) that summarizes the thesis statement and major arguments in the academic paper in a way that enables readers to comprehend the essay’s gist and why it matters to them as an audience. The conclusion paragraph establishes a distinction between audience and non-audience.

You must understand how to conclude an essay for the following reasons:

1. The conclusion serves as a means of exiting your essay.
2. It summarizes and summarizes the essay’s main points for the final time.
3. It acts as a gateway for a more serious audience. Professors or instructors may begin by reading the conclusion and then introducing your essay before skimming through the body.
4. The conclusion provides an opportunity for you to impress your readers and explain why you wrote the paper: it answers the question, “Why is this paper important to me?”
5. Typically, your essay conclusion addresses the question So what? or What next?
6. It enables your audience to connect with your essay’s ideas after they’ve finished reading it.
7. It also serves as a conclusion to the paper, so you must end on a strong note.

Bear in mind that a conclusion is never an opportunity to introduce new ideas. However, this is your opportunity to conclude your writing. Essentially, you need to restate your thesis, summarize the essay’s main arguments, and reintroduce your readers to your essay one final time. That is all!

Outline/Anatomy of a Closing/Concluding Paragraph

Whether you’re writing an essay, a research paper, or another type of academic paper, the conclusion follows the same structure. We’ve discussed the proper word count for essay conclusions in relation to the length of an essay or academic paper. Nonetheless, as a general rule, your conclusion should account for 10% of the total word count, just as your introduction does. In general, the following is the outline of your conclusion:

1. Conclusion Signal or starter

This is the opening sentence of your conclusion paragraph, and it establishes the tone for the remainder of the paragraph. Here, rather than in the introduction paragraph, you should restate the essay’s thesis. Rather than that, you should revise or rewrite your thesis statement.

If your thesis stated, “Children should be protected from violent parents,” then the first line of your conclusion or conclusion signal should read, “Violent parents affect children psychologically, socially, and occasionally spiritually, necessitating their removal from contact with the children.”

2. Summary of the main arguments

In the essay’s body, you should summarize your major arguments in 2-3 sentences. After that, connect your ideas to your thesis statement and introduction. Finally, justify the arguments’ relevance to the thesis.

3. Concluding sentence/clincher

This is the concluding sentence of your essay or, for that matter, any paper. It is an effective method of concluding your essay and connecting your readers to the ideas presented in the introduction. There should be no new ideas included. Occasionally, it can be a reflection of the central ideas.

When considering how to write an effective conclusion, a clincher should be one of the most critical elements to consider. It should compel your reader to adopt a new perspective on the subject of your essay. Additionally, it should elicit emotions associated with closure and conclude on a positive note so that the audience feels fulfilled after reading your paper.

How To Effectively Conclude an Essay and Not Fail in Three Steps

Below are some effective steps you need to undertake to ensure that your conclusion sticks out.

Step 1: Restate your thesis as your conclusion signal

As we will see later in this article, a conclusion is more effective because it serves as a signal to the reader that the essay has concluded by returning to the central argument. Authentically, this avoids the embarrassment associated with the use of the cliche conclusion transition words highlighted in the following sections of this guide.

It is important to note that you are not repeating the thesis statement. Rather than that, you rewrite or reinvent the central argument, demonstrating its progression from the introduction to the body paragraphs.

Step 2: Revisit your major arguments

You then need to inform your audience/reader of the essay’s central arguments.

Avoid summarizing the body paragraphs when doing so. Rather than that, attempt to connect your major points to establish a connection with the thesis, body paragraphs, and introduction as a whole.

Bear in mind that the conclusion demonstrates how the paragraphs work together to support your thesis.

Step 3: link the conclusion to the topic and thesis.

You must now conclude your conclusion by demonstrating why it is significant to your reader. Construct a broader picture of your subject and consider the implications of your essay’s arguments. Examine the arguments’ applicability to various contexts, their connection to specific themes or debates, and their ability to address specific questions. Additionally, you can determine whether the conclusion contributes to your understanding of the topic, makes predictions, or simply restates the main points.

It makes no difference what topic or type of essay you are writing; the conclusion must clearly state your argument and connect it to the real world or your established context. If your essay concludes on a strong note, with a concluding sentence, or with a clincher, you are guaranteed an A.

Five Ways Not to Conclude an Essay: Never Do This!

While your conclusion does help readers transition from your world to their own, there are a few things it is not. You are not required to write your conclusion in such a way that each reader despises it. Here are a few factors that contribute to an essay’s demise!

1. Avoid dwelling on summarizing facts

While your conclusion should summarize the major points made in your essay, it should not simply summarize the essay. All you have to do is restate your thesis in a new format, highlight the most important ideas in the body: as reflected in your opening paragraph, and conclude with a strong tone.

If you’re writing a brief essay, you may avoid restating your supporting arguments. However, readers will discern that you have plagiarized solely from the body paragraphs.

2. Don’t fall trap of cliches

Yes, we are familiar with terms such as In conclusion, to summarize, and to summarize, you name it: there are numerous concluding cliches. While these phrases work wonders in presentations, introducing your conclusion in this manner comes across as demeaning to an audience. Your readers are already aware of the telltale signs that the essay is nearing its conclusion. It isn’t very pleasant to have to remind them that your lovely essay is drawing to a close. Avoid the obvious; remain unique.

3. Do Not Apologize!

After conducting research and writing an essay, it is common to experience imposter syndrome. The feeling that you are inundated with knowledge, but only a portion of it makes an appearance in your essay should never concern you. If it does, the bug of writing a poor conclusion will automatically bite you, and you will end up ruining an otherwise excellent essay. If you have any doubts about the essay’s content, fight them. Never attempt to undermine your authority by suggesting superior approaches, demeaning your arguments, or claiming inferiority.

4. Do not introduce new ideas

While your concluding paragraph should refer back to and reinforce your previous arguments, avoid introducing new arguments, opinions, or ideas. You become stupid when you include new ideas in your conclusion. They erode the points earned in the preceding paragraphs and may be the sole reason you fail or receive an average grade on your essay. You can only reflect on the previously presented ideas rather than introduce new ones.

5. Do not repeat the thesis

Repeating your thesis is an ineffective concluding strategy. This is analogous to beginning your concluding paragraph with overused phrases. Avoid verbatim repeating what is already in the instruction. This only serves to confuse your reader and demonstrates that you lack the creativity demonstrated in the body paragraphs.

If done properly, your conclusion should demonstrate progression and dynamism that cannot be achieved by simply repeating the thesis. A serious audience will notice this, even more so if the essay is brief.

This is why most students perform well in the introduction and body paragraphs but poorly, in the conclusion, earning them low grades. Therefore, if you must eat the cake, begin with the icing and work your way up to the final layer; this is what good essay writing is all about.