How to Conclude an Essay

When you’re done with the introduction and body paragraphs, the conclusion seems like an easy task. Funny enough, it’s what most students get wrong. They start repeating the same information and restarting the same arguments. That’s a good strategy when done right. But when it sounds repetitive, it’s a problem.

Your introduction has to make a lasting impression. It’s what brings all points together and makes a final statement. By the end of it, your reader should be convinced that you made a valid point.

A lot is at stake. The conclusion gives you one last chance to impress your reader. You should leave them with a sense of completeness and willingness to take some kind of action. Here are the important points from our essay writers.

Tips: How to Write an Essay Conclusion

1. Learn How to Write a General Conclusion

This is the standard scheme that works for any type of essay:

• Restate the thesis statement and explain why it’s important
• Explain why it makes more sense with opposing opinions
• Conclude and call for some kind of action

In other words, the conclusion should tell the reader what you just told them throughout the essay. It’s a standard recipe for a successful ending, but it can also get boring.

Yes; the conclusion should tell the same things that were discussed throughout the paper, in a compressed format. It shouldn’t introduce new information. New information calls for more explanations, and you don’t have space for them in the brief conclusion.

However, this part of your paper shouldn’t be repetitive. Treat the reader as an intellectually advanced person. They don’t have time to read the same things over and over again. Paraphrase the thesis statement and use another approach to the same arguments.

2. Your Introduction Is the Guide to the Conclusion

You started the paper with a promise to deliver something. You wrote a thesis statement, and the paper’s body was supposed to prove it.

Did that happen?

Read your introduction again. Make notes: what promise did you make with the thesis statement? Did you manage to prove it? How did you do that? Those notes are the foundation of your conclusion. Just put them together in a logical flow.

3. Leave the Reader with Something to Think About

Let’s take climate change as an example of a theme. It’s a popular essay topic nowadays. In the intro, you’ll make a thesis statement that climate change is responsible for the fires that occurred in 2019 and 2020 around the globe. The body of your paper will provide evidence for that statement.

The conclusion shouldn’t introduce any new information. But it may call to action: what can the reader do to prevent further damage to the planet? Does an individual have the power to change where things are going?

Think of statements that will leave the reader with something to think about. You may awaken their creativity. You may trigger their need to search for more information. You may even suggest topics for further research in the conclusion.

4. Make a Call to Action

If you read a guide to blog post writing, you’ll probably see this as the final tip: call the reader to action!
The same principle works for academic writing, too.

For example, you can conclude the essay on climate change this way:

“Let’s all make small steps towards a greater change. An individual may not have extreme power to make a difference. However, when thousands of individuals make efforts towards a common cause, the difference will be obvious.”

You’ll include this call to action after you sum up the main points of your arguments. It will leave the reader with a sense of completeness. After they got the information from your essay, they know what to do about it. You’re telling them what actions the thesis statement should inspire.

5. End on a Positive Note

Some topics are so serious that your essay looks like an apocalyptic scene. What’s the point in writing about something in such a negative way?

Don’t get this wrong; you should always be realistic and discuss the facts. However, in the conclusion, you should bring some light to the issue. Can we do something to change where things are going? What are you doing, personally?

Don’t end on a note that paints all humans as monsters. Explain how we can raise awareness and change the gloomy scenario.

Always end your papers on a positive note.

Make It Clear!

The conclusion is a separate part of the essay. It should be clearly connected to everything you wrote so far. However, when you only read the conclusion, it should make sense by itself.

This paragraph may be a bit shorter than the body paragraphs. However, you should maintain the symmetry within the essay, so don’t make it drastically different in length. When you follow the tips we presented above, you’ll have enough details to include here.