Concluding Strategies
Just like we have attention getters to use in the introduction, we also have great conclusion strategies to help us write an effective conclusion. You can use just one or actually combine some of them. Here are just a few.
Echo the introduction - this is a great way to give your essay closure, especially if an anecdote was used in the introduction. If there was a fact, situation, idea, etc. mentioned in the introduction, refer to it in your conclusion, now applying what you have talked about. For instance, if we wrote an essay persuading our parents to let us have a car, we may have an anecdote about a situation in which we would need a car. We may give an ending to the anecdote in which we have a car in order to show how having one will be beneficial.
Look to the future - what implications does your point have on the future? How will things change or not change? How does it apply to the reader? No one wants to read an essay that doesn't have anything to do with him/her. So, say exactly how it does!
Challenge the reader - actually challenge the reader to do something with the information you have provided. This one is easy for persuasive papers; simply challenge the reader to do something for your "side" of the argument. In the car essay example, challenge your parents to allow you to get a car by saying: Just give permission and I can get a car today. In other essays, it depends on if this is applicable. For instance, an expository essay on ways to be environmentally friendly, you may want to challenge the reader to do something SPECIFIC to help the environment.
Pose a question - this one seems easy and is often overdone. If you have a good hypothetical question that will get the reader to think about what you said, the conclusion is a good place to do that. The problem is too many young writers simply say: So what do you think? Instead, make it a specific question that will cause the reader to think. For instance, in our environmentally friendly expository essay, we may ask our reader What can you do today to start helping the environment? or Where have you seen a need for "greener" practices?
Echo the introduction - this is a great way to give your essay closure, especially if an anecdote was used in the introduction. If there was a fact, situation, idea, etc. mentioned in the introduction, refer to it in your conclusion, now applying what you have talked about. For instance, if we wrote an essay persuading our parents to let us have a car, we may have an anecdote about a situation in which we would need a car. We may give an ending to the anecdote in which we have a car in order to show how having one will be beneficial.
Look to the future - what implications does your point have on the future? How will things change or not change? How does it apply to the reader? No one wants to read an essay that doesn't have anything to do with him/her. So, say exactly how it does!
Challenge the reader - actually challenge the reader to do something with the information you have provided. This one is easy for persuasive papers; simply challenge the reader to do something for your "side" of the argument. In the car essay example, challenge your parents to allow you to get a car by saying: Just give permission and I can get a car today. In other essays, it depends on if this is applicable. For instance, an expository essay on ways to be environmentally friendly, you may want to challenge the reader to do something SPECIFIC to help the environment.
Pose a question - this one seems easy and is often overdone. If you have a good hypothetical question that will get the reader to think about what you said, the conclusion is a good place to do that. The problem is too many young writers simply say: So what do you think? Instead, make it a specific question that will cause the reader to think. For instance, in our environmentally friendly expository essay, we may ask our reader What can you do today to start helping the environment? or Where have you seen a need for "greener" practices?
