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How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay — Guidelines and Examples


They say when working on any task, the most important thing is to start. Thus, you attempt the first step, and everything goes like a clockwork. It is as if you are overcoming an invisible threshold and then calmly follow the intended path without the struggle.

From the name of the task, you might have gathered that we are going to talk about the ending paragraph of an essay. But don’t stress, that concept can also be easily applied to academic assignments.

For essay writing, there can be a need for choosing a topic, considering an outline, or writing an entire introduction for one to warm up. However, in school tasks, there is something else that isn’t discussed frequently enough. Sometimes, the introductory paragraph is not the hardest part: many students are faced with the problem of not knowing how to write a conclusion for an essay. This section is one of the most significant in the task. This importance is easy to explain — you can write as many words, sentences, and paragraphs as you want, but if your essay doesn’t end with a logical conclusion relevant to the topic of your assignment and your main point (thesis statement), it is unlikely to be assessed as appropriate.

That is why we decided to highlight the topic of the concluding paragraph and create an entire guide on how to complete any writing like this perfectly. Here, we have put together simple but effective recommendations. They will help you understand the essence of the essay conclusion. And, as a bonus, at the end of our guide, you will find several examples you can use as templates for your assignments.

The Diversity of Essay Conclusions

What does writing a good conclusion paragraph imply? First, it must meet the standards of the assigned essay. Always keep in mind different intentions are underlying different types of writing, and that will always influence your preparation strategies. Thus, if you are working on a descriptive essay that is focused on beautiful landscapes, it would be incompetent of you to make a final point about the importance of solving environmental issues. Below are a few examples of what kind of thoughts you can finish this writing task with. Can you understand what types of essays each of them refers to?

  • Despite all the differences in the issues described in body paragraphs, they have common features that deserve the attention of society.
  • Based on the references and evidence provided, the main idea expressed at the beginning of the essay is valid and has a right to be.
  • The topic analysis answers the question of what possible effects and consequences can be caused by the issue(s) under discussion.
  • There were enough convincing examples for the audience to accept the author’s statement as the only accurate one.

That is just a brief summary of what your conclusion might look like. To prepare a refined essay, there should be more specificity in its last paragraph. Also, try to come up with more than one sentence.

Conclusion Writing Guides and Tips

From the name of the task you already know the conclusion is always the last paragraph of your essay and, therefore, your last chance to show your competence as well as the completeness of your research, regardless of whether it was about beautiful nature, a literary work, or social problems. Writing the final paragraph is a very important step — everything you have already written should be finalized and take only a third of your assignment’s length. Another tricky thing is, in the end, there is nothing to add to the subject. However, you should stay away from redundancy. You cannot simply repeat things from the previous paragraphs, but many tasks imply doing exactly that.

Several ending strategies, as well as recommendations on how to write a conclusion, are going to be discussed.

  • Repeat your thesis
    Or rewrite it while keeping the meaning the same. A rephrased thesis statement will remind readers of the main idea of ​​your essay and strengthen its significance.
  • Recall the contents of the previous sections
    But don’t rewrite them. A simple review of the paper’s main points and their role in the analysis will be enough. That will show the coherence of the text as well as the versatility of your work.
  • Simply summarize what has been written
    In each of the three sections of a body part (standard structure), you wrote about the topic from a different perspective. In your conclusion, show they are interconnected by one main thought.
  • Focus on the present
    This is relevant if your essay is about pressing issues. For example, if you describe a problem of certain social groups, transfer it to the context of your audience. Make people think of a topic or issue not as a distant concept, but of something that is happening here and now. The common questions for this type of conclusion are, “And what about us/you?” or “And what if it affects us too?”

Don’t forget about the closing sentence. Sometimes, the last word is what matters. Most of all, the audience will remember something that intrigues them, makes them immersed in thoughts, or provides a new understanding of certain issues. For example, as a final sentence, you can use a rhetorical question or a direct appeal to the reader.

And, there are several useful tips that, despite their simplicity, can significantly improve the quality of the entire paper:

  1. A conclusion provides no new information. Work with ideas and evidence presented in the introduction and body paragraphs.
  2. Your introduction and conclusion are like a frame for the entire piece. They should fit together and preserve the same mood.
  3. After reading the last paragraph, there should be a feel of completeness. No matter how you want to impress the reader, leave the conclusion confident and logical.

Now, we offer you several simple conclusion examples. Even if you know how to write a conclusion, you can expand or transform those ideas for use in your own essay writing assignments.

Conclusion Examples

“Taking into account all of the above, it is simply impossible to neglect information security today. Authorities should pay more attention to this aspect of our lives, and we must rationally assess the capabilities of the World Wide Web as well. Otherwise, the consequences can be dramatic.”

“The story that happened to a friend of mine seemed to open my eyes — the problem of bullying still goes unnoticed in many societies. And what if tomorrow, it affects your life?”

“Every day, the amount of garbage around the world is only increasing. So, reasonable consumption and the transition to a zero-waste lifestyle can be an effective solution not only for environmental problems but also for our own mental health.”

“Someone will say the movie is always more interesting and fascinating than a book. Others will argue nothing immerses us into the story as much as the author’s style or a chance to spend several hours turning over pages. However, there is something common in these two activities. In both cases, we can experience incredible emotions and find ourselves in a completely different reality. Isn’t that a miracle?”