Sweet Partings

As with introductions, conclusions carry heavy weight. Think of it, you just spent weeks putting together a well written, amply supported, scrupulously revised essay. You've managed to get your audience to read it and remain interested. Up until the end, you have had them pretty well convinced that your argument was correct. Then, they read the poorly written conclusion and are left feeling baffled, unsatisfied, or even annoyed. In two paragraphs or less, you have totally undone all you worked so hard to do.

A mediocre ending is better than a poorly written or confusing one. Howevert, better than both is a keenly sculpted conclusion that leaves the reader assured that your argument is sound or at least worth further investigation.

As with introductions, writing good conclusions is a skill that sharpens with practice, but you can write effective essay endings right now by using the following Conclusion Tips.

1. Wrap it up.
   
   Don't ramble in your conclusion. You had plenty of time to explore your subject in the body of your essay. Use this part to condense the finer points of your argument into no more than two paragraphs, (preferably one).


2. Don't add new information.
   
   Again, the body is where you present your ideas, so, adding new ideas at the end of your essay is confusing to the reader. Keep the conclusion to reiterating the facts or ideas that you expanded on in your essay body.


3. Don't be wishy-washy.
   
   Don't use phrases like, "This thinking could be correct," or, "The facts presented in this essay may turn out to be a new way of doing things." Keep the maybe's, could be's, and the might be's out of your ending. If you are not 100 percent sure that your argument had merit to begin with, then your reader is not going to be sure either. Be assured and use definitive sentences and wording.


4. Don't repeat, just summarize.
   
   No one wants to read a mini version of your entire essay. Don't repeat information that you already have given, but instead, summarize what you have presented using a different wording.


5. Don't leave them hanging.
   
   The endings of many fiction book series and TV shows often have dangling conclusions. This is used as a method of getting the reader or watcher intrigued enough to anticipate the next installment. There is no "next installment" to your essay. Don't create a dangling end to your essay, because it will annoy your reader.

CONCLUSION

The start and finish of your essays are as important as the work you that put into the middle. Use your introductions to lead the audience to the evidence of your well developed argument. Then use your ending to convince them that what you have presented is, indeed, sound. You will get better at using the intro and conclusion to propel and convince readers as you become a better writer, but in the meantime use the methods and tips presented in this lesson to enhance your early essays.

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