How to Write an Amazing Essay Conclusion (and improve grades)

essay conclusion
  • Published Date: July 5, 2018

Crafting an essay conclusion should feel like you’re drafting a breath of fresh air.

You’ve already done the hard part.

You developed a thesis and defended it over four or more paragraphs offering research and other forms of evidence, along with your own reasoning skills to offer support.

A conclusion just wraps it all up neatly—like twisting a plastic cap on the “bottle” of your essay.

The trap that so many students fall into is that they’re mentally exhausted from writing the essay that they just want to get the conclusion over with and then hand it in.

That’s completely understandable.

It is recommended that the writer get up from their computer and take at least a 20 minutes break before starting the conclusion—go outside and clear your head before you begin if possible.

If you can’t take a break because you’re doing an in-class essay writing exam, trying shutting your eyes a for a minute or so and take a few deep breaths.

Shutting your eyes will help cut off all visual stimuli to the brain and let you recharge for a few minutes.

When you open your eyes, you’ll know that the key to writing an excellent conclusion revolves around summarizing but not repeating what you’ve already said.

If you pair that wisdom with a refusal to use tired and overused words or phrases so common to conclusions, you’ll be setting yourself up to win.

Essay Conclusion Defined

Literally every student reading this essay knows what a conclusion is and could probably answer correctly if their lives depended on it.

A conclusion is the last paragraph of an essay that recaps all major points but without using any repetitive language.

This is the answer that most students would give about an essay conclusion.

The even better answer revolves around what an amazing conclusion should do.

An amazing conclusion should do more than summarize, but demonstrate how all the points made interlock like the threads of a marvelous tapestry.

Yes, all major points from the essay must be addressed, but don’t feel as pressured to summarize. It’s more of a reminder than a summary.

More than that, it’s also pivotal to connect the essay and the topics you discussed to a bigger picture issue or notion.

For example, an essay focused on Renoir’s consistent use of children as subject matter as a reflection of his own modest childhood, could be connected to how one’s formative years make the greatest impression on the development of an individual.

In the conclusion, one could meditate on the importance of a balanced childhood but how an imbalanced one can still provide fodder for art and inspiration.

Essay Conclusion Outline

I.  Concluding Phrase + restated thesis.

II.  Recap main points in three to four sentences.

III.  Address why those who disagree with you are incorrect.

IV.  Connection of thesis to bigger picture issue or concept.

How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay

#1 Write down the words “in conclusion” “to conclude” “in closing” and “in summary” and then scratch them out with a black magic marker. Sure, you can write an amazing conclusion that starts with those words… in the eighth grade. If you’re in high school or college you have to do better.

#2 Start your first sentence with a buzzword that clues the reader into the fact that your essay is ending.

Technically, because the conclusion is the last paragraph, the reader should be able to figure that out anyway. However, it’s still your job to make that clear in the vocabulary and tone of your essay.

Here are some words and phrases to pick from:

  • Overall, one can argue/declare
  • And thus,
  • All elements/factors/themes considered,
  • Without a doubt,
  • Finally,
  • Via this exploration,
  • Taking all these elements into account,
  • Considering all factors/themes, one finds

#3 Finish this first sentence by restating your thesis. Be careful not to repeat any of the words you’ve already used.

#4 Jot down the three or four main points or pieces of evidence that you offered to support your thesis. These should be your most compelling and most persuasive pieces of evidence, observations or data that most support your thesis.

#5 Rephrase each point in a separate sentence. Continue to avoid any overused words or vocabulary that you have previously relied upon.

#6 Address the naysayers. Add a sentence that acknowledges the viewpoint of one who might disagree with you and explain why this perspective is wrong.

#7 Connect the implications of your thesis to a bigger picture issue, trend, pattern, or direction. This is perhaps the trickiest part of the conclusion, but it is precisely what will take your conclusion to the next level. Rather than just recap your main argument/perspective and the ideas that support them, you’re showing how the entire essay connects to human life and human experience in a grander scale. This last step is important because it empowers your readers to become enlightened and view your writing in a more inspirational and insightful manner. Sometimes this part of the essay equates to making a suggestion for society or for the individual experience within society.

#8 Reread your conclusion: does it offer closure and clarity? Or does it just feel like you’re repeating what you already wrote? Make adjustments as necessary.

Essay Conclusion Examples

Studying examples of concluding paragraphs that go the extra mile will empower you to craft the best possible one you are capable of writing.

The more acquainted you are with effective conclusions, the less daunting they will seem when you are mentally exhausted at the end of a long essay.

Looking at examples can demonstrate first hand how to connect your arguments to themes that are greater than your essay.

Argumentative Essay Conclusion

All things considered, the SAT is an antiquated exam that does not measure the intellectualism of prospective students and has historically and consistently shown bias. The research demonstrates that white males from middle class or affluent families consistently outperform women and minorities on this exam. Furthermore, there is a direct relationship between income and how well a student does on the exam: the higher the parental income, the higher the SAT score. Finally, more and more colleges readily admit that they focus most strongly on the admissions essay and the high school GPA.

While some experts argue that the SAT offers a clear measuring stick about a prospective student’s proficiency in math and reading, the inherent bias of the exam undermines this idea. The SAT should be made optional by all relevant colleges as a step forward in getting it ultimately abolished. Getting into college is incredibly stressful and something that weighs heavily enough on young people. Rather than perpetuate the unfair advantage that white males and wealthy kids continue to have, there should be a renewed focused on intellectualism and furthering the common good—two things the SAT does not address even remotely.

Persuasive Essay Conclusion

And thus, while the death penalty might offend many, it is the human responsibility to uphold it as a sign of an organized just society. There are some crimes, which are so monstrous and some criminals so lacking remorse that a sentence of life imprisonment does equate to any level of justice being served. A murderer who tortures an 11-month old baby does not deserve a place in our society. In order to properly assert our collective outrage, we have no choice but to select the death penalty. The research demonstrates that in states where the executions are part of the justice system there are lower murder rates. Retribution is the mark of a just society.  To punish a child-murderer by sending him to death after he has murdered many children, and wielding unfathomable tragedy on the lives of many, is the only form of available justice. Life imprisonment is not proportional to the crime. While those who oppose the death penalty argue that there is a higher morality that we must appeal to by granting people mercy for their crimes, such lofty notions do nothing to create a safer society for law-abiding citizens. By affirming our allegiance to the death penalty, as members of society we are asserting our allegiance to the families of the victims. No parent should ever have to identify the body of a murdered child. Yet so many do, and it is a mark of our civility and our humanity to offer parents the closure available to them via the death penalty of the criminals who murdered their children.

Literary Essay Conclusion

Via this exploration, one can see how The Great Gatsby offers a haunting example of the consequences connected to attempting to repeat the past. The novel could have been easily titled The Great Daisy Faye, as she is the equivalent of the figurative Helen of Troy who provokes so much of the action in the novel and within the main character. Essentially, the novel tells the cautionary tale of what happens when one can’t recover from young romance, and can’t let go and move on. The past can only guide one so far: events, places, people and times change. Attempting to recapture or manipulate what one thinks “should have” happened in the past, is practically an attempt to play God. Any effort to wield this “god-like” power within one’s own life is even more catastrophic as one doesn’t even have the perspective to know what the best past outcome would have or should have been. The novel shows the inherent fallibility and arrogance inherent within trying to repeat the past, and how just when we think we have it, it slips out of our reach once more. This is made apparent in the novel that just when Jay thinks he’s won back Daisy, the old money girl, fate causes her to evade his grasp once more. While some believe that Jay has conquered his past in becoming wealthy, the wealth was simply a means to an end in securing Daisy’s heart. The real fallibility present within his main character is his hubris in thinking he has the power to essentially reroute time.

Descriptive Essay Conclusion

Based on all these factors, I can firmly attest that my summer vacation challenged me beyond my wildest expectations. When I went to intern at the New York Stock Exchange, I knew I was going to constantly feel thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool. I wasn’t wrong. But I had underestimated the degree to which I was going to be challenged, tested, yelled at, mocked and worked to the bone. By getting up each morning at 5am, so that I could get to the office at 6am and have vocabulary thrown at me for 10 hours (half of which I didn’t understand), while orders were barked at me from seven different people throughout the day, I had to learn to survive. I learned most importantly that I could survive. I learned how to be a better communicator, and how to anticipate the orders of my many bosses before they were hurled at me. I learned how to quickly solver problems before my bosses found out and either scream at me or fired me. However, the biggest lesson of all came from the fact that I discovered that I could enter an industry that I didn’t know much about and have a deep understanding of it in a few months. Some people looked at my work experience over the summer and said it was abusive and that all I accomplished was the ability to keep my head above water. Such a remark dismisses all the obstacles I had to dodge daily. Feeling comfortable in the finance industry is now something I have accomplished, and while my level of comfort is still new, I look forward to dedicating the rest of my career to it in this regard.

Compare and Contrast Essay Conclusion

Based on all these factors, one can attest that homeschooling versus traditional schooling both have advantages and disadvantages. Homeschooling offers enormous flexibility that is beneficial for young people who are engaged in an all-consuming pursuit, such as young actors, gymnasts, singers, or chess players. Homeschooling ensures that the child will never be subjected to an unkind or lazy teacher: the parent is in charge of the nuances of the child’s education. Furthermore, the curriculum can be adjusted according to the child’s interests. A child deeply interested in art can spend more time studying it. Furthermore, the inherent flexibility of homeschooling means that all lessons can be supplemented with real-life experiences, such as visits to art museums, laboratories and historical sites. On the other hand, traditional schooling offers children a crucial aspect of human socializing that they can’t get anywhere else. The life lessons connected to dealing with mean teachers, bullies, crushes, cliques, and other challenges can offer the child opportunities for emotional development that aren’t available elsewhere. Traditional schooling throws the child in an often high-pressure cooker of tests, competition, and the rigors academic life. The challenges presented to the child within the realm of traditional education ensure that the child learns certain life lessons right away. Hence, while both forms of schooling have their advantages, selecting the best one for a prospective child largely revolves around the needs of the child.

Cause and Effect Essay Conclusion

Without a doubt, the widespread suffering experienced by so many Americans during the Great Depression contributed in its own indirect manner to the Holocaust. The economic collapse in America meant that the President at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, made the economic recovery of nation his biggest priority. There was virtually no action taken to help or alleviate the persecution of Jews in Germany during the 1930s. Furthermore, Roosevelt experienced virtually no public pressure from Americans to take any action in this regard. There is also evidence of a virtual panic in regards to spies for Hitler coming to America, something that caused Roosevelt’s advisors to push for more stringent immigration reforms and an outright denial of visas in many cases. Furthermore, there is copious evidence that stresses that the Roosevelt administration argued that rescuing Jews would be too difficult and that bombing concentration camps like Auschwitz would be impractical. In 1942, the administration and allies of America admitted that the monstrous extermination of Jews was in fact happening overseas, but believed there was nothing to be done, aside from winning the war. This is perhaps the most shameful pieces of American history, and will forever bear a black mark on the soul of America. Our nation could have done more, but didn’t. Hopefully at the very least, the nation will learn from its mistakes.

Essay Conclusion Template

The best essay conclusions are the ones that you allow to flow organically from inside of you. The conclusion really should be a natural recap of all your points in support of your thesis and how they importantly connect to these bigger picture issues inherent within society and the world at large. Even so, if you’re stuck and you feel like the essay conclusion you’re trying to write sounds like every other dull conclusion you’ve already written, taking a look at a template can help enormously. A template can help you in clarifying your thoughts and presenting them in a manner that is easy for the reader to follow. Using a template can help remind you of the important words to include in an essay conclusion, and the best ones to leave out. Once you have properly organized all of your thoughts with the help of the essay conclusion template, you can always go back and adjust it so that it sounds truer and closer to your own tone and mode of speaking.

Download Essay Conclusion Template in Doc Format (.docx)

Download Essay Conclusion Template in PDF Format (.pdf)

Conclusion

If you’ve written a fantastic essay, by the time you get to that final paragraph of the essay conclusion, it can sometimes feel like you don’t have the energy to finish or to really give it your all.

Alternatively, it can feel like the more “important” parts of your essay are already so good, writing a stellar essay conclusion just isn’t as crucial—since you’ve already done so much of the heavy lifting.

Resist these mindsets.

When you sit down to right that last paragraph, know that it is just as vital as your thesis. The conclusion is the last paragraph that your teacher reads, so if he or she is at all “on the fence” about how strong or weak they find your essay, this is your last chance to load the dice in your favor.

A strong conclusion can pull together the threads of your argument and connect them into something that feels neatly tied up, rather than tangled up.

When it comes to writing a strong essay conclusion, there’s no reason that you can’t seek the help of an essay writing service like this one.

Receiving a sample conclusion is something you can hold on to for the remainder of your academic career.

Often, receiving an example of excellent work can help elevate your own work exponentially.

We are always happy to help students as we know the intense pressures they are so often under and we sympathize immensely.

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
How to Write an Amazing Essay Conclusion (and improve grades). (2018, July 5). Retrieved from https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essay-writing/essay-conclusion/

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"How to Write an Amazing Essay Conclusion (and improve grades)." Aceyourpaper.com. Student Network Resources Inc, 5 July. 2018. Web. 19 March 2024.

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
Student Network Resources Inc. "How to Write an Amazing Essay Conclusion (and improve grades)." Aceyourpaper.com. https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essay-writing/essay-conclusion/ (accessed March 19, 2024).

Comments

  Subscribe  
Notify of