how to write a conclusion in an essay

Psychologists claim that what is said at the end of a conversation is best remembered. This is doubly true for academic papers: usually the teacher reads carefully only the introduction and conclusion. That's why it's so important to take how to finish an essay seriously.

Tips on how to write a conclusion in an essay Any student paper - except for solving problems that involve a numerical answer - ends with a conclusion or conclusions. The conclusion in an essay is essentially similar to the conclusion in other papers - for example, in a term paper or an essay:

• The final conclusion of the essay should be based on the facts and arguments presented in the main body of the paper, on the positions of scientists and the results of experiments. The concluding part of the essay should be consistent with the elements of expert opinion given in the text. 
• The conclusion of the essay should not contain fundamentally new facts - only generalizations of those mentioned earlier. 
• The stylistics of the conclusion should match the stylistics of the entire paper. If the paper is written in a dry scientific style, you should not add artistic means to the conclusion, otherwise it will look foreign, artificially attached rather than an organic continuation. Similarly, if a journalistic style has been taken as the basis: the conclusion should not be significantly more rigorous. 
• Don't overreact with the phrases "In my humble opinion," "Even though I'm not an expert," and the like. These look like excuses and insecurities. 
• The main thing is for the reader to understand that the essay is finished, the logical conclusion is present; that there is no feeling that the author wrote-wrote, and then he was distracted, and the work was left unfinished.

Types of conclusion in essays

There are several approaches to how to finish an essay:

• Rhetorical question. If the essay was written in the form of questions and answers, it can be concluded with a rhetorical question that forces the reader to think about what he or she has read and formulate a conclusion for himself or herself.

Example 1

A rhetorical question does not imply a specific answer, such as: "How much longer will our people tolerate the blatant injustice?" does not imply a "Three years and two months" answer, but a hint that it is time for something to change.

• Summarizing the author's position. A classic way to conclude a text. It is sufficient to simply summarize the conclusion that follows from what has been said above.

Example 2

This type of conclusion can begin with the words "So", "Thus", "Having analyzed ... we can conclude".

• A call to action.

Example 3

It is not very typical for academic essays, but some social themes can be revealed with such a conclusion, for example: "Let's start with ourselves and quit smoking tomorrow," "Pick up the phone and just call the person closest to you and the world will be a little better."

• Use of quotation. It is much easier to put the quotation in the epigraph, but sometimes it is appropriate in the conclusion: "As we see, even today Lermontov's "...country of slaves, country of lords" remains true. 
• Looping Composition. The conclusion should resonate with the introduction. The simplest variant: the introduction poses a question and the conclusion answers it: "It is now safe to say that....

Methods of writing conclusions in an essay

The method of writing conclusions should be chosen long before you finish the essay - preferably before you start working on the text at all. Examples of methods:

• While writing the main body, sketch out ideas for the conclusion. As you write and justify your new thesis statement, write it down briefly on a separate piece of paper, so that by the end of the main body you have a prepared conclusion. 
• Imagine a reader asking the question, "So what?" Explain to him with the conclusion why the entire text was read to him for a reason, what he should learn for himself. 
• Try to bring the reader to a higher level of awareness of your work. Don't just mechanically repeat what you said earlier, but make him want to answer you, argue, or share his experience.

Forming a conclusion in an essay

One of the aspects of how to write a conclusion in an essay is the formatting. The formatting of the conclusion in an essay is extremely simple:

• No title ("conclusion," "conclusions," or similar) is required. It is not even necessary to begin the conclusion with a new page. It is enough to conclude the thought (which forms the last part of the main text of the paper) and move smoothly to the formulation of conclusions. 
• The conclusion begins with a new paragraph without special dividers (there is no need to cross it out or use other means). 
• The length of the conclusion should be commensurate with the essay itself. If the essay is three pages long, it is inappropriate to allocate one and a half of them to the conclusion. According to the general principle, the length of the conclusion should be 5-10% of the volume of the work; accordingly, in a three-page essay, it should be about one-third of a page. 
• The font parameters do not change when moving on to writing the conclusion: if the entire text is written in Times New Roman font size 14, the same font is used for the conclusion