Essay Conclusions, The Whole Reason Why

by Shawn Hassen

In a previous post, we discussed the organization of the essay introduction, and now we want to tackle the vital skill of conclusions, the whole reason why we would even write an essay in the first place.

First, let's discredit erroneous thinking about essay conclusions. Your students have probably come to believe they are trivial, tacked on “summaries of the essay.” Well, there are certainly some repeated aspects (written in a fresh way), but it is not a repetition of the essay (which students tend to envision). I always invoked humor in the classroom and asked students, “Why would I ask you to write the same thing twice? That’s dumb. Why would I want to read the same thing twice? That’s even dumber.”

Now, introduce or emphasize the conclusion’s importance to your students. A conclusion is nothing short of vital. That’s why I taught conclusions before I taught introductions. Make no mistake that a compelling introduction is extremely important, particularly if you are having to grab your reader’s attention quickly (ask any AP student preparing for the essay-portion of the exam). But the conclusion is arguably more vital in its content and its resonance. Students must remember this as they craft their conclusions:

1)      The conclusion demonstrates the whole purpose for the essay. Why write (or read) about this topic in the first place? “What’s the point of all this? Why care?” 

2)      The conclusion might be the only thing the reader remembers. So make it count.

Conclusions are organized opposite from introductions. Unlike an introduction which begins very broad and generalized and becomes very specific as it culminates in the thesis sentence (picture a triangle with the point at the bottom), a conclusion is the picture of a flipped triangle with the point at the top. A conclusion reminds the reader (with fresh wording) of the key specific points from the essay and then takes the reader broader, beyond the piece of literature, into the world of “big ideas.” This is, after all, the beauty of studying and writing about literature—it challenges our thinking about life and the universe. Which is why any writer should map out the contents of the conclusion (either intuitively or in a quick outline on paper) before starting the essay.

In the context of 500 – 800 word essays about literature, I always encouraged students to use the conclusion (and only the conclusion) to evaluate the ideas they have been presenting. The body of the essay should present the author’s ideas and purposes as evidenced by the literature, itself, in our rather scientific process of studying literature accurately (see one of my first posts on the science of literature). The conclusion, however, is the perfect place for students to evaluate those ideas. Do they agree or disagree? If so, what is their basis? Without shifting into first-person narration, they can and should academically (in third person) challenge their reader with their own ideas closely related to what they have been presenting in the body of the essay—never off topic or out in left field.

I taught in an academically rigorous Christian school, so we not only wanted to study literature at the highest level possible, but we wanted students to develop their on biblical worldviews by comparing and contrasting the ideas they came across on their studies to the ideas found in Scripture. Even though some of my students were not Christians or not interested in doing that and chose to simply discuss worldly ideas, I always provided a model such as you will see here that would encourage their worldview development. If you or your students are not in a Christian environment, you can certainly tweak the following sample to better suit your particular classroom.

Assuming I wrote an essay about Lord of the Flies that began with this thesis “Golding creates the conch as a symbol for civilization, and he delivers a powerful commentary on what the breakdown of this civilization looks like,” here is the conclusion: 

The conch is the comforting sound of civilization on the island.  It brings the boys together and  ensures that everyone can be heard and granted respect as they think through the rules they should establish and the plan they should implement for rescue.  But the conch is fragile.  Golding points out that as savagery and lawlessness take root among some of the boys, the conch smashes to bits—as does law and order.  Indeed, history has proven this to be true, as totalitarian regimes who lead by fear and violence seemingly destroy civilization in the form of holocausts and genocide.  The allure of power is tempting for sinful man.  From the original Ten Commandments to the biblically inspired American Constitution, righteous laws and codes must stand the test of time and provide a civilization where all humans can flourish with dignity, respect, and accountability.

Note the organization. I briefly and innovatively (read quickly) recapped the key points of my thesis (and all that I had been proving within the body of my essay) without insulting my reader with redundancy.  Then I took those specific ideas and developed a bigger context within the world. Note also that I am not going to start a new essay. I am ultimately ending this essay, leaving my readers with a challenge or something poignant to take away. I'm offering my own ideas beyond the literature itself, and within the context of the real world, but I am doing so briefly as would be expected in a relatively short academic essay. The conclusion can be more extensive, needless to say in larger essays or research papers.

Of special note to Christian school educators: the flavor of this model is intentionally academic. You have a two-fold challenge. You are guiding your students toward biblical thinking, but you are also teaching them to be academic, expository writers. Do not compromise either. There may be some isolated instance somewhere during the school year where “Jesus died for our sins to redeem us” actually makes sense in the conclusion, but do not allow students to default to a trivial presentation of the gospel if it has no bearing on the topic of the essay. Not only are  blanket Christian-ese fake conclusions (please take into account my sense of humor) off topic and insulting to the reader (and the gospel), but they keep your students from actually exploring the profundity of real biblical ideology and its impact on society and their own lives. The ideas and truths of Scripture are everywhere and we want our students actually thinking about what they believe and learning to apply it.