Conclusions

Why are conclusions so difficult to write?  I don't know, but there's something about them that would always stump my students.  "What do I put in my conclusion?" They'd ask.  And this is what I'd tell them:

1. Restate your thesis.  Not in the same words you used in the first paragraph, though.  We already read that once, give it to us in a new way.  The purpose of the thesis in the first paragraph is to say--this is what I'm going to prove (or explain).  The purpose of the thesis in the final paragraph is to say--this is what I just proved (or explained), do you see how brilliant I am???  (For a reminder on how to write a killer thesis, click here.) 

Here's how that might look:

• To conclude, The Hobbit films are trash because of poor writing, editing, and directing. 

or

• As illustrated above, the flaws in the scripts, unfortunate editing choices, and misguided direction are what make The Hobbit Films inferior to The Lord of the Rings. 

The first one had a little sass, but you get the idea. 

2. Don't bring up anything new.  Now is not the time to introduce a new topic or bring up anything that needs to be proved.  That's what the bulk of your paper was for, this is just the wrap up.  Your conclusion should act as a "ta da!" not a "...and that's not all...."  

3. Summarize the big points from your essay, tying up loose ends.  Like so:

• In departing so drastically from the source material with the script, Peter Jackson angered the built-in fan base, causing animosity that could've been avoided.  The CGI made the sequences look unbelievable and fake, cheapening any stakes that might have existed for the characters.  As to the characters themselves, there were so many to begin with, that it became impossible to keep track of or care about all of them once new characters were added.  

(Obviously, this isn't a perfect example since you can't see earlier paragraphs for reference, but assuming that these things were all brought up in greater detail in my body paragraphs, this would be a good way to wrap the topics up.) 

4. End with a button.  A button is a closing sentence or two with a sense of finality that leaves your reader satisfied.  Give us a sense for what the purpose of the essay was.  For instance, this could be a button for my pretend Hobbit essay:

• So the next time movie night comes around, skip the headache and pass on The Hobbit films...pick a better Martin Freeman movie instead. 

Or 

• Movies exist to entertain and inspire.  The Hobbit films do neither, accept to inspire viewers to choose better content.  

Pardon my excessive sassiness.  The Hobbit movies wounded me to my soul, and while I can recognize that they have merits, I must admit that I despise them.  Read the book.

Until next time, I remain your faithful online writing tutor,

Mrs. B