To create an effective conclusion, consider the following:

• Conclusions must provide a sense of ending (obvious, I know, and vague—but important).
• Conclusions must reaffirm the purpose of the essay.
• Most effective conclusions echo something in the title, introduction, or thesis.
• Conclusions avoid introducing new topics.
• Effective, pleasing conclusions avoid merely restating the thesis.  Writers can assume that their readers are more sophisticated by the time those readers reach the conclusion than they were when they read the introduction, so mere repetition can be  insulting and sophomoric.  Instead: 
  • issue a call to action
  • ask your readers to reconsider a generalization or a commonly accepted truth (and explain why)
  • remind your readers why the information you present is important
  • venture a value judgment
  • ponder ramifications

• Traditionally, conclusions come in three basic varieties:

• "The practical conclusion
  • State the 'bottom line'
  • Summarize the supporting facts
• "The journalistic conclusion
  • Give a quotation or dramatic illustration appropriate to the topic
  • End with a sentence that seems final
• "The scholarly conclusion
  • Restate the thesis
  • Summarize the evidence
  • End with a sentence that seems final" (Raymond 134-35)

Updated: 08.20.07