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Selby Spring 2019

Conclusion Help!

The conclusion is where you wind down the paper, and it is your opportunity to really
reinforce the argument and its importance for your reader. The most important thing to
remember here is that no new examples/evidence should be introduced here. The conclusion is
your opportunity to bring together all the examples/evidence you introduced earlier. The
conclusion is where you can really answer the question of ​so what?

Here is a helpful visual to help you imagine your conclusion paragraph:

In your conclusion, you can take the organization of your introduction and flip it on its head.
Consider some of the elements of a conclusion below:

1. Restate Thesis – ​Students often know they need to restate their thesis/argument in their
conclusion, but it is important to remember that you do not want to simply copy and paste
from your introduction. The one thing that has changed from your introduction (and your
initial introduction of your argument) is that you have provided the reader with
evidence/example and actual reason to believe you. Now that you have done this, you can
restate your thesis in a more detailed and nuanced way.
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2. Reinforce Your Arguments/Evidence – ​Remind your reader why the supporting points
all add together to prove the overall point you have made in the paper. Again, you do not
simply want to state word-for-word what you have said before; this would be boring for
your reader. This is your chance to bring everything together with detail for your reader.

3. Leave Your Reader with Something to Consider – ​At this point, your reader has sat
through a number of pages of argument. It is advisable to leave them with something to
mull over as they finish the paper. If your paper presented a problem, perhaps you offer a
solution here. You may also propose the consequences of not taking your argument into
consideration (think back to the example provided in the introduction section of this
handout. What will happen if nothing is done for the prisoners sitting on death row?)
Basically, this is where you can answer the question of ​so what? ​when it comes to your
paper.