Conclusions

Perhaps it is at the stage of drafting your concluding paragraph/s that you can really allow yourself to finally (pun intended)  think past the prompt and recognize what it has meant to write this paper: you are now a knowledge producer who synthesizes what they just wrote in the introduction and body paragraphs. With your written contribution, you have entered a river of ongoing academic discussion in your discipline. The conclusion of your paper is a chance to inspire your readers into further exploration of the river. Having stated and developed your argument, you can now acknowledge its significance, point at its implications, and leave your reader with further questions and ideas to continue this academic flow. Now, so that you don’t drown, here are some specific considerations for your conclusion:

• Build on a “promise” from your introduction – a contextualized, well-researched argument – that you have  fulfilled throughout your paper; 
• Lift your argument and move it forward, by acknowledging its implications or significance, or provoking further questions that one could extrapolate from it;
• In a broader context of academic exchange, help your reader understand why they have read your paper (“so what?”) and invite them to further grapple with its themes/findings.

 

What To Include In A Conclusion

Visualize your paper as an hourglass. At the top of the hourglass, you introduced your big idea and then worked to break it down, point by point. Now, at the base of the hourglass, use the conclusion to propel further thinking, research, or action on your topic, based on the insights you have uncovered.

Fordham Writing Center experts suggest beginning your conclusion with a transition sentence or two, connecting the ideas you have already discussed to the wider points you are now poised to make. A strong conclusion will then move on to address questions such as:

 

• What claims can you make based on your research?

• What are the IMPLICATIONS of your research or argument?

• What is the SIGNIFICANCE of the insights you have shared?

• What further questions need to be asked about the topic?

• How has your understanding of the topic shifted?

 

 

Here are a few examples of ways to approach this high ground, as a knowledge producer in your  conclusion:

 

• While the research clearly demonstrates…there is now an urgent need to better understand the role of….Toward that end, an important next step for scientists is to…….

• Historians have long focused on…, while avoiding…With increased awareness of…, theories must be reevaluated. The…offers the opportunity to….

• As a consequence of…, new approaches to…must be created. It is no longer sufficient to…, instead,....

 

 

Choosing Your Style of Conclusion 

Your conclusion is in dialogue with your introduction and your argument, so structuring it will depend directly on these two components. Consider, for example, if you’d rather focus on your argument’s implications or on its significance (for a discipline in general or a specific topic). Reflect if you’d rather end your paper with recommendations or further questions that rise as a result of your paper. These decisions will depend on how you built your argument and how you introduced your reader to it:

–if your argument responds to an omission (“many authors analyzed …, but nobody used the lenses of … OR: Introducing transdisciplinary approaches to… reveals aspects of … that were never taken under consideration before in studying the subject. OR: Providing legal advice to people suffering from mental disease has not yet been a subdiscipline of legal training, but it is necessary and timely, as seen in the examples I provided”), you may want to structure your conclusion around the significance of the very method of analysis or an approach you have proposed and its possible further applications;

–if your argument responds to a paradox or a dilemma (say, a “gentrification paradox”: the more an urban neighborhood develops and becomes welcoming to new residents, the more it excludes its former residents; OR: “some scholars believe that …., while others disagree and…” ), your conclusion may acknowledge a sense of “intellectual balance” your argument has brought and also note the implications of the position you have taken in your paper on the broader subject/the paradox itself.

–if your argument was a critique of an existing institution/its mechanisms and procedures (say, an inclusionary policies of a fashion brand, or a CSR procedures in a tech start-up), your conclusion could collect your recommendations and raise new questions or goals that stem out of them.

Remember, though: you are only building a bridge for your reader to notice a new landscape. It is not your task to give them a guided tour. In other words, you are not starting a new paper in your concluding paragraph, but just pointing to the intellectual opportunities your paper has opened up.

 

What Not To Do: Examples of Ineffective Conclusions

Try to avoid these ineffective approaches to conclusions. Although you might come across them as a reader, these tactics weaken a well articulated paper, and rob you of the chance to contribute the knowledge you have gained through writing it.

The repeat: If you have made your points clear from the introduction through the body, there is no need to dwell on summary in the conclusion. Of course, you do want to bridge the reader from the introduction and key points to the conclusion, but be succinct as you bring the reader out of the body of the paper and connect to your resulting insights or recommendations.

The giant surprise: Conclusions are not the place to spring entirely new information or ideas on the reader. Instead, based on the information you have previously provided, write logically about the effects, consequences, further studies or new actions you now believe are important.

The magic quote: Although it can sometimes be useful to incorporate a quote into your conclusion, don’t stop there: quotes don't speak for themselves -- if you decide to apply a quote in your conclusion (or anywhere), make sure to comment on it, leveraging your own insights.

The nonconclusion:  As The Bedford Handbook points out, “An effective conclusion is decisive and unapologetic” (p. 48). Make sure your conclusion clearly communicates your point of view on the issue, idea or argument laid out in your introduction. 

Conclusions and the Revision Process

As you reread and revise your paper, test for how well the introduction and conclusion work together. Have you fulfilled the promises you made in the introduction? Is your point of view clear?

The work of research and writing may have clarified or shifted your thinking. That’s normal. As you review, you will likely find ways to tighten your introduction, topic sentences, and conclusion so they work logically together, advancing your argument and positioning the implications or significance of your work.

 

Examples

Sample 1: Transitioning Into The Conclusion

Notice how the writer uses one, tight sentence to briefly sum up the main idea (ground previously covered) and then begins to position the significance of the idea.

Within Nelson’s memoir, The Argonauts, lies the importance of identity and belonging to multiple groups. We all belong to groups that share similar characteristics, sometimes for enjoyment or a sense of belonging and sometimes for safety and comfort….. 

 

Sample 2: Shifting Perspective and Challenging The Reader

Notice how the writer acknowledges the role of individual effort to address racism and goes further to advance broader legal action making  Critical Race Theory part of education.

Without an academic discussion of hateful language and race, we will never achieve “interracial intimacy,” Bernard’s self-proclaimed antidote to racism. Individually, we can do our duty by continuing to read and support authors like Emily Bernard, Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Baldwin, and others who expand in great detail the importance and benefits of racial discussions. However, without broader, legal action to make CRT a permanent part of American education (instead of banning CRT across the country), the decades of progress towards improving race relations in our society will continue to deteriorate.  

 

Sample 3: Taking a Stance

Notice how the writer makes their own point of view about the significance of an author’s work clear in the opening of this conclusion.

Ultimately, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye provides a valuable contribution to questions of racial identity, womanhood, and the psychological effects of colonial violence. Through its protagonists, the novel presents several paths towards identity-formation for black girls with varying levels of success, injury, and self-love….

 

Sample 4: So What?

Notice how the writer invites readers to think about the impact of the ideas shared and even begin to consider, “now what?”

Until all children have access to high quality and engaging summer learning programs, learning loss will continue and contribute to widen equity gap in the United States. The ad hoc efforts of nonprofits are insufficient against the magnitude of change needed. To meaningfully level the playing field, a massive infusion of funding for world class after-school, weekend, and vacation programming is now a necessity.