A Framework for���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  Your attention grabber was captivating, your context was thorough, and your thesis statement was articulate, argumentative, and analytical.

•  Furthermore, your body paragraphs provided the perfect support and evidence for your thesis statement; they also were organized through MEL-Con.

•  Now, you only have one question…How do I end this essay?

A Framework for���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  Your conclusion should recap your ideas presented in your introduction and body paragraphs…but more importantly, your conclusion needs to “pack a punch” to leave the reader with a lasting impression.

•  Your conclusion is your last chance to get your point across, call the reader to action, and impact your audience.

•  Okay, so how do I do that?

A Framework for���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  An effective conclusion contains all of these elements:

(Re)state Thesis Statement Articulate Main Ideas Clincher

Elements of���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  Thesis: After you have summarized your mains ideas, show how they support your argument by restating your thesis. USE NEW WORDING. Restate the thesis in a fresh new way. Find your inner wordsmith!

•  Articulate Main Ideas: Summarize the main ideas from each of your body paragraphs (these main ideas should be identical to the reasoning you gave as part of your ELABORATE in your thesis statement).

•  Clincher: Leave the reader with a lasting impression. Provide the reader with a lesson learned from the text, a connection to the overall focus of the course, or a call to action.

Tips for Crafting���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  Start with a Transitional Statement or Phrase. –  Open your final paragraph with a good statement or

phrase that will sort of "reintroduce" your topic. –  Try phrases like:

•  And so -------------- are undoubtedly the most important.... •  There is no doubt that..... •  It is evident that ----------------perform so many....

•  AVOID: "All in all" or "In conclusion" or "Finally" or "To sum it all up." These are overused, cliché, and boring.

Model ���Concluding Paragraph  

•  Let’s take a look at a model concluding paragraph. •  Before showing you the model, let’s provide some

context. •  Here was the essay prompt this student had to

answer:

Should the government or any governing body be allowed to censor and/or ban books in schools?

Model ���Concluding Paragraph  

Should the government or any governing body be allowed to censor and/or ban books in schools?

Banning any book by the government is simply wrong and goes against everything the American forefathers established in the first amendment rights. It is understandable perhaps that many people are offended by such subjects as violence, sex, drug use, rape, and swearing, but banning books that contain such material is not the answer nor does it lessen the fact that these problems do plague our society. Reading books like Roots is a chance for young adults to be exposed to horrible yet real human conditions which they will hopefully, in turn, be able to understand, grasp, and be part of the solution to eliminate these types of atrocities from our society. Readers cannot put on blinders. Reading is a safe way to expose future generations to the hardships and negative aspects of life in America. The government should not prevent young readers from having access to these materials, and readers everywhere need to protect citizen’s rights to access and utilize these sources.

Model ���Concluding Paragraph  

•  Again, here was the essay prompt this student had to answer:

Should the government or any governing body be allowed to censor and/or ban books in schools?

•  Did this student (re)state his or her thesis statement? •  Did the student articulate the main ideas of the

essay? •  Does the student have a clincher?

Review: A Framework for���Concluding Paragraphs  

•  An effective conclusion contains all of these elements:

(Re)state Thesis Statement Articulate Main Ideas Clincher