The conclusion is an important part of the overall essay, yet it is often rushed in order to comply with the word count or worse, left out altogether. This Bite will suggest a straightforward approach to writing effective and persuasive conclusions.
The conclusion is an important part of the overall essay, yet it is often rushed in order to comply with the word count or worse, left out altogether. This Bite will suggest a straightforward approach to writing effective and persuasive conclusions.
Like the introduction, the conclusion should be a relatively easy part to plan and write, but it’s often done very ineffectively or, worse still, not done at all. The conclusion is your opportunity to remind the marker, one last time, of how well you’ve answered the question. It should contain no new arguments or evidence; instead, it brings together all the key points from your main body. Again, you might like to consider a three-step approach:
A lead-in statement or topic sentence which reminds the reader of the question (relating to the ‘aspect’ – See Essay Bite 1)
Your key points from the main body, gathered to provide a definitive answer to the question. If you’ve used a TEA approach (see Essay Bite 5) then you should be able to identify your key analytical points easily.
A concluding sentence which places your answer back in the wider context (relating to the ‘topic’ – see Essay Bite 1).
As was mentioned at the planning stage, you should have a good idea of the conclusion you are working towards before you start writing your essay. It may change slightly as you progress, but having at least a broad conclusion in mind will give your essay structure and direction.