In ConclusionTips for writing a memorable ending

Wednesday, December 10, 14

Think about what you want your reader to feel at the

end of your narrative. Weave a conclusion by picking up threads from

your story.

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End with an image

Showing an image prevents you from telling your feelings

“...within a few paces of a grazing deer, close enough to see the delicate lips, the twitching nostrils, the glossy, fathomless eyes.”

“Buckeye,” Scott Russell Sanders

“The wind sings through the window like a siren, and the steam floats from my skin like milk.”

“Bathing” Kathryn Winograd

Student ideas:*pregnant mother singing the song she

wants her baby named after*hospital room

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End with ActionShow yourself in action. Move. Do something, anything, to avoid telling the reader how happy, or sad, or hopeful you are in the end.

“But since, short of diving in after him, there was nothing I could do, I walked away.”

Edward Hoagland, “The Courage of Turtles”

Student ideas:*Crouching in seat after

hearing your name*Humming the same song you were named

after*Flipping through a family photo album

*turning a bin to look for a personalized

pencil

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End with DialogueDialogue can be tricky to conclude with, but can work if it avoids a message or moral. You’ll only want to use this concluding technique if it has been maintained in the narrative; you probably don’t want to throw in spoken word if we haven’t

“I don’t know where you got it from, but in the end, it’s going to kill you.”

David Sedaris,  “Cyclops”

Around my neck is the stone he brought me from Poland. I hold it out. Like this? I ask. Shards of fly wings, suspended in amber.Exactly, he says.

Jo Ann Beard’s “The Fourth State of Matter” 

“Moon,” he is piping from the back seat, “moon, moon!”

Scott Russell Sanders, “Cloud Crossing”

Student Ideas:*Teacher massacring your name *Conversation with grandmother

* Asking a saleman for a personalized pencil to no avail

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End with ReflectionWhen used well, reflection is a great way to convey feelings without telling the reader how you felt – or how they should feel. Reflection offers the writer’s thoughts about what is happening or has happened. Reflection can include thoughts about the moment or thoughts looking back, about the experience.

. . . I wished that he had been beside me so that I could have searched his face for the answers which only the future would give me now.

James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son”

Student Ideas: *Going through ancestors and thinking of the disconnect between them and you

*Remembering the person you are named after

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End at the BeginningA loop ending ends at the same place it begins. There is a common thread looped throughout the narrative. The reader feels the story is neatly wrapped up.

In Winter

Outside my windowI notice Winter walking towards the house His cane clacks the sidewalk like hailstones

His cloak casts such lengthy shadowsHis beard leans into the chilly windAnd his arrival changes the world

That once grew and thrivedIn greens and pinksOutside my window.

Student ideas: Starting with

wishing for a simple name with examples

and then ending with those same

examples

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Your turnReread your final paragraph. Think about what you want your readers to take away; then think how best to accomplish this. Look for a common thread to tie things up neatly.

Try two different endings: image, action dialogue, reflection, beginning.

Be sure and write and revise for word choice (show not tell), voice and fluency.

Ask your table to help you pick the best.

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Works Cited

Mack, E. "In Conclusion: Tips to Create a Memorable Ending for Your Narrative Essay." WRITING CENTER UNDERGROUND. N.p., 11 Apr. 2014 Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

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