The Essay ConclusionMake your essay sound

finished!Leave a lasting impression

on the reader.

The concluding paragraph typically has two parts:

The Summary Statement

Here are some examples of thesis statements and summary statements:

THE CLINCHER

Clinchers

Example of a conclusion using an anecdote as a clincher.

Introduction Conclusion

In Lake Wobegone Days, humorist Garrison Keillor tells of a retired dentist in a little Minnesota town.  He sits in a fishing boat much of theday.  "Open wide," Dr. Nute says to the fish.  "This may sting a little bit.  Okay.  Now bite down."  Unfortunately, not all retired persons are so easily able to continue their once interesting professions in some form, as Dr. Nute has.  Retirees have a high death rate within the first six months after retirement, apparently because of boredom, and psychologists suggest three ways to prevent it.

Example of a conclusion making a prediction or recommendation

Introduction Conclusion

Television is so popular that over 128 million sets are now being used in 98 percent of American households.  According to the A.C. Nielsen Company, which takes television surveys, each week the small screen holds the attention of children under five for an average of 23.5 hours and adults for an average of 44 hours.  Indeed, the typical viewer spends more time in front of the television set than he or she spends on any other activity except sleep. But far from being the "idiot box" that it is often called, television offers viewers many benefits.  Television can be educational, as well as entertaining.

Example of a conclusion asking a final rhetorical question

Introduction Conclusion

What do smoke signals, wax tablets, and the telegraph all have in common?  They were all tools used for communication.  Some of these tools were more sophisticated than others, but all of them served the same purpose.  They allowed people to communicate with each other. Maybe in a few thousand years, our way of communicating will become obsolete.  But there's no denying the importance of the cell phone, the computer, and the postal service in our society today.

Example of a conclusion asking a final rhetorical question

Introduction Conclusion

"Never do yourself what you can afford to pay someone else to do."  That is a motto my brother lives by.  Had I lived by it, too, I could have saved myself a large expense, much griminess, and a painful injury to my hand the last time I tried to fix a leaking toilet.

Final Tip on Writing Conclusions