How to Write an Effective Conclusion and

Parenthetical Citations

Format of ConclusionRestate Thesis!

Reword your original thesis"Should NOT be copied and pasted"

State what you have learned!Choose 2-3 interesting facts you have learned in the duration of your research"Do NOT use first person"

Final Conclusion!Should draw your paper together"Get broad again - should mimic general statement

Sample Conclusion! Amy Tan’s writing has been greatly influenced by various aspects of her personal identity, such as her complicated relationships with her family, her great interest in the English language, and the combination of her Chinese heritage and American upbringing. Having been a child of immigrant parents, Tan’s relationship with them led her to pursue a career outside of her parents’ expectations. In addition to her immediate family, Tan drew much inspiration from her family’s history, both in China and in America. Thus, Amy Tan demonstrates that aspects of a writer’s identity are indeed visible and evident in the work they produce.

Rules for Parenthetical Citations

Cite anything that’s not considered common sense"Remember - your audience may have little to no knowledge of your artist, so you want to include citations for their benefit"

Refer to your Works Cited"Your parenthetical citations should mimic the first part of each Works Cited entry. Depending on the information included, it may be the author’s last name, the title of the work, or the title of the book or journal it’s pulled from"

For more help with parenthetical citations, go to Purdue OWL for more information

Parenthetical Citation Examples

Article with Author — (Lew 2)"Use last name and page number"

Article without Author — (“Conversation with Kanye West” 2-3)"

Include the title (abbreviate if it is long)"Use quotation marks for articles, poems, or short stories and italicize for books"

Works with Multiple Authors — (Smith, Yang, and Tan 4-5) OR (Smith et al. 4-5)"

List last names as they are listed in your Works Cited"If there are too many names (4+), use the “et al.”

Parenthetical Citations

If I have not listed the type of source you are working with, go to https://

owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ for more specific guided information on formatting your

parenthetical citations.