Strategies for Concluding Paragraphs*

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Summarize the main points
Review the main points briefly; a detailed summary will seem repetitive.

Restate the thesis
Put the thesis in different words to drive home the essay’s main point.

Predict future events or speculate
Look at relatively clear consequences, not those requiring explanation; keep speculations interesting but not so provocative that they require extensive discussion.

Use a quotation
Provide a quotation that makes key ideas memorable or supports your conclusions.

Offer a striking example, anecdote, or image
Supply a mental picture or brief narrative to reinforce an essay’s message

Echo the introduction
Use this echo to create a sense of completion.

*From Simon and Schuster Quick Access Reference for Writers, Second Edition. Ed. Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1995.