“Finish strong” is familiar advice to many people, and it is relevant advice when it comes to writing analytical papers. The strength of your concluding paragraph will affect the overall impact of your paper and the ability of your reader to connect with your topic. The following is advice for writing an effective conclusion.
Many students think of a concluding paragraph as a paragraph that summarizes the thesis statement and main ideas of a paper, but, according to Professor Rosemary Jann, the conclusion should “do more than just restate what you’ve already stated.” The conclusion should reinforce that you have successfully posed an argument, but it should bring something new as well. Whereas “your introductory paragraph starts broad and then funnels down to your thesis…the concluding paragraph establishes what you’ve proved in the paper and then broadens out the meaning of what you’ve established in the course of your analysis,” says Professor Jann.
The larger implications of your analysis can be difficult to state without becoming too general or so broad that “it sounds like you’re starting another paper,” but Professor Jann suggests considering a number of possibilities. Does your specific point impact other types of interpretation about your subject? Could your approach in analyzing your subject be applied to a different writer? Can the specifics that you demonstrated change peoples’ view of the writer you studied? Any of these characteristics would make a topic relevant and influential.
To see an example, click here