Dr. Matt Kuefler

16. CONCLUSIONS

What should a conclusion do?

The conclusion is your way of sending your reader away from your essay with an understanding of the significance or larger meaning of the thesis that you have just proven. In other words, it should answer the question: "you've made your case, but why is this important?" or "Why should I care?" Common ways of addressing the significance of one's thesis include making parallels with modern-day events or trying to see general patterns in history from your example.

What should a conclusion not do?

In a short essay, such as the ones you'll be writing for this course, you should not repeat the main points you've made in your essay. It is enough that you repeat your thesis in the conclusion. As mentioned in Writing Tip #2, though, if you are able to include reference to your main points in the restatement of your thesis in the conclusion, without making it too complicated a sentence, you can do so.

What form should the conclusion take?

A conclusion should always begin with a restatement of your thesis, either rephrased slightly or even in the same words you used for the introduction. If possible to hint at your main points by adding words or short phrases to this thesis statement, then do so, but only if the sentence doesn't get too long or too complicated. Then a couple of sentences of significance is enough to finish the conclusion. Common methods of discussing the significance of theses in historical essays are to point to broader human patterns of behavior or to compare or contrast the past and the present.

Example:

Say that my thesis was this (taken from the last sentence of my introduction):

More than any other single factor, the publication of Alfred Kinsey's studies on human sexuality made public discussion of sexual topics respectable.

My points, expressed throughout the paper, demonstrated that this statement was true. Then my conclusion might be worded somethiing like this:

When seen in historical perspective, then, it is clear that the publication of Alfred Kinsey's studies on human sexuality, more than any other single factor, made public discussion of sexual topics respectable. We still live in a time in which attempts are made to silence discussions of sexual matters. The example and precedent of Kinsey's studies, however, demonstrate that it takes only one individual to change society.