Conclusion Paragraphs
Conclusion Paragraphs
Your conclusion paragraph should logically conclude your essay, just like your concluding sentences logically conclude your body paragraphs. The conclusion paragraph should begin by restating your thesis, and then you should broaden back out to a general topic. End the conclusion paragraph with a closing statement.
This paragraph looks like the reverse of your introduction paragraph, going from specific to general.
Restate your thesis. The first sentence of your concluding paragraph should restate your thesis. In order to restate your thesis, the meaning of your thesis should not change, but the words need to. One way you can do this is by reversing the order of the clauses in your thesis. The clauses are also rephrased, rather than simply copying them and moving them. You can change some vocabulary words for synonyms or change the part of speech. Compare the thesis with the restatement below.
- Thesis: Some of the best ways to prevent sleep disorders are establishing good sleep habits, doing regular exercise, and making a comfortable bedroom environment.
- Restated Thesis: Overall, these simple actions can make a significant impact on the quality of our sleep.
Apply your thesis to general contexts. Connect your thesis back to the general topics you mentioned in your introduction. You may invite the reader to make some change based on your essay or discuss possible actions that others should take.
Give a closing statement. Your closing statement is very similar to the concluding sentence of a body paragraph except that you will not restate your main idea at the very end of your paper. Your closing statement can be a prediction, suggestion, or opinion.
Example: Conclusion Paragraph
Overall, these simple habits can make a significant impact on the quality of our sleep. People need good sleeping habits and good exercising habits if they want to sleep well at night. You might think that poor sleep is a normal problem in our modern day. However, preventing sleep problems is possible. We don't have to be tired every day if we make good choices and prepare our bodies for rest. We spend a large portion of our time asleep; we should enjoy it.
Exercises
Exercise 1: Practice restating
Rewrite each thesis statement as you would at the beginning of a conclusion paragraph.
- The best solution to have the perfect hair is to use horse shampoo because it will make your hair grow faster, become stronger, and be shinier.
- Boys and girls are unique in their personalities and their features.
- In order to learn Japanese, we need to find a teacher, buy a textbook and make native speaker friends.
Exercise 2: Identify which paragraph
Identify whether each paragraph is an introduction, body, or conclusion paragraph.
1. The low self-esteem of a person can disappear as that person learns to recognize their strengths. When you focus on the things you can do instead of what you cannot, you enable yourself to achieve greater heights. Whenever you are faced with a shortcoming or a weakness, remember instead what your greatest strengths are and think about what you can achieve by using these strengths. In addition to recognizing your skills, you can further improve yourself by teaching or sharing those talents with others around you. Doing so will help you realize that there are others who need your capabilities. You will see that you have unique talents and that you are important as an individual. Therefore, at the very moment you identify your abilities, you are boosting your self-worth.
Type of Paragraph: ____________________________
2. The United States and Chile have similar celebrations for Halloween and Christmas, but most of these traditions change due to culture, language, or season. Both celebrations are important in every country, and are special and unique. The important thing is that it does not matter in what part of the world you are, just enjoy every culture. In the end, they are both holidays, so celebrate!
Type of Paragraph: ____________________________
3. How many times have we tried to keep a goal? How many times do we feel frustrated for not being able to reach our goals? We live in a world where everybody sets goals in their lives to improve themselves. One of the goals people usually set is to live healthier, but most of the time we set unrealistic goals that make our path harder than it should be. However, there are simple things that we can do to achieve our desired goal. In order to have a healthy life we should eat smart, exercise regularly and develop good habits.
Type of Paragraph: _____________________________
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