This video provides guidance on writing effective conclusion paragraphs for research papers. The speaker emphasizes that the conclusion shouldn't be a mere summary but an opportunity to synthesize findings and leave the reader with a lasting impression.
Here's a transcription of the provided video transcript:
"Good morning. Okay, so it may not be morning for you, but it definitely is for me today. I want to talk about conclusion paragraphs for your research paper. A lot of people think of the conclusion paragraph as the end, and I don't want you to think of the conclusion paragraph that way because while you are ending your paper, you don't want to end with this just very blah, 'the end.' Instead, I want you to think of the conclusion paragraph as an opportunity to draw a conclusion about your topic. But Mrs. Cook, my topic is informational; how am I going to draw a conclusion about it? Let's see. First thing you need to take into consideration is the purpose of the conclusion paragraph. The conclusion paragraph is the opportunity to wrap all your ideas up. So basically, you've given all these details. Think of it as the present, the gift, and now—or the contents of the gift—now you need to wrap it all up and make it pretty. Then, like I said, I want you to draw a conclusion about your topic. So, for instance, if you're writing about recycling and the different ways that people can recycle, you can draw a conclusion about, since there are so many venues for recycling, there's no excuse for anyone to avoid it. Um, now you're kind of drawing this conclusion because you've given all this information about various ways people can recycle and save the Earth. Your conclusion is no one has an excuse to avoid it because it's so easy; it's so accessible. Maybe you're writing about a, um, hobby like ice skating. Well, give all this information and then draw the conclusion about why the sport is so wonderful, um, the beauty behind it, the athleticism behind it, um, you know, bring all those ideas together and draw a conclusion about ice skating. And also, the purpose of your conclusion is to remind your readers of your thesis statement. What—what did you tell them you're going to prove? Now, as you're writing your conclusion paragraph, if you realize that you didn't actually fulfill your promise, then you might need to either tweak your thesis statement or go back into the paper and revisit some of your points to make sure that you can prove your thesis. Let's talk about a few dos for conclusion writing. First of all, you want to provide a strong, more detailed version of your thesis. You don't want to copy and paste your thesis statement from your intro paragraph. No one likes reading exactly the same thing over and over again. This is why I can't stand reading my kids the book, 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?' I don't really care what a purple dog sees, um, but repetition. You can repeat your ideas without stating it in exactly the same words. Um, repackage it somehow. You also want to instill a sense of reflection. Basically, you want to leave your reader thinking about your topic, um. Now, often times people think the only way I can do that is if I leave them with a question. No, you don't have to leave them with a question, um. For instance, going back to that recycling example, if I stated that because there are so many different venues, there's no reason for anyone to avoid recycling, I'm leaving my readers with that thought of, 'Do I recycle? Huh? I should take more notice of where all these places are that I recycle. Maybe I should recycle more. I do recycle, but can I recycle more? I mean, there's all sorts of different ways...' Your reader can reflect on that. And then I also want you to bring it all together. Basically, you're bringing all these main points together to draw a conclusion, um. So keep all these ideas in mind as you're writing. Now let's talk about a few don'ts for your conclusion. Don't restate your main points. Um, you don't want to have your inclusion paragraph reading like a list. Now you can touch on those main points as long as they are completely and utterly repackaged. Also, the conclusion paragraph is no time to introduce main points or new information. That's what the body of the paper's for. So keep all the new information out of your conclusion. Begin—do not, do not—I can't emphasize this enough—start with 'In conclusion,' 'In summary,' or anything else of the like. The reader knows it's a conclusion paragraph because you're restating your thesis. They know it's a conclusion paragraph because it's the last paragraph of the paper. It should just naturally have this ending feel to it. If it doesn't have an ending feel to it, if it sounds like it's a body paragraph, then you need to go back in and rewrite it. Instead, you want this nice bringing everything together idea. It's a recap with reflection. It's not new information. All right, here's a few suggestions of what you can do in your conclusion paragraph. Um, you can draw all the main ideas together to draw a conclusion about your topic. Mentioned that multiple times, so obviously that's a biggie. Something else you could do is a call to action. So I could say to my readers, 'Because there are so many ways to recycle, it's important that everyone contributes.' It's that call to action; it's the 'Get out there and go recycle!' Um, I can suggest the results or consequences of this topic, um, so I could discuss the results of if we avoid recycling, then we may be shortening our lifespan. Or I can say, 'By recycling, not only are we saving the Earth, but we're also saving money and resources.' So I can give those results or consequences of the topic. I could look to the future. So where is this topic going in the future? Um, you know, for instance, I've got some students writing about cancer. Well, look to the future with that. You know, with, you know, by being prepared, by knowing the early symptoms of cancer, signs and symptoms of cancer, we will hopefully be able to decrease the amount of people receiving chemotherapy, something like that, um. Evoke a vivid image. So especially if you're writing about a sport or a hobby, a cultural thing, maybe a country, you can use descriptive writing to bring the reader there, um, make them really feel as if they're experiencing it. And then the last is a full circle ending. This is where you tie back to that hook from your intro paragraph, um, and bring your readers right back to it. This isn't restating your hook; it's a continuation of it. All right, so now that we've gone through this, let's take a look at a sample. So this is a sample conclusion paragraph from my paper on London. What I did in this particular one is I did the vivid image. I use kind of a metaphor to go with this, and I also have this kind of recap. It's this—not a call to action—but it's this thought of, 'There's something in London for everyone.' So let's take a look at it. 'A walk through London is like a ride on a time machine. One block transports its visitors to when the Romans conquered England. The next takes them to Renaissance theaters. Walk a few more, and they are witnessing the permanent mark of the Industrial Age. Then suddenly they are surrounded by innovative architecture and entertainment. Whether a history buff, culture seeker, or open-minded explorer, there is something in London for everyone.' Okay, so I did, in a way, touch on some of the ideas in my paper, but I didn't give the names of the specific buildings. I didn't mention Tower of London. I didn't mention Globe Theater. I didn't mention, um, Covent Gardens. Instead, I talked a little bit broader about the time periods and got back to this idea that there is something in London for everyone. So again, notice that there's no new ideas in this paragraph, no citations in here. I didn't have to start it with 'In conclusion' or 'In summary,' but I did restate my thesis statement, which is the last sentence of the PowerPoint or the paragraph. So hopefully now you have a better idea of what to do for your conclusion paragraph."
