Writing a Concluding Paragraph

In an essay or similar written work, your paper will end with a concluding paragraph.

A concluding paragraph emphasizes the main comparisons of your essay, followed by a

review of your analysis and/or evidence.

A concluding paragraph will include the following 2 parts:

1. A reworded thesis/topic statement
2. A short summary of your 3 body paragraphs’ comparisons

Step 1 - Rewording your Thesis/Topic Statement

Rewording your thesis means you’re taking the same thesis you wrote in your introduction
paragraph, but now you’re writing it using different words. Take a look at the examples below:

Thesis: Both Poe’s short stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House
of Usher” have similar settings that amplify the meaning of horror.
Reworded thesis: Poe’s stories, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Fall of the House of
Usher” show that a strong sense of horror can be derived from a type of setting.

Thesis: In both ​Hunger Games​ and ​Harry Potter,​ respectively Katniss and Hermione
prove that female characters can be portrayed as heroes no matter their role in the
stories.
Reworded thesis: Katniss Everdeen from the ​Hunger Games​ franchise and Hermione
Granger from the ​Harry Potter​ universe depict differing roles but still display themselves
as heroic symbols in popular literature and media.

Step 2 - Writing a Short Summary of your 3 Body Paragraphs’ Main Ideas

Try to summarize your body paragraphs’ main ideas in a sentence, which can be the length of
2-3 lines. You do not need to be so concise and brief with describing your main ideas. Your
short summary should reflect your line of development in your introductory paragraph, but it
should have a bit more details as you’re referring back to your body paragraphs.

Example: Poe shows in both stories that a setting can be scary by writing about an
unnatural place​, ​describing horrible smells​ and ​depicting frightened characters​.
(The three underlined parts show the main ideas of the body paragraphs.)

by Maria Asuncion