How to Write a Thematic Essay Conclusion

You’ve provided your readers with arguments you have based on research. You’ve explained it interestingly, and all that’s left to do is write a conclusion that ties it all up, summarizes the entire essay, and leaves your reader with one last thought about what you included in the body. 

There’s no hard-and-fast rule to writing a good thematic essay conclusion. However, there are some guidelines you can follow to make sure you include important information that will help your reader understand the paper.

Further, your thematic essay conclusion should contain the summary of the essay and summarizes the points you made in your body paragraphs. A good conclusion paragraph can be used to connect the theme and the background information. 

It provides a comprehensive wrap-up of your article or theme and helps you convey any pertinent arguments that still need to be addressed.

How to Write a Thematic Essay Conclusion

But how can you go about writing an excellent conclusion? Here is how.

Have a Thesis Statement

To write a great conclusion, you must first write an introduction paragraph containing a thesis statement. The thesis statement is essentially the main idea of your paper that you want the reader to understand after reading it. In the introduction paragraph of this type of paper, there should be only one sentence that states this idea clearly for the reader. The rest of this paragraph should include examples from both sources that support why this is true or how it can be applied in real-life situations.

After you have written your thesis statement, move into three paragraphs where each can support its point about what makes thematic essays useful for students today. Do not try to write all three points into one paragraph because it will make your essay lack clarity and thus confuse the reader.

Summarize the Main Points

The final paragraph of your essay should summarize the main points you have made in your paper. In other words, it should provide a brief overview of each section. The conclusion’s primary goal is to summarize for the reader what you have written so that they know what to look for if they want to read the rest of your paper.

Also see: How long should a conclusion be in an essay?

In addition, this is an opportunity for you to close out your essay on a strong note by reiterating your argument and summarizing its implications. For example, if you have argued that there should be more public funding for art education programs in schools, you might write something like, “If we want our children to develop into creative thinkers and future leaders, then we need to invest in their education.” 

This reminds readers of your argument and ends with a strong statement that makes them think about what they just read.

You can also use this paragraph to respond directly to any objections or counterarguments raised throughout the paper. If someone said that art education programs don’t work because students don’t take them seriously enough, you could include something like, “Of course, some people might argue that since most…

Further, you should not raise or introduce any new points. This is because the conclusion’s role is to summarize and remind the reader of every point. Therefore, having new ideas, in conclusion, is akin to writing a new essay altogether.

Offer a Final Argument Based on Evidence From the Body Paragraphs

Apart from summarizing and tying every point together, you should also make one final argument. However, the argument should be based on evidence in the body paragraphs.

Generally, it is the statement that ties everything together, and it will often begin with phrases like “In summary” or “All in all.”

In addition to summarizing what you’ve written, your conclusion should also present a final argument based on evidence from the body paragraphs. This final argument is your chance to impress readers by showing them how effective your paper is.

Some tips for implementing here are;

• Make sure that each paragraph is relevant to your overall argument.
• Follow up on any ideas left hanging at the end of each paragraph.
• Use examples, metaphors, and other evidence to support your claim.

Make it short and simple but thought-provoking

If you want to write an effective conclusion, make sure it is short and simple. This is because you want your reader to remember what you’ve written in the preceding paragraphs. Therefore, your conclusion should not lose them in a sea of other information.

Additionally, you need to remember your conclusion needs to be thought-provoking. You need to give the reader something exciting to think about when they are done reading your essay. This could be anything from a question they should ask themselves, a quote related to your topic, or even a suggestion as to what they should do after reading your essay. 

If you leave them with something challenging or thought-provoking, then there’s no way that they won’t remember taking action, lessons from the essay, or how great of an essayist you are.

Conclusion

The concluding paragraph of a thematic essay is one of the most critical parts of your paper and should not be longer than two paragraphs. The first one should state the main point of your paper and show that you have answered all questions posed in the introduction. The second one should explain how it has been done and provide readers with an opportunity for reflection.

In this section, you should provide the reader with a brief review of the main points made in your argument and then state your opinion on the subject. An excellent way to start is by restating the thesis statement. This will refresh the reader’s memory about what you were arguing for and why. You can also use this paragraph to summarize your supporting arguments and evidence. This will help to make your argument more coherent and easier to follow for those who didn’t read your paper from beginning to end. You should also make a final argument of each point but not go too deep as you want to make it short, simple, and thought-provoking, leaving readers with a memorable thought or idea.