Research paper writing guide: conclusion
Writing lessons tend to be focused on the introductions and the bodies of essays and research papers. However, everything you write needs to have a conclusion to avoid having a choppy and abrupt ending. Unfortunately, many teachers and professors either forget to instruct students how to write a conclusion or they just do not want to teach the skill.
Follow Templates
Fortunately, writing a conclusion for a research paper is not as difficult as it may seem. Like the rest of the research paper, there are templates that you can follow so you include the appropriate content. Depending on the style of your assigned research paper, your conclusion might need to be a few paragraphs or just one thorough paragraph. If you are unsure of the length and the required components, you can always ask your professor or look in the manual for the style of research paper you are writing.
Know the Components: Hamburger Style
Regardless of the length of the research paper and the conclusion, most conclusions have the same components. If you think of a research paper like a hamburger, the introduction and the conclusions are the buns and the meats and condiments are the body paragraphs. When you look at hamburger buns, the insides of the buns face each other and the outsides of the buns face away from each other. In a sense, the buns are opposite from each other. Your conclusion needs to have components written opposite from the way they are in the introduction.
What Should Be Included
Most introductions begin with an attention-getting hook, followed by some necessary information to connect the hook to the thesis. In the opposite template of the conclusion, the section begins with a restatement of the thesis. You follow that with information that you want your reader to truly remember. Finally, you end by reconnecting with the attention-getter from the introduction.
Details About the Conclusion
When you write your conclusion, there are few things to keep in mind. Your restated thesis should not be a word-for-word copy of the one you wrote in your introduction. It convey the same idea, but with new words. The information in middle should not be new information. It could be thoughts you discovered while writing the research paper, but you should not present any new facts. Finally, your last section can connect back to the attention-getter, but you can do it without being obvious about it. For example, if you asked questions in your introduction, you could answer them. Or, you could ask new ones to try to get the audience to take action. After practice a few conclusions, you will find they are the easiest part of the research paper to complete.