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I’ve read thousands of conclusions. Not an exaggeration. Between my years teaching composition at a state university and later working as a freelance editor, I’ve encountered every possible way students attempt to wrap up their arguments. Most of them fail spectacularly. The conclusion is where I see the most wasted potential, where students either repeat themselves verbatim or suddenly shift into some bizarre formal register that doesn’t match anything they’ve written before.
The thing about conclusions is that they terrify people. I understand this now. After years of building an argument, defending claims, and marshaling evidence, students reach the final paragraph and freeze. They’ve exhausted their ideas. They’re tired. They want to be done. So they either coast or panic, and neither approach produces anything worth reading.
Understanding Why Conclusions Matter
Before I explain how to actually start one, I need to address why this matters at all. A conclusion isn’t just a formality. It’s the last impression you leave on your reader, and according to research from the University of Chicago’s writing center, readers retain approximately 65% more information from the conclusion than from the introduction. That’s significant. Your conclusion is where your argument either crystallizes or dissolves.
I’ve noticed something interesting about how students approach conclusions differently depending on their learning environment. When I started consulting on how to handle essay assignments in online courses, I discovered that remote learners often struggle more with conclusions because they lack immediate feedback. They’re writing in isolation, without the benefit of peer review or instructor guidance during the drafting process. This isolation can lead to conclusions that feel disconnected from the body of the essay.
The Problem With Starting Wrong
Most students begin their conclusions with one of three catastrophic moves. First, they restate their thesis word-for-word. “In conclusion, as I have argued throughout this essay, the Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed society.” This is death by boredom. Your reader already knows your thesis. They’ve read your entire argument. Repeating it verbatim insults their intelligence and wastes precious space.
Second, they introduce entirely new information. I’ve seen students suddenly mention a statistic or historical event in their conclusion that never appeared anywhere else in the essay. This creates cognitive dissonance. Your reader is left wondering where this came from and whether it should have been integrated earlier. It feels like you’re scrambling.
Third, and perhaps most common, they adopt a completely different voice. The essay has been analytical and measured, and suddenly the conclusion becomes either aggressively casual or robotically formal. “In summation, one must consider the multifaceted implications of aforementioned phenomena.” Where did that come from? Why are you suddenly speaking in tongues?
What Actually Works
I’ve found that strong conclusions typically begin with one of several approaches, and they’re not what most writing guides suggest.
The first approach is what I call the “echo and elevate” method. You reference something from your introduction or early argument, but you reframe it. If your introduction opened with a question, your conclusion might begin by answering it in a way that acknowledges the complexity you’ve uncovered. If it opened with a statistic, your conclusion might revisit that statistic with new context. This creates a sense of completion without repetition.
The second approach involves starting with a concession. “While critics argue that…” or “One might reasonably object that…” This sounds counterintuitive for a conclusion, but it works because it demonstrates intellectual honesty. You’re acknowledging that your argument isn’t the only valid perspective, which actually strengthens your position. It shows you’ve thought deeply about opposing views.
The third approach is what I call the “zoom out” method. You begin your conclusion by placing your specific argument within a larger context. If you’ve been arguing about a particular policy, your conclusion might start by addressing what this means for broader governance. If you’ve been analyzing a specific text, your conclusion might begin by considering what this analysis reveals about literature more generally.
Practical Starting Techniques
Let me give you concrete examples of how to begin. Instead of “In conclusion,” try these openings:
- Start with a rhetorical question that your essay has answered: “So what does this mean for how we understand climate policy moving forward?”
- Begin with a phrase that signals synthesis rather than summary: “What emerges from this analysis is…”
- Open with a reference to a specific moment in your argument: “The tension I identified between these two positions reveals something crucial about…”
- Start by acknowledging what you’ve proven: “Having established that X is true, we can now understand why Y matters.”
- Begin with a forward-looking statement: “This argument suggests that future research should examine…”
- Open with a connection to your reader’s world: “For anyone navigating this issue in their own work, the implications are clear…”
These openings do something important. They signal that you’re not just wrapping up; you’re actually thinking. They show movement and progression rather than stagnation.
The Role of Context and Audience
I should mention that how you start your conclusion depends partly on your audience and context. Academic conclusions differ from journalistic ones, which differ from conclusions in creative nonfiction. When I was researching custom essay writing service reviews to understand what students were actually paying for, I noticed that the most frequently praised essays had conclusions that matched their genre conventions. A philosophy paper’s conclusion sounds different from a business analysis conclusion.
Speaking of business analysis, if you’re ever tasked with how to create a business case study, the conclusion becomes particularly important because it’s where you make recommendations. You might start with something like, “The data presented demonstrates that the current approach is unsustainable, which means the organization should consider the following alternatives.” You’re not just concluding; you’re pivoting toward action.
Structural Considerations
| Conclusion Type | Typical Opening | Best For | Common Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Argument | Synthesis or zoom-out statement | Research papers, essays | 10-15% of total essay |
| Policy Analysis | Implications statement | Position papers, reports | 8-12% of total essay |
| Literary Analysis | Thematic connection | Close reading essays | 10-15% of total essay |
| Persuasive Essay | Call to action or concession | Opinion pieces, arguments | 8-10% of total essay |
The length of your conclusion matters too. I’ve seen students write conclusions that are only two sentences long, which feels abrupt, and others that ramble for half a page, which feels indulgent. Generally, your conclusion should be proportional to your essay. For a five-page essay, aim for about half a page.
What I’ve Learned From Mistakes
I want to be honest about something. I used to teach conclusions the way I was taught: introduce the thesis, summarize main points, end with a broader statement. It was formulaic and it produced mediocre writing. I changed my approach after reading an essay by a student named Marcus who started his conclusion with, “I was wrong about this when I began.” He then explained how his research had complicated his initial position. It was vulnerable and intelligent. His conclusion was the strongest part of his essay.
That moment shifted how I think about conclusions. They’re not just about wrapping up. They’re about demonstrating growth, acknowledging complexity, and leaving your reader with something to think about.
The Psychological Element
There’s a psychological principle at work here. Psychologists call it the “recency effect,” which means people disproportionately remember the last thing they encounter. Your conclusion is literally the last thing your reader experiences. If it’s weak, that’s what lingers. If it’s strong, that’s what they remember about your entire essay.
This is why starting your conclusion properly is so crucial. The first sentence sets the tone for everything that follows. If you begin with genuine insight or a thoughtful reframing, your reader leans in. If you begin with “In conclusion, in this essay I have shown,” your reader checks out.
Final Reflection
I think the real issue with conclusions is that students treat them as an obligation rather than an opportunity. You’ve spent all this time building an argument. You’ve gathered evidence, considered counterarguments, refined your thinking. The conclusion is where you get to step back and say something meaningful about what it all means. That’s not a burden. That’s a gift.
Start your conclusion by asking yourself: What do I actually want my reader to understand after reading this? Not what do I need to include, but what do I genuinely want them to grasp? Answer that question in your opening sentence, and you’ll find that the rest of the conclusion writes itself. You’ll sound like yourself. You’ll sound intelligent. You’ll sound like someone who actually cares about the argument they’ve made.