English Composition
Dr. East
101east@bellsouth.net
http://dreast.wikispaces.com/
The Concluding Paragraph
I. Concluding paragraph
A. Three functions
1. Summarize: often conceptualized by restating one’s thesis
“Of these pilgrims, and of every reader, the attention will be excited by an History of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire; the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the history of
mankind. The various causes and progressive effects are connected with many of the events most
interesting in human annals: the artful policy of the Caesars, who long maintained the name and
image of a free republic; the disorders of military despotism; the rise, establishment, and sects of
Christianity; the foundation of Constantinople…” Edward Gibbon, The Rise and Fall of the Roman
Empire
Trick: copy and paste your thesis down at the head of the concluding graph and compose it using
other words.
2. Judge: not, “I liked this”; or, “this was bad”
--rather: judge how well the author achieved what he set out to do
--or: the implications of the argument you’ve just made
“Thus new industrial revolution is a two-edged sword. It may be used for the benefit of
humanity, assuming that humanity survives long enough to reach a period in which such a benefit
is possible. If, however, we proceed along the clear and obvious lines of our traditional behavior,
and follow our traditional worship of progress and the fifth freedom—the freedom to exploit—it is
practically certain that we shall have to face a decade or more of ruin and despair.” Friedrich
Klemm, A History of Western Technology
3. Call to action: (unusual in the basic expository essay)
“There are many other possibilities. The important thing is to begin reaching kids sooner.
We must refocus our efforts from correcting the problem after the crime to creating
alternatives that prevent the crime to creating alternatives that prevetnt the crime—not
only in the interest of dollars but also for the sake of lives.” Edward J. Loughran,
“Prevention of Delinquency”
B. Closing devices:
1. Built-in Closings:
--Predicated on the belief that every document has a good place to end: biographies—the end of a
person’s life, or pinnacle of his career
History of a battle—its conclusion
Every work has a good place to end; think it through
“Dr. Mann came as usual at 7:30 and Hardy talked to him cheerfully about recovering
After he had left, towards nine o’clock, Hardy had a heart attack. Eva was in the room
with him as it happened. He spoke some confused words and, when she tried to take his
pulse, asked, ‘Eva, what is this?’ It was death, coming to him as she held his hand in hers.
His long life, which had begun early on a June morning, ended in the darkness of
midwinter, when it is easiest to die.” Thomas Hardy Claire Tomalin
2. Cyclic return:
--Occurs when you establish an image (like an anecdote)
At the beginning of a tale and return to it at the end.
This creates the sense of a return, and of closure
3. Terminal words:
--Terms and phrases have a terminal quality to them:
“in the end,” “finally,” “at the close of,”
--Note: you should anticipate the power of these words by NOT using
them during the opening of a paper
--Note, note: “conclusion,” or “in conclusion” are all worn out
4. Rhythmic variation:
--This is a purely atmospheric sense set off by the pattern
created in your sentence structure.
-- In order to achieve its FULL power, you must first establish a few sentences with a regulated
rhythm.
Thus: thrummmm, thruummmmm, thrum, thrum; thrummmm, thrummmmm, thrummmm.
THEN, break up the rhythm with shorter phrases, or interrupting expressions:
thrummmm, thruummmmm, thrum, thrum; thrummmm, thrummmmm, thrummmm. Thrummmmmm, thrum
thrum, thrum, thrummmmmmm, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrumthrummmmmm.
“We all nodded at him: the man of finance, the man of accounts, the man of law, we all nodded at
him over the polished table that like a still sheet of brow water reflected our faces, lined, wrinkled; our faces
marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking
anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone—as passed unseen, in a sigh, in a
flash—together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.” Joseph Conrad “Youth”
“The bodies stayed throughout the night on the dining-room floor, twisted, arched an lit by the
streaks of yellowish light cast by the shade of the lamp. And for nearly twelve hours, until the following day
around noon, Mme Raquin, silent and unmoving, stared at them where they lay at her feet, unable to have
enough of the spectacle, crushing them with her merciless gaze.” Émile Zola, Thérèse Raquin
“If in that snowy backyard the driver of the black Buick had cut off our heads, Mikey’s and mine, I
would have died happy, for nothing has required so much of me since as being chased all over Pittsburgh in
the middle of winter—running terrified, exhausted—by this sainted, skinny, furious redheaded man who
wished to have a word with us. I don’t know how he found the way back to his car. Annie Dillard, “A Chase”