The Pixar film Ratatouille follows the story of Remy, a rat with an extraordinary talent for cooking, who dreams of becoming a renowned chef like his idol, Auguste Gusteau. Living in the sewers of Paris, Remy sneaks into Gusteau’s restaurant and inadvertently creates a soup that astonishes the staff and customers. Despite being a rat, Remy’s culinary abilities are recognized by Linguini, a young garbage boy at the restaurant. They form an unlikely partnership, with Remy hiding under Linguini’s hat, guiding him to create extraordinary dishes. The story reaches its peak when the feared and influential food critic, Anton Ego, announces he will review the restaurant. Remy and Linguini must rise to the occasion, putting everything on the line to impress Ego and prove that anyone can cook, regardless of their background.
How does the movie end? If you’ve seen it, you probably remember the conclusion. If you haven’t, you can probably guess how it ends based on the summary of what leads up to the climax.
Think for a moment about how your favorite movies end. I bet they were memorable because they created an emotional reaction and connected all of the story elements in a satisfying way.
So what can we learn about how movies end that will make our essay conclusions better? This chapter will show you how to make memorable conclusions.
The conclusion is the last thing the reader experiences, so it should be the strongest part of your essay. A great conclusion leaves a lasting impression on your reader, reinforcing the importance of your topic and the strength of your argument. Just like the ending of a great movie, a well-crafted conclusion can provide emotional satisfaction and a sense of completeness.
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will…
Just as a movie with a great ending can leave the audience feeling satisfied, the conclusion of an essay can leave your reader with a strong sense of why your topic matters and why they should care. Think of your favorite film: the ending ties together all the elements of the story, leaves a lasting emotional impact, and provides closure to the narrative. Your essay conclusion should do the same.
Create an Emotional Impact
By the end of the essay, the reader should care about the topic. If they are not emotionally invested, then the essay has missed its mark. For instance, if you are discussing community gardens in food deserts, the reader should care about the people who live in these communities and feel the urgency of addressing food insecurity. An emotional impact engages the reader’s feelings and makes the argument more relatable and compelling.
Provide a Sense of Closure
Endings synthesize the many elements of the essay into a meaningful takeaway. As humans, we need a sense of closure to process and make sense of our experiences. Closure provides emotional resolution, helping us to understand and integrate events into our personal narratives. It allows us to move forward without lingering doubts or unresolved feelings, contributing to our psychological well-being. Without closure, we may experience anxiety, stress, or a sense of incompleteness, which can hinder our ability to engage fully in present and future endeavors. In essence, closure helps us achieve peace of mind and emotional balance, enabling us to live more fulfilling lives.
Resolve Main Topics
Every topic promised to be discussed in the thesis statement should be thoroughly addressed. Reading an essay or story with unresolved loose ends can be frustrating because it leaves readers with unanswered questions and a sense of incompleteness. This lack of resolution can disrupt the narrative flow and diminish the overall impact of the work, making it difficult for readers to fully understand or appreciate the author’s message. Additionally, unresolved elements can create confusion and dissatisfaction, as readers invest time and emotional energy into the narrative with the expectation of a coherent and satisfying conclusion. Ultimately, a lack of closure can undermine the reader’s engagement and enjoyment, leaving them feeling unfulfilled.
How Do I Write A Memorable Conclusion?
The goals above are great, but how do you do it? At the end of the essay-writing process, you’re probably tired, crunched for time, and out of things to say about the topic. Don’t worry–the secret recipe below will help you write amazing conclusions and it only requires three ingredients:
First, open your conclusion with a hook that remind the reader why the topic is important. This could be a startling fact, a thought-provoking question, a brief story, or a relevant quote.
Second, review the main points of the essay in a way that shows how the elements are more than the sum of their parts. Think of the body paragraphs of individual parts, and your conclusion reveals how those parts fit together to make something significant. This is what movie endings do–they take all the major plot points and twist them together in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable. When you review the main points of your essay, be sure to read through your introduction and body paragraphs. Focus on the thesis statement and topic sentences. Think about how you can review these main points in a way that feels fresh and emphasizes their importance.
Third, end the conclusion (and the essay) with another hook. You know the hook techniques by now (fact, question, etc.). Imagine you have been writing an essay in which you advocate for free school lunches for low-income children, and the final sentence of your essay poses this question: “How many more children must go hungry before this problem is solved?” Then, the reader must sit with that question and ponder its significance. Other hook techniques can accomplish the same result. Your goal here is to encourage the reader to think about the topic after they stop reading. If you can pull this off, you have a memorable conclusion.
Now that you know what you should do to create a memorable conclusion, let’s talk about what you shouldn’t do. These mistakes are the equivalent of Batman and Superman ending their feud because they both have mothers named Martha.
Avoid Clichés
Clichés are things that are so overused that the audience ignores them or, worse, makes them angry with the author’s lack of imagination. When it comes to essay conclusions, one cliché is used more than any other, and that’s opening with the words “In conclusion”. Don’t use this phrase. Ever. Seriously. Not only is it cliché, it’s unnecessary. Readers know the final paragraph of an essay is the conclusion, so there’s no need to waste everyone’s time by identifying it. The same goes for other cliché phrases like or “to sum up” or “in closing” or anything similar. Instead, open your conclusion with a hook technique and grab the reader’s attention.
Stay Away from Repetition
Don’t simply repeat words and ideas from the essay. We all know that the conclusion is supposed to review the main points of your essay, but that doesn’t mean you should simply repeat what you’ve already said. Repeating yourself is lazy and signals to the reader that you don’t care enough about your topic to invest the conclusion with fresh language. Instead, think about how you can rephrase the main points and synthesize them in a way that shows their combined impact.
No New Points
Don’t introduce new points or ideas in the conclusion. If your essay topic is about community gardens in food deserts, the conclusion is not the time to bring up a brand new topic that you have not discussed already. New points can confuse the reader and detract from the main argument. Focus on wrapping up the existing discussion and emphasizing the importance of the essay’s main points.
Don’t Undercook the Conclusion
Conclusions are important. If a conclusion is only three sentences, it feels unsatisfying and rushed. Make sure your conclusion is thorough and impactful. If you begin your conclusion with a hook, then spend a few sentences on reviewing the main points, and end with another hook, then you’ll have a fully-cooked final paragraph that leaves your reader content.
A great conclusion leaves your reader with a sense of satisfaction and a clear understanding of why your topic matters. By aiming for emotional impact, closure, and resolution, and by following the secret recipe, you can craft conclusions that are as compelling as they are conclusive.
In other words, write a conclusion that leaves all other conclusions behind.
Key Takeaways
What are the key takeaways from this lesson?
Chapter Quiz
The following quiz is graded.
You can retake the quiz as many times as you’d like, but your average score from all attempts will be recorded in the gradebook, so each attempt can help improve your overall performance. For example, if you take the quiz three times and score 3/10, 7/10, and 10/10, your final recorded score will be the average of these attempts: (3 + 7 + 10) ÷ 3 = 6.7/10.