Directions: Create an effective conclusion using the following steps. You conclusion should be no less than 6-7 sentences. If you have completed your thesis statement and body paragraphs, you are essentially taking the information for the thesis statements and three topic sentences you’ve already created. (Write one conclusion on which ever of the 5 thesis statements and body paragraphs we’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks.)
Step 1: State the main point of your paper in a new way. (Don’t just copy and paste the thesis statement word for word from your introduction into your conclusion.)
Example:
The claim from an introduction: Freud believes that civilization makes mankind miserable, but
being part of a civilization is worthwhile.
New way to state this claim: In essence, although civilization makes humans lose some
individual happiness and freedom, these losses are insignificant compared to all the benefits
we receive from being a part of it.
Both sentences convey the same main point, but the rephrased sentence in the conclusion is more
specific.

Step 2: Briefly discuss your arguments.
Provide a brief summary of the points you discussed in each body paragraph. It’s important to remind your reader that you have strong arguments to back up the claim you made. Again, don’t just repeat what you said in the introduction word for word; try to show your reader how the arguments are related to one another.
Example:
Arguments: 1) civilization helped early humans survive 2) civilization helps us control negative
aspects of our nature 3) civilization encourages us to feel guilty when we do something wrong.

Discussion of arguments: The structure of civilization is responsible for the survival of
the human species. Living in groups encouraged early humans to be compassionate; they warned
each other danger and protected one another. As humans helped one another they begin to move
away from their more aggressive tendencies. Now, if we ever revert to these aggressive
tendencies, we feel guilty because the civilization we live in does not condone that behavior.