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Academic Essay Structure

Conclusion Paragraph Structure

  1. re-state your argument,
  2. summarize key points,
  3. reiterate the importance of your essay, and
  4. suggest next steps for your reader.

Example

In conclusion, due to the emotional, social, and academic benefits of therapy dog programs, Conestoga College should begin offering this type of programming for students. Not only do these sessions provide immediate benefits such as stress relief, but they also provide long-term benefits such as larger social circles and improved communication skills. Considering the status of student mental health in the postsecondary setting, Conestoga should consider allocating funding to therapy dog programming. As students feel less stressed, more confident, and more connected, they will have a higher chance of being successful at college.

 

Overall Conclusion Structure

In contrast to the introduction's structure, a conclusion paragraph typically starts with your most specific claim re-stating the paper's argument and then becomes broader towards the end as it points to larger world significance.

re-state thesis, summarize key points, and clincher / call to action

What Goes in the Summary Section?

The summary section reiterates key points from each section of the paper and demonstrates how they are related.

In shorter papers, you may only need one sentence to summarize your key points, but you will often need several sentences in longer papers.

Example

Thesis: Conestoga College should implement therapy dog programming to help students emotionally, socially, and academically.

  • Body Paragraph 1 = emotional benefits (example: stress relief)
  • Body Paragraph 2 = social benefits (example: larger social circles)
  • Body Paragraph 3 = academic benefits (example: improved communication skills)
Not only do these sessions provide immediate benefits such a stress relief, but they also provide long-term benefits such as larger social circles, and improved communication skills.

Tips

  • Find key ideas in body paragraph topic sentences or in examples
  • Don't add any new research here 
  • Bring your ideas together by considering the following questions: How are ideas related? What is the significance of this relationship? Why do these ideas matter? Who do they matter to?
  • Keep your audience in mind when providing concluding thoughts and/or recommendations. Yes, your teacher is likely reading your essay, but who else would benefit from the content? (e.g. future nurses, small business owners, current early childhood educators, etc.)

What is a Clincher?

A clincher is the last sentence or two in a conclusion paragraph designed to conclude the essay, apply concepts to the larger world context, and/or suggest next steps.

Review the following clincher styles that could be used to end a paper about college students' mental health and therapy dogs.

Clincher Styles

As students feel less stressed, more confident, and more connected, they will have a higher chance of being successful at college.

Considering the status of student mental health in the postsecondary setting, Conestoga should consider allocating funding to therapy dog programming.

Further research should examine methods for implementing therapy dog programming, including location, timing, and cost. By making us of this information, Conestoga can maximize student support in the most cost-effective way.

With all that is known about student mental health issues, why have more Canadian colleges not adopted therapy dog programming?

Example Grabber: In 2019, the American College Health Association surveyed just over 55,000 Canadian students who revealed that their anxiety had been overwhelming during the past twelve months (American Health Association, 2019, p. 14).
Clincher Relating to Grabber: As the American Health Association (2019) pointed out, with over 55,000 Canadian students revealing overwhelming anxiety in the past year, Canadian colleges need to find new ways to support as many students as possible.

Reference

American College Health Association. (2019). National college health assessment [Report]. https://www.cacuss.ca/files/Research/NCHA-II%20SPRING%202019%20CANADIAN%20REFERENCE%20GROUP%20EXECUTIVE%20SUMMARY.pdf