Some Advice About Writing Conclusions

Many students have difficulties writing conclusions and very few writing textbooks give much advice on how to do it.

• First--a conclusion should briefly summarize your argument and the major points you used in developing that argument. 
• BUT, a conclusion should be much more than a mere summary. It should leave the reader with something to think about.
• Also, never, ever start your concluding paragraph with "In conclusion," or "Finally."

Below are some samples of effective ways of writing a conclusion. I have used our sample paper "The Death Penalty in Florida" as a topic. I have drawn these ideas from Lester Faigley's Writing: a Guide for College and Beyond."

1. Issue a call to action:

 An objective analysis of Florida's death penalty statutes and the actions of Florida's current governor, Scott Walker, makes it clear that the Florida justice system operates in ways to make both convictions and death sentences more likely. Thus, problems inherent in the death penalty itself are compounded by policies that place a higher burden, especially on impoverished defendants and their often overworked, underpaid, and inexperienced attorneys who are either working pro-bono or for woefully understaffed public defender's offices. The twenty-four men sentenced to death in Florida who have been exonerated and freed shows that the risk of injustice is not negligible. It is incumbent upon us as citizens of a nation dedicated to justice and equality before the law to work to stop this inherently unequal system by educating our fellow citizens about the issue, communicating our opinions to our legislators, and voting for candidates who will work to halt this unfair system of laws and procedures

2. Make a recommendation. 

A large number of studies done on the death penalty in Florida indicate that the chances of a gross miscarriage of justice are relatively high. The twenty-four men sentenced to death and later found to be innocent illustrate that fact. Florida can begin to rectify these injustices by eliminating the requirement that jurors hearing capital cases must support the death penalty in at least some cases. This one change alone will reduce the chances of false convictions and the application of the death penalty in cases where a stiff prison sentence is the most just punishment. 

3. Give an example that illustrates a key point. 

The case of Pitts and Lee, two innocent African-American men sentenced to death in Florida for killing a white gas station clerk illustrates the reasons why Florida death penalty laws need to be reformed. Although this conviction happened decades ago, many of the procedures that led to their sentence are still in place. Furthermore, decades later, racial bias is still a factor in American life, a contention supported by the studies showing that the race of the victim is a large factor in determining who will be sentenced to death. A system that gives different sentences to defendants based on the race of the victim is clearly wrong and inappropriate in a multi-cultural democratic society. By maintaining current policies on the death penalty, Floridians are continuing to support profound racial injustice. 

4. Speculate about the future: 

The twenty-four men sentenced to death in Florida only to be exonerated and freed illustrates the risks of the death penalty. Unfortunately, attempts to streamline the death penalty process by narrowing the window during which sentences can be appealed can only compound the problem. Those twenty-four men lived long enough to be exonerated in part because the mechanism for carrying out a death sentence works slowly. Who knows how many innocent men will be executed in the future because those men had a shorter period of time in which new evidence could emerge that could free them. 

5. Ask rhetorical questions

Many people, including those who normally oppose the death penalty believe that men like Ted Bundy are so dangerous that society has no choice but to execute people like him. However, how do we balance the need to protect society against people who would surely kill again if they managed to escape against the needs of men--and their numbers are not negligible--who have been wrongly convicted? Are we as a society really so eager to punish the guilty that we are willing to risk executing the innocent?