Topic sentence supporting details concluding sentence example

Marquis Grant

Marquis has a Doctor of Education degree.

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Linsey Betts

Linsey is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in English Literature at Claremont Graduate University and has taught students of all ages in English and the humanities for 10 years.

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A concluding sentence will wrap up your entire paragraph. Learn about the characteristics of effective concluding sentences and various ways to use them. Updated: 11/23/2021

What is a Concluding Sentence?

A concluding sentence indicates that you are bringing closure to a paragraph. Writing a concluding sentence may not come as easily as you may think. Many writers fail to realize that it closes out the final thoughts about the topic on which they are writing. This is why it is important for you to be able to write effective concluding sentences. For each paragraph, the reader should be able to identify what your key points are based on the concluding sentence. Remember, it should not include any information that was not discussed in the paragraph.

When teaching students how to write concluding sentences, you may need to provide a few examples they will be able to use as a guide for their own writing. Examples of concluding sentence starters include:

• In conclusion
• Therefore
• As expressed
• Overall
• As a result
• Thus
• Finally
• Lastly
• For this reason
• In general

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Characteristics of Effective Concluding Sentences

It is important for your students to know how to write effective concluding sentences in order to drive home the final point. Some characteristics include:

• Reviewing main points mentioned in a paragraph
• Restating the topic sentence
• Are found at the end of a paragraph
• Do not introduce new ideas or topics

As the writer, you should keep in mind that concluding sentences may look different for various types of writing. Examples of these types of writing include narratives, descriptions, compare and contrast, and argument.

The concluding sentence of a narrative paragraph should emphasize the moral lesson to the audience. With descriptive paragraphs, the concluding sentence helps to tie everything together by emphasizing details from the topic sentence, using different wording and summing up supporting facts. When writing a concluding sentence for the compare and contrast paragraph, you will want to restate both topics by pointing out the various similarities and differences that were discussed. The concluding sentence in an argument paragraph will summarize the argument being made. It may reaffirm why the argument is correct and the consequences that may occur if the argument is not heeded.

Examples of Concluding Sentences

Let's look at an example paragraph, and how a concluding sentence would be written for it:

Early colonists came to the New World in order to gain freedom from the harsh reign of the English monarchy. Not only did the colonists desire freedom from the king's taxation system, but they also wanted to break away from the intolerance that kept them from worshiping freely in England. They saw the new country as a place for new beginnings, and looked forward to beginning their lives anew—even if it meant living in a land of uncertainty.

There are several ways in which the concluding sentence in this example can be written.

Concluding Sentences—Review and Practice

In this lesson, you learned about concluding sentences. A concluding sentence is how you sum up a paragraph or essay by briefly revisiting the information covered. Concluding sentences may look different for different types of writing, but they all share some characteristics. Practice what you have learned using the exercises below.

Common characteristics

All good concluding sentences, no matter the type of writing, should share some things in common. Fill in the blanks below to review these important common characteristics.

1. Concluding sentences do not introduce new _____ or _____.

2. Concluding sentences are located at the _____ of a paragraph.

3. Concluding sentences restate the _____ sentence.

4. Concluding sentences review the _____ in a paragraph.

Practice time

Using the tips above, practice writing a good concluding sentence for the following paragraph.

King Henry VIII of England is infamous for having had six wives. Many people revile him for his cruel treatment of some of them, which included beheading and divorce. Others recognize that the power of a king in the 16th century was absolute and that a king's wives were chosen for political reasons more than anything else. When one studies the political and social reasons behind Henry VIII's marriages, one enters an intriguing world that has little to do with romance.

Sample concluding sentence:

Whatever your thoughts are about Henry VIII's power, cruelty, and the fates of his six wives, you will find that others who have studied his life are as fascinated and opinionated as you are.

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