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[Coop and Dino singing]

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At the end of the classic film Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart utters the now-famous line, [Bogart standing with security guard]

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“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

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At the end of the first Back to the Future film, Doc and Marty flew off in their time-traveling

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DeLorean as Doc says, “Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.”

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And at the end of Babe, when Arthur the farmer and Babe the pig won a sheep herding contest [Arthur and Babe at the farm]

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together, Arthur ends the film by saying, “That'll do, Pig. That'll do.”

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Each of these lines ended their respective films perfectly…and memorably…and they

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really showcase how important an ending can be.

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Even if we do have to wait for the sequel to find out whether or not Arthur had bacon [Arthur with plate of bacon and sausage]

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and pork sausage for breakfast the next day after the contest.

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Strong conclusions send a strong message, reinforce main ideas, and leave the audience

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with something to think about. But good endings aren't just reserved for film.

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Concluding paragraphs for essays should do the exact same thing.

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You just…can’t watch them in 3-D. [Man wearing 3-D glasses reading a essay]

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Concluding paragraphs should reinforce the main points of your essay while leaving your

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reader with something to ponder once they're finished.

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But in case you're having trouble finding the words you want, follow these quick and

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dirty Dos and Don'ts of writing a concluding paragraph… [Do and Don't lists]

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Do restate the main idea. You want to really hammer home your point so that your reader [Hammer nails main idea note on brain]

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doesn't forget. Assume they’ve got the memory of a housefly.

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Don't introduce a new topic or idea. If you have any ideas left to share with the reader,

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do so before your concluding paragraph.

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Do leave the reader with something to think about. This will ensure they don't forget

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about your writing any time soon. They’ll go to sleep at night with your words still [Words swirling inside man's brain]

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swirling around inside their brain.

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Don't try and sound extra mysterious. There's a difference between leaving them with an

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interesting question to consider and just flat-out confusing them. Be clear and concise.

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So…let's say we just finished up an essay on American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart.

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A bad conclusion might look like this:

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“In closing, Amelia Earhart was a pioneer for being the first female aviator to fly [Conclusion paragraph on Amelia Earhart[

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across the Atlantic Ocean on her own. But during an attempt to circumnavigate the world,

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she mysteriously disappeared and no one knows what happened to her to this very day.”

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Oof. This is a bad conclusion because it suddenly introduces a new idea about her disappearance…just

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when we’re supposed to be wrapping things up. It’s just too open-ended. [Plane flying and disappears]

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However, the first part of the introduction does do a good job restating a main idea about

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Earhart. So we could change the conclusion paragraph to:

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“In closing, Amelia Earhart was a pioneer for being the first female aviator to fly

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across the Atlantic Ocean on her own. Without her brave efforts, what might the world of

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women's aviation look like today?”

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Ah…much better. Instead of being mysterious or confusing, it simply leaves the reader

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with a compelling question to consider after the essay is finished. [Conclusion question highlighted]

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The next time you have to write a concluding paragraph, simply follow our dos and don'ts

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and you'll be sure to end your essay on a high note.[Boy playing the guitar]

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Unless your essay is about the bass guitar. Then you might want to end on a low note...

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