|
Getting Started–the Closing of Paper 1
Your last paragraph (V) is the closing, which needs a summary, a conclusion, and a hint of things to come. The summary repeats the three points that you made in the three-part body of the paper. The summary for Paper 1 should be three sentences long.
1. Your last paragraph must start with the words “In summary,” (after the word summary, there must be a comma). The summary should be a repetition of the organizing ideas, but in different words. An example: In summary, this paper defined the American dream as a part of American culture. It related the dream to the novel’s setting. Finally, it showed how Gatsby, Carraway, and Buchanan exemplify tragic elements of the dream.
2. Follow your summary with the words “In conclusion,” (again, use a comma after the word conclusion). The conclusion should be a restatement of the thesis statement, but in different words, and slightly more evolved in its concept.
The example of the thesis for this Getting Started three-piece presentation was:
Sample: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby devotes itself primarily to the failure of the American dream.
The conclusion might be:
In conclusion, the author’s testing the American dream finds it a powerful myth that is destructive in modern times.
3. Follow your conclusion with the hint of things to come (some call this a closing, a review of the implications of the issues addressed, or a new insight).
Hint: if you end up writing the opening and closing of the paper at the end of the writing process, after you have written most of the three-segment body of the paper, you would be right on task.
Write the segments of the paper in the order that feels natural to you. Some of us write first things first, but many more of us first write segments of the body. Then the overall idea, the thesis comes to us, and we write it at the moment of insight or inspiration. As you brainstorm, plan, and write, just be aware of where you are in the paper at any moment.
Note: in Modules you will find sample papers from other students. Remember that what you will be reading will sometimes be examples of Paper 4, so the first segment of the body of these papers will look like the short one segment (Paper 1) that you need to write for Paper 1. Use PM if this is not clear to you. |