Writing Conclusions

Consider this:

Your conclusion is the only place you have a chance to argue your thesis as a whole.  Your entire paper argues pieces or aspects of your thesis, but never has a chance to really argue it all together.  It's the only place you REALLY get to argue your actual theme.  Now that you've offered all of the reasoning and backed up everything with evidence, now pull it all together and really argue your theme overall.

Secondly, your conclusion should answer the "So what?" question.  Why does any of this matter?  Why does it matter that Gatsby's miserable or Santiago learned something about himself or Austen is criticizing class structure?  What does that mean for us today?  Why is the book still relevant? Powerful? Significant?  Make sure you address that in your conclusion.

People get worried about "not adding in something new" to their conclusion.  Yes, it's true that you should NOT make any more unsubstantiated claims.  This is not a place to continue arguing your thesis.  Your body should sufficiently make and back up all of those points.  This is a place to bring it together, connect everything, and show why we should care.  Please DON'T only repeat things you've already said.  That sounds horrible and unnecessary. =)  No, don't make new points of argument but DO certainly do what a conclusion needs done:  tie up any loose ends and leave us with the parting message of what we are to do with this information.

Lastly, your conclusion (and your intro) should be about the same length as your body paragraphs.  If they look wimpy or weak...they are.  Develop them.  USE them to help make your analysis make more sense and come together.