Drawing Conclusion and Predicting Outcomes

A. Drawing Conclusion

Conclusion is the last thing readers see, they often judge you entire essays by its
effectiveness. For this reason, conclusions should be planned, drafted, and revised carefully.

Like an introduction, conclusion should be a full paragraph. It should begin with a

specific summary statement that reinforces the essays main idea, and it should end with
some general concluding remarks.

Good readers draw conclusions as they read. They combine two types of evidence-
details from the story and what they already know-to draw these conclusions. For example,
they might read that marsupials are mammals with pockets for carrying their young. They
know that kangaroos have pockets. They can conclude that kangaroos are marsupials.

The chart below shows how readers use details from the story and what they already
know to draw conclusions.

Details from the Selection Your thoughts and experiences

Conclusion

There are several tips in drawing a conclusion:

a. Do not just repeat your thesis as it was stated in paragraph 1, but expand on
the original wording and emphasize the thesis’s significance.
b. End with a quotation that effectively summarizes and drives home the point of
you text.
c. If you have researched an issue or problem, emphasize your proposed
solutions in the concluding paragraph.
d. Do not introduce a new idea. If the point belongs in your text, you should have
introduced it earlier.
e. Do not just stop or trail off, even if you feel as though you have run out of
steam. A simple, clear restatement of the thesis is better than no conclusion.
 f. Do not offer apologize or expressions of hope. “Although this topic asI
wanted, I have tried to explain the advantages of solar energy, and I hope that
you will now understand why we need to use it more” is the disatrous ending.
g. Do not end with a tague or confusing one-or two-sentence summary of
complex idea. This following sentences make little sense: “these authors have
similar and different attitudes and ideals concerning American desire.
Faulkner writes with the concerns of man towards man whereas most of the
other writers are more concerned with man towards money.”
h. Do not overused phrases to announce your essay is coming to a close. For
example: In summary and in conclusion.

Here are some options you can experiment with when you write your conclusions. (In
each of the sample concluding paragraphs that follow, the summary statement is underlined
and labeled.)

a) Concluding with a Narrative

A narrative conclusion can bring an event discussed in the essay to a logical,

satisfying close.

Being a firefighter is a challenging and often dangerous job. The firefighters

who died on September 11, 2001, show how true this fact is. They rushed into the two
burning World Trade Center towers without thinking about what happen to them.
Even as the buildings were falling down, they continued to help people escape. At the
end of the day, they did the job they had been trained to do, and they did it well.
These brave people are role models for me and for other volunteer firefighters around
the country. They remind all of us of how important the job we do really is.
Megan Davia (student)
b) Concluding with a Recommendation

Once you think you have convinced readers that a problem exists, you can make a
recommendation in your conclusion about how the problem should be solved.

Several steps can be taken to deal with the problem of child labor. First,
people should educate themselves about the problem. They can begin by going to
Web sites that give information about child labor. Then, they can join an Fund for
Children. These groups sponsor program that help children laborers in they own
countries. Finally, people can stop supporting businesses that benefit either directly or
indirectly from child labor. If all of us are committed to change, we can do a lot to
reduce this problem worldwide. Megan Davia (student)
c) Concluding with a Quotation

A well-chosen quotation-even a brief one-can a effective concluding strategy. In the

following paragraph, the quotation reinforces the main idea of the essay.

Volunteering at my daughter’s middle school has done a lot to help both her
and me. She now likes to go to school, and her grades have improved. I now
understand how much effort it takes to be a good parent. What I am not most proud of
is that no one told me to.
d) Concluding with a Prediction
This type of conclusion includes a prediction that looks to the future.

My hesitation costs me more than I never could have dreamed. When she
thought that I didn’t want to marry her, Jen broke up with me. For the past three
months, I have trying to get back together with her. We have gone out a few times,
and I’m trying to convince her to trust me again. I hope that sometime soon we will
look back at this situation and laugh. Meanwhile, all I can do is tell Jen that I’m sorry
and keep hoping.
Dan Brody (student)

B. Predicting the outcome

Predicting means using clues before we begin reading, to guess what a text may be
about. We might, for example, look at a newspapar’s headlines or photos, the tittle of a
chapter or unit, the name of the writer or even the stam and address on an envelope to make
an informed guess about the general contents of the text.

Predicting is a continuous, active part of reading. This means that your mind is always
ahead of where your eyes are on a page. You’re actively wondering, guessing and forecasting
what’s next. T the same time, you’re actively deciding whether your predictions were correct
or incorrect compared to what you found and ad adjusting future predictions in light of that.
Practicing and polishing you predicting skills upgrade not only your comprehension but also
your reading speed.

In working to read at a college level, you want to make conscious what is largely a
preconscious human mental process. To master the art of predicting, you need to be aware of
your thinking as you read. Stop occasionally to predict to yourself what you think will come
next. As you move along, revise your predictions according to what you encounter. No one,
not even the most skilled reader, always predicts accurately. The more you practice
predicting, the easier and more useful it will become for you. If at first this activity slows you
down, rest assured that you’ll catch on soon.

These are the strategies to make predictions while Reading a strory:

1. While you read, you often make predictions. A prediction is a kind of guess.
To make a prediction, act like a detective. Use the story’s most important
information, or clues, to figure out what might happen next.
2. The clues in a story are sometimes called context clues. Context is the
information that come before or aftera word or situation to help you
understand it better.
3. As you read the story, you will stop twice to make predictions. At each
Strategy Break, you will be asked to write down which context clues helped
you make your predictions. Then, after you finish reading the story, you will
look back at your predictions and check your work.

Predicting otcome means the ability to predict what will happen next based on two things:

1. Clues given in the picture or the story

2. What you already know

One way to predict the outcomes is to look at the picture. You can see what is
happening, and than predict what is most likely to happen next. You will look for “clues” in
the picture that will help you predict what outcome will be.
Refferences:

Jamestown. 2000. Jamestown’s Signature Reading (page 95). Chicago: Jamestown’s

Publishers.

Kirszner, Laurie G and Stephen R. Mandell. 2008. Focus on Writing (Paragraph &
Essay). New York: Bedford St. Martin’s.

Seyler, Dorothy U. 1999. Read Reason Write (page 280-282). USA: McGraw-Hill
College.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman and Joseph Wayne Thweatt. 2009. Structure Reading (page 8-
9). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

1995. Annotated Teacher’s Edition Reading Comprehension Workshop Reflections

(page 23-36). USA: Globe Fearon.