Last Time, You Made Your Writing Flow
In Chapter 7, you learned how to use transition words to connect your ideas smoothly.
You practiced turning choppy, disconnected paragraphs into writing that flows naturally from one idea to the next. Your editorial now has a strong introduction, solid body paragraphs, and smooth connections between them. There is only one part left. The ending.
And your ending matters more than you might think.
Why the Conclusion Is So Important
Imagine watching a really good movie. The story is exciting, but then the ending is weak. It just stops without any real finish, leaving you unsatisfied. That's exactly how readers feel when an editorial has a weak conclusion.
The conclusion is the last thing your reader sees. It's your final chance to make them care, to remind them what you believe, and to push them toward action. A weak ending wastes everything that came before. A strong ending makes the whole editorial unforgettable.
What Does a Good Conclusion Do?
Every strong editorial conclusion does three things:
8.1 Restating Your Opinion
Expressing your core opinion should sound fresh, not repetitive:
"The school must repair the broken comfort rooms before the school year ends."
"Students deserve clean, working comfort rooms. This is not too much to ask."
8.2 Summarizing Your Main Points
Briefly group your arguments in one clear sentence. Do not introduce new claims or go back into long explanations:
"The broken comfort rooms are a health risk, a dignity issue, and a problem the school has the budget to fix."
This sentence covers three arguments in a clean, tight summary.
8.3 Writing a Strong Call to Action
A call to action tells a specific person or group to take a specific step. Vague calls are weak:
"Something must be done about this."
"The school principal must submit a repair request to the Division Office this week and give students a clear timeline for when the comfort rooms will be fixed."
8.4 Ending With Impact
Your very last sentence should leave the reader thinking. Keep it short, sharp, and forceful:
- • Consequence: "Every day this goes unfixed is another day students are being treated as less than they deserve."
- • Challenge: "The question is not whether the school can fix this. The question is whether they will."
- • Stake Reminder: "Students spend eight hours a day in this school. They deserve better."
8.5 Keep Conclusions Short and Strong
Your conclusion should be three to five sentences long. No more. A conclusion is not a second body section. It wraps things up, restates, summarizes, and stops. If you write a long conclusion, you are probably adding new ideas, which is the body's job.
Weak vs. Strong Conclusions — Side by Side
"In conclusion, the comfort rooms are broken. This is bad. I hope the school fixes them soon. Also, the canteen food could be better. Anyway, I think the school should improve many things. Thank you for reading my editorial."
"Students deserve comfort rooms that are clean, working, and safe to use. The broken locks, the missing water, and the damaged stalls are not small inconveniences. They are a health risk that has been ignored for too long. The school principal must submit a repair request to the Division Office this week and post a clear timeline for students and parents to see. Students spend their whole day in this school. They deserve basic dignity."
The Conclusion Formula
Use this four-sentence guide every time you write a conclusion paragraph:
- • Sentence 1: Restate your opinion in a fresh way.
- • Sentence 2: Briefly summarize your main points.
- • Sentence 3: Write your specific, time-bound call to action.
- • Sentence 4: End with one short, powerful statement.
Let's See It in Action
Position: "Schools must install free drinking water stations for all students."
"Access to clean drinking water is not a privilege. It is a basic right that every student in every school deserves. Without it, students go thirsty, lose focus, and spend money their families cannot always spare. The school administration must install at least three free water stations across the campus before the new school year begins. Clean water costs very little. Ignoring the lack of it costs students far more."
✏️ Practice Time
Improve weak conclusions, complete guided templates, and write impactful calls to action.
Improve the EndingRead these weak conclusions and study how we rewrite them for maximum impact.
Guided Writing — Complete the ConclusionComplete the incomplete conclusions using your own words.
"Every student deserves [opinion]. The broken [item], the lack of [item], and the [item] are problems the school can no longer ignore. The [who] must [do what] before [when]. [Final impact statement]."
"[Problem] is not just a school issue. It is a community issue. Because of [cause], students [consequence]. The [who] must [do what] immediately. [Final impact statement]."
Writing Practice — Writing Editorial ConclusionsChoose a topic and write a full 4-sentence conclusion.
🔍 Self-Check Guide
| What to Check | Done ✅ | Try Again 🔄 |
|---|---|---|
| I restated my opinion in a fresh, interesting way (no copying) | ☐ | ☐ |
| I briefly summarized my two or three strongest body reasons | ☐ | ☐ |
| I wrote a specific call to action (who should do what, and when) | ☐ | ☐ |
| My final sentence has a high-impact, memorable punchline | ☐ | ☐ |
📊 Simple Rubric
🧠 Conclusion Builder Quiz
Rearrange each set of scrambled sentences into the perfect cohesive statement for an editorial conclusion.