If you’re reading this because you’ve gotten through your entire paper and aren’t sure what to do now, then congratulations! You’ve gotten through the hardest part. But now you might not be sure what to stick on the end of your paper that your professor will actually be looking for. 

In fact, maybe you’ve heard them mention something called the “so what,” but you’re still not really sure what it means. Well, not to worry — the big “so what” is not as mysterious as it sounds; it all just has to do with context. 

If you read our article on introductions, then you’ll remember that context is what it’s called when you show how your topic fits into reality and the world at large. You should always start your paper by providing some context, and now I’ll explain how to close your essay with a little bit of context, too. However, the context that goes at the end is a little different. 

It may be easier if we think about this in a chronological way: 

• The context you include in your introduction is the past of your topic. Perhaps the development of the topic, how it came into being, laws that were introduced, and other similar things that describe its past. 

• The content of the body of your paper can be seen as the present of your topic — it might be how something works, current statistics, and current, immediate effects of that topic. 

• So now, the context in your conclusion, or the so what, should be the future of your topic. You could include things like a solution to a problem that should come as the next step, possible future implications (even if you’re just speculating), or both. Something that discusses the aftermath of the topic that maybe we can’t foresee yet. 

But why do I have to do this?

Thegoal here is to provide exigency, or a strong sense of urgency, for your readers, because you can’t rely on them to care otherwise. This is the point at which it’s okay to stray from your main point just a little bit, in order to show readers what the stakes are. 

To use the example from the introductions post, it might look something like this:

If we don’t do something to protect the polar bears now, they may disappear forever.

Now we are still discussing how the topic of polar bears and the environment fit into the world at large, but we’re focusing on what happens if the topic isn’t addressed. We are showing our readers what the stakes are.

But what if my topic doesn’t have stakes?

Impossible. No matter what you’re arguing, if you care about the topic then chances are that someone else somewhere will care; you just have to find the right audience. For instance:

Bleaching hair is bad for the scalp and should be stopped as a beauty practice. 

Anyone who bleaches their hair, or anyone whose job it is to bleach other’s hair, would be your audience, and so you just have to consider what would be important to them in your conclusion. 

Although both are valuable, engineers are more important to construction projects than architects. 

While this might not appeal to a general audience, it would certainly appeal to engineers, architects, and anyone who needs to employ those people, like large companies, whose bottom lines might be at stake.

Puppy mills are unethical businesses that treat dogs like produce and should therefore be outlawed. 

This topic is going to matter to anyone who cares about dogs (and there are a lot of us!). This may seem like an obvious one, but the point is that the fate of the world doesn’t have to be at stake to make your audience care; seemingly trivial topics have their own set of stakes. You just have to look for them. 

Now let’s compare: 

Here is an environmentalism conclusion that a lot of people likely turn in because they aren’t quite sure how to end their papers. 

In conclusion, we need to implement environmental protections because the ozone is deteriorating, water is becoming a scarce resource, and lots of animals are dying off as a result. This is why the environment needs to be saved. 

There are definitely some nuggets of real-world urgency in here, but if these are points you’ve already made in your paper that you’re just parroting off again, you’re writing a conclusion that you can expect your audience to skip right over. This may cause them to think that what you’ve already said is where the conversation, and the consequences, stop. 

Here is the exact same conclusion, but tweaked a little to have the so what incorporated into it. 

With the ozone deteriorating, water becoming a scarce resource, and many species’ populations dwindling towards extinction, it’s clear that the U.S. government must impose environmental protections on states. If this doesn’t happen soon, it’s no telling whether the next humanitarian crisis could happen in our own backyards as we struggle to share the few natural resources we have left. 

Notice how much spookier that one was? And that’s the whole point! You want to end the paper with this kind of a tone, in order to make sure your reader leaves your paper having something to think and wonder about for themselves. This will leave a much deeper impression on your audience than just giving them a laundry list of what you’ve already told them, and may even make them want to learn more.  

Happy writing!

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