Extended Essay: How do I write a conclusion for my history extended essay?

[ynash]

I've been struggling on how to write the conclusion to my extended essay. I'm not quite sure whether it's permissible to state historical facts that were drawn from the investigation. I also don't know whether stating "I" or "in my opinion" would be correct.

[Nabz]

Yes, you may write it in first person point of view. However do read the extended essay rubric and what they require you to have in conclusion. A brief quote is below:

"Criterion H: conclusion

The most important aspect of the conclusion of a history essay is that it must reflect the evidence and

argument presented in the body of the essay. It should also answer the research question asked, and if

the data and analysis failed to do so, the conclusion must state this as well as any other problems

encountered."

[Emmi]

Your conclusion doesn't have to be like one paragraph. I had a conclusion section in my EE that went on for about a page and a half where I briefly summarized my arguments and I answered my question, and stated a few questions that might arise from how I answered it.

To end a history EE, you should briefly restate what you've argued. Don't spend too much time on this though. Then come up with an answer to your question, and state how what you have argued in your essay shows that. This might be restating your thesis statement, or if you took an approach where you explored the topic and then were going to come to a conclusion at the end, what you believe the answer to be. It's also a good idea to think of other possible questions or investigations that your conclusion might lead to. I think this is mentioned in the criteria, but I'm not positive for sure. You don't have to think of a ton of really deep, perfect questions, just a few little areas you might consider researching afterwards.

You can use I, but typically you tend to avoid it in a formal writing assignment. You can usually word something in a way that you don't have to use I. For example, I could rewrite the sentence "I think peaches are delicious" as "Peaches are delicious." Since I'm not quoting anyone and this isn't a "fact" (no matter how great they are ), this is obviously my opinion based on what I've argued or what evidence I've brought in. Also, this cuts down on words, hint hint

[Erudite]

Hey!

When it comes to concluding History EEs, the best way to go about it is to like summarise all your arguments from the main body of your essay. So each like BIG argument should be a sentence, maybe two if necessary in the conclusion. And the last part of the conclusion should be the summary of the resolution/analysis/evaluation/answer/whatever you've arrived at.

It depends on how much content is in your essay to realise how long your conclusion should be. My History IA conclusion was 200 words, but if I was doing a longer History essay, (like an EE), it would've easily been 350-400 words.