The authors of a recent article examined warnings of an impending wave of extinctions of animal species within the ne...
ReneeIFebruary 12, 2020
Best practices for finding conclusions
Are there any tips for best practices when finding the conclusion in a passage? I am finding myself getting the conclusion mixed up with other statements/ facts/ premises given in the passage
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@Reneel, great question. To find the conclusion, always be thinking about what the passage as a whole is building toward. The conclusion of the passage is always being supported by the rest of it. Conclusions are sentences or phrases supported by at least one other sentence or phrase. When you read a sentence, ask yourself "Why?" If other things you read give you an answer to why, then you know what you're reading is some sort of conclusion. If multiple things have support, then you have an argument with a subsidiary conclusion and main conclusion. In order to figure out which is the subsidiary conclusion and which is the main conclusion, say both sentences silently with the word "because" between them. The way that makes sense will mean that what comes before "because" is the main conclusion and what comes after "because" is the subsidiary conclusion. This trick can also be used if you're struggling between two sentences in telling which is a premise and which is a conclusion.
Also, be on the lookout for keywords that indicate a conclusion, such as "so," "thus," "therefore," etc. These all tell you that what follows is some sort of conclusion.
Does this make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions!
