Difference Between Summary and Conclusion

Summary vs Conclusion

Summary and Conclusion are two terms that are used in essay writing and thesis writing respectively with difference. A summary is a short form of an essay. It contains the salient points of an essay. On the other hand a conclusion contains the gist of the research findings found in a thesis. This is the main difference between a summary and a conclusion.

You can write a summary on any given chapter of a book of non-fiction. It should contain salient points or features of that particular chapter of the book. Similarly a summary of any particular scene of an act of a play of Shakespeare or any other playwright should contain the salient features of the various events of that particular scene of the particular act of the particular play of the playwright.

On the other hand a conclusion should contain the purpose established through research in a nutshell. It should contain short and concise paragraphs. It should be noted that the paragraphs should not be too lengthy in a conclusion. On the other hand paragraphs can be lengthy in a summary. This is one of the main differences between summary and conclusion.

You can summarize the characters of a particular play or a novel too. In such cases the character of a character say ‘the character of Shylock’ in the play ‘Merchant of Venice’ can be summarized by highlighting the events in the life of Shylock and also his character in a detailed way. It is interesting to note that a summary can be elaborate but a conclusion should be in a nutshell. This is the main difference between summary and conclusion. Both summary and conclusion require lot of skill on the part of writers to master. Any thesis for that matter shines based on the conclusion it has at the end.