Study the questions carefully. They are all discussion statements.
In each case, what’s your first impression about what your conclusion will be – yes or no? Agree or disagree?
Can you summarise what your concluding ‘summing-up’ argument is likely to be, in no more than around 40 words? The first one has been done for you.
Now it’s your turn to make a judgement: Read the two conclusions to the essay question, ‘Evaluate the view that vulnerability to tectonic hazards has risen over time.’
Which is the best conclusion, and why? Write a brief comment in each box which summarises your opinion. Then click the ‘Show Examiner Commentary’ button to see what an examiner thought.
Study the questions carefully. They are all discussion statements.
In each case, what’s your first impression about what your conclusion will be – yes or no? Agree or disagree?
Can you summarise what your concluding ‘summing-up’ argument is likely to be, in no more than around 40 words? The first one has been done for you.
Discussion statement |
Your ‘first impression’ verdict |
---|---|
‘All life on Earth will inevitably suffer some harm because of increased atmospheric carbon storage.’ | IN CONCLUSION, YES - I MOSTLY AGREE. Governments are still acting slowly, and I think the world will keep warming - with some harmful effects everywhere - until maybe 2040. But new technologies like carbon storage will hopefully mature in time to stop really catastrophic harm. |
‘The best way to manage tectonic hazards is to prevent people from living close to plate boundaries.’ |
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‘Global flows of people and ideas cannot be controlled by national governments.’ |
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For some essays, a conclusion is essential. This is the crucial paragraph ending an essay which ties up all the ideas. An impressive evaluative conclusion will:
Common command phrases requiring a judgement/conclusion are likely to include:
Question challenges that ask for extent of agreement (evaluate the view) should take one of four possible options marked in green on the diagram below.
Now it’s your turn to make a judgement: Read the two conclusions to the essay question, ‘Evaluate the view that vulnerability to tectonic hazards has risen over time.’
Which is the best conclusion, and why? Write a brief comment in each box which summarises your opinion. Then click the ‘Show Examiner Commentary’ button to see what an examiner thought.
In general, this statement is untrue globally if vulnerability is interpreted as loss of life. Fewer people now die as a result of earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunamis than in the past because most countries have more effective warning systems than they used to. However, far more people today are at risk of being affected by tectonic hazards to some degree than in the past due to population growth and rising affluence (so greater property losses), especially in megacities close to plate boundaries. In many of these places, it would be true to say that vulnerability at the local scale has indeed risen.
In conclusion, vulnerability has fallen over time, though there will always be extreme unpredictable events which bring heavy losses of life. As this essay has shown, the main reasons why vulnerability has fallen are improved monitoring and better post-event management. Improved warnings and better medical care for victims mean that far fewer people are killed by tectonic hazards each year, a trend which is set to continue.
This is an excellent summing up because it is inherently geographical and makes the issue of spatial scale central to the summing-up. Additionally, there is some applied understanding and evaluation of risk here – with a distinction made between people and property. All in all, this feels like a conclusion made by someone who is ‘thinking like a geographer’.
This is a more simplistic conclusion – there is basic agreement that things are getting better over time thanks to new technology and management. It is not a particularly geographical conclusion either, given the high degree of generalisation and absence of any mention of scales or place contexts. In summing-up, this candidate does little to convince us that they are ‘thinking like a geographer’.
If your essay requires you to conclude by taking a view on something, you should ideally adopt one of four possible positions marked in green on the diagram opposite.