titanic informative essay

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By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 12, 2024 | Original: November 9, 2009

The RMS Titanic, a luxury steamship, sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic after sideswiping an iceberg during its maiden voyage. Of the 2,240 passengers and crew on board, more than 1,500 lost their lives in the disaster. Titanic has inspired countless books, articles and films (including the 1997 Titanic movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio), and the ship's story has entered the public consciousness as a cautionary tale about the perils of human hubris.

The Building of the RMS Titanic

The Titanic was the product of intense competition among rival shipping lines in the first half of the 20th century. In particular, the White Star Line found itself in a battle for steamship primacy with Cunard, a venerable British firm with two standout ships that ranked among the most sophisticated and luxurious of their time.

Cunard’s Mauretania began service in 1907 and quickly set a speed record for the fastest average speed during a transatlantic crossing (23.69 knots or 27.26 mph), a title that it held for 22 years.

Cunard’s other masterpiece, Lusitania , launched the same year and was lauded for its spectacular interiors. Lusitania met its tragic end on May 7, 1915, when a torpedo fired by a German U-boat sunk the ship, killing nearly 1,200 of the 1,959 people on board and precipitating the United States’ entry into World War I .

Did you know? Passengers traveling first class on Titanic were roughly 44 percent more likely to survive than other passengers.

The same year that Cunard unveiled its two magnificent liners, J. Bruce Ismay, chief executive of White Star, discussed the construction of three large ships with William J. Pirrie, chairman of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff. Part of a new “Olympic” class of liners, each ship would measure 882 feet in length and 92.5 feet at their broadest point, making them the largest of their time.

In March 1909, work began in the massive Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, on the second of these three ocean liners, Titanic, and continued nonstop for two years.

On May 31, 1911, Titanic’s immense hull–the largest movable manmade object in the world at the time–made its way down the slipways and into the River Lagan in Belfast. More than 100,000 people attended the launching, which took just over a minute and went off without a hitch.

The hull was immediately towed to a mammoth fitting-out dock where thousands of workers would spend most of the next year building the ship’s decks, constructing her lavish interiors and installing the 29 giant boilers that would power her two main steam engines.

‘Unsinkable’ Titanic’s Fatal Flaws

According to some hypotheses, Titanic was doomed from the start by a design that many lauded as state-of-the-art. The Olympic-class ships featured a double bottom and 15 watertight bulkhead compartments equipped with electric watertight doors that could be operated individually or simultaneously by a switch on the bridge.

It was these watertight bulkheads that inspired Shipbuilder magazine, in a special issue devoted to the Olympic liners, to deem them “practically unsinkable.”

But the watertight compartment design contained a flaw that was a critical factor in Titanic’s sinking: While the individual bulkheads were indeed watertight, the walls separating the bulkheads extended only a few feet above the water line, so water could pour from one compartment into another, especially if the ship began to list or pitch forward.

The second critical safety lapse that contributed to the loss of so many lives was the inadequate number of lifeboats carried on Titanic. A mere 16 boats, plus four Engelhardt “collapsibles,” could accommodate just 1,178 people. Titanic could carry up to 2,435 passengers, and a crew of approximately 900 brought her capacity to more than 3,300 people.

As a result, even if the lifeboats were loaded to full capacity during an emergency evacuation, there were available seats for only one-third of those on board. While unthinkably inadequate by today’s standards, Titanic’s supply of lifeboats actually exceeded the British Board of Trade’s requirements.

Passengers on the Titanic

Titanic created quite a stir when it departed for its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. After stops in Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (now known as Cobh), Ireland, the ship set sail for New York with 2,240 passengers and crew—or “souls,” the expression then used in the shipping industry, usually in connection with a sinking—on board.

As befitting the first transatlantic crossing of the world’s most celebrated ship, many of these souls were high-ranking officials, wealthy industrialists, dignitaries and celebrities. First and foremost was the White Star Line’s managing director, J. Bruce Ismay, accompanied by Thomas Andrews, the ship’s builder from Harland and Wolff.

Absent was financier J.P. Morgan , whose International Mercantile Marine shipping trust controlled the White Star Line and who had selected Ismay as a company officer. Morgan had planned to join his associates on Titanic but canceled at the last minute when some business matters delayed him.

The wealthiest passenger was John Jacob Astor IV, heir to the Astor family fortune, who had made waves a year earlier by marrying 18-year-old Madeleine Talmadge Force, a young woman 29 years his junior, shortly after divorcing his first wife.

Other notable passengers included the elderly owner of Macy’s, Isidor Straus, and his wife Ida; industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim, accompanied by his mistress, valet and chauffeur; and widow and heiress Margaret “Molly” Brown, who would earn her nickname “ The Unsinkable Molly Brown ” by helping to maintain calm and order while the lifeboats were being loaded and boosting the spirits of her fellow survivors.

The employees attending to this collection of First Class luminaries were mostly traveling Second Class, along with academics, tourists, journalists and others who would enjoy a level of service and accommodations equivalent to First Class on most other ships.

But by far the largest group of passengers was in Third Class: more than 700, exceeding the other two levels combined. Some had paid less than $20 to make the crossing. It was Third Class that was the major source of profit for shipping lines like White Star, and Titanic was designed to offer these passengers accommodations and amenities superior to those found in Third Class on any other ship of that era.

Titanic Sets Sail

Titanic’s departure from Southampton on April 10 was not without some oddities. A small coal fire was discovered in one of her bunkers–an alarming but not uncommon occurrence on steamships of the day. Stokers hosed down the smoldering coal and shoveled it aside to reach the base of the blaze.

After assessing the situation, the captain and chief engineer concluded that it was unlikely it had caused any damage that could affect the hull structure, and the stokers were ordered to continue controlling the fire at sea.

According to a theory put forth by a small number of Titanic experts, the fire became uncontrollable after the ship left Southampton, forcing the crew to attempt a full-speed crossing; moving at such a fast pace, they were unable to avoid the fatal collision with the iceberg.

Another unsettling event took place when Titanic left the Southampton dock. As she got underway, she narrowly escaped a collision with the America Line’s S.S. New York. Superstitious Titanic buffs sometimes point to this as the worst kind of omen for a ship departing on her maiden voyage.

The Titanic Strikes an Iceberg

On April 14, after four days of uneventful sailing, Titanic received sporadic reports of ice from other ships, but she was sailing on calm seas under a moonless, clear sky.

At about 11:30 p.m., a lookout saw an iceberg coming out of a slight haze dead ahead, then rang the warning bell and telephoned the bridge. The engines were quickly reversed and the ship was turned sharply—instead of making direct impact, Titanic seemed to graze along the side of the berg, sprinkling ice fragments on the forward deck.

Sensing no collision, the lookouts were relieved. They had no idea that the iceberg had a jagged underwater spur, which slashed a 300-foot gash in the hull below the ship’s waterline.

By the time the captain toured the damaged area with Harland and Wolff’s Thomas Andrews, five compartments were already filling with seawater, and the bow of the doomed ship was alarmingly pitched downward, allowing seawater to pour from one bulkhead into the neighboring compartment.

Andrews did a quick calculation and estimated that Titanic might remain afloat for an hour and a half, perhaps slightly more. At that point the captain, who had already instructed his wireless operator to call for help, ordered the lifeboats to be loaded.

Titanic’s Lifeboats

A little more than an hour after contact with the iceberg, a largely disorganized and haphazard evacuation began with the lowering of the first lifeboat. The craft was designed to hold 65 people; it left with only 28 aboard.

Tragically, this was to be the norm: During the confusion and chaos during the precious hours before Titanic plunged into the sea, nearly every lifeboat would be launched woefully under-filled, some with only a handful of passengers.

In compliance with the law of the sea, women and children boarded the boats first; only when there were no women or children nearby were men permitted to board. Yet many of the victims were in fact women and children, the result of disorderly procedures that failed to get them to the boats in the first place.

Exceeding Andrews’ prediction, Titanic stubbornly stayed afloat for close to three hours. Those hours witnessed acts of craven cowardice and extraordinary bravery.

Hundreds of human dramas unfolded between the order to load the lifeboats and the ship’s final plunge: Men saw off wives and children, families were separated in the confusion and selfless individuals gave up their spots to remain with loved ones or allow a more vulnerable passenger to escape. In the end, 706 people survived the sinking of the Titanic.

Titanic Sinks

The ship’s most illustrious passengers each responded to the circumstances with conduct that has become an integral part of the Titanic legend. Ismay, the White Star managing director, helped load some of the boats and later stepped onto a collapsible as it was being lowered. Although no women or children were in the vicinity when he abandoned ship, he would never live down the ignominy of surviving the disaster while so many others perished.

Thomas Andrews, Titanic’s chief designer, was last seen in the First Class smoking room, staring blankly at a painting of a ship on the wall. Astor deposited his wife Madeleine into a lifeboat and, remarking that she was pregnant, asked if he could accompany her; refused entry, he managed to kiss her goodbye just before the boat was lowered away.

Although offered a seat on account of his age, Isidor Straus refused any special consideration, and his wife Ida would not leave her husband behind. The couple retired to their cabin and perished together.

Benjamin Guggenheim and his valet returned to their rooms and changed into formal evening dress; emerging onto the deck, he famously declared, “We are dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.”

Molly Brown helped load the boats and finally was forced into one of the last to leave. She implored its crewmen to turn back for survivors, but they refused, fearing they would be swamped by desperate people trying to escape the icy seas.

Titanic, nearly perpendicular and with many of her lights still aglow, finally dove beneath the ocean’s surface at about 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912. Throughout the morning, Cunard’s Carpathia , after receiving Titanic’s distress call at midnight and steaming at full speed while dodging ice floes all night, rounded up all of the lifeboats. They contained only 706 survivors.

Aftermath of the Titanic Catastrophe

At least five separate boards of inquiry on both sides of the Atlantic conducted comprehensive hearings on Titanic’s sinking, interviewing dozens of witnesses and consulting with many maritime experts. Every conceivable subject was investigated, from the conduct of the officers and crew to the construction of the ship. Titanic conspiracy theories abounded.

While it has always been assumed that the ship sank as a result of the gash that caused the bulkhead compartments to flood, various other theories have emerged over the decades, including that the ship’s steel plates were too brittle for the near-freezing Atlantic waters, that the impact caused rivets to pop and that the expansion joints failed, among others.

Technological aspects of the catastrophe aside, Titanic’s demise has taken on a deeper, almost mythic, meaning in popular culture. Many view the tragedy as a morality play about the dangers of human hubris: Titanic’s creators believed they had built an unsinkable ship that could not be defeated by the laws of nature.

This same overconfidence explains the electrifying impact Titanic’s sinking had on the public when she was lost. There was widespread disbelief that the ship could not possibly have sunk, and, due to the era’s slow and unreliable means of communication, misinformation abounded. Newspapers initially reported that the ship had collided with an iceberg but remained afloat and was being towed to port with everyone on board.

It took many hours for accurate accounts to become widely available, and even then people had trouble accepting that this paragon of modern technology could sink on her maiden voyage, taking more than 1,500 souls with her.

The ship historian John Maxtone-Graham has compared Titanic’s story to the Challenger space shuttle disaster of 1986. In that case, the world reeled at the notion that one of the most sophisticated inventions ever created could explode into oblivion along with its crew. Both tragedies triggered a sudden collapse in confidence, revealing that we remain subject to human frailties and error, despite our hubris and a belief in technological infallibility.

Titanic Wreck

Efforts to locate the wreck of Titanic began soon after it sank. But technical limitations—as well as the vastness of the North Atlantic search area—made finding it extremely difficult.

Finally, in 1985, a joint U.S.-French expedition located the wreck of the RMS Titanic . The doomed ship was discovered about 400 miles east of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic, some 13,000 feet below the surface.

Subsequent explorations have found that the wreck is in relatively good condition, with many objects on the ship—jewelry, furniture, shoes, machinery and other items—are still intact.

Since its discovery, the wreck has been explored numerous times by manned and unmanned submersibles—including the submersible Titan, which imploded during what would have been its third dive to the wreck in June 2023.

HISTORY Vault: Titanic's Achilles Heel

Did Titanic have a fatal design flaw? John Chatterton and Richie Kohler of "Deep Sea Detectives" dive the wreckage of Titanic's sister ship, Britannic, to investigate the possibility.

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90 Titanic Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best titanic topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 good essay topics on titanic, 🔎 most interesting titanic topics to write about, ❓ titanic research questions.

• Social Inequality in the Titanic Movie Even when she rejects the privileges that her class offers in order to be with the one she loves, she is eventually separated from him because of the consequences of social inequality.
• The Role of Music in the Film “Titanic” Also, it will discuss the content and themes of the movie and explain the role played by music in the movie. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• A Rhetorical Analysis of the Titanic Film The close-up shots used in the scene add to the emotional effect of the scene and create a sense of intimacy between the audience and characters, making the intended viewers experience the scene as if […]
• “Titanic” by James Cameron: The Design of the American Epic Romance Film The custom building of the ship was meant to validate the historical detail of the movie. The detailed design of the ship was meant to support the narrative such that the occurrences could be as […]
• “Titanic” by James Cameron: Storyline, Language & Characters Analysis The head of the excursion is Brock Lovett and is just exploring to find valuables, which might have been carried to the ship. With the story developing, the ship, on the other hand, is pushed […]
• Would 1997 Movie Titanic Be Considered a Great Epic? Griffith, the “father of film technique”, “the man who invented Hollywood” and “the Shakespeare of the screen,” “a film is a cooperative effort between the director and the audience.
• “Titanic” by James Cameron Movie Analysis Therefore, there is indeed a good reason in referring to Cameron’s film, as such that promotes a thoroughly humanistic idea that the measure of people’s actual worth has very little to do with what happened […]
• Titanic Sinking in Poetic and Oral History Genres In the opening he takes aim at the claim that the ship was unsinkable, calling that an example of “human vanity” and the “Pride of life” from which the ship now lies far removed.
• The Titanic: Preconditions, the Trigger, the Crisis, Post-Crisis The sinking of the RMS Titanic is the subject of this report and seeks to analyze the tragedy through the lens of risk and crisis management.
• Historical Romance: “An Affair to Remember” and “Titanic” The primary aspect of the two films’ social environment is the characters’ ability to get involved in romantic antics and affairs. Love is the central theme in the movie and is signified by the Heart […]
• The Titanic: Risk Management The vehicle’s high speed at the time of the collision and delayed evacuation can be explained by the captain’s attempt to save the prestige of the ship.
• The Role of the Social Institution in the Cameron’s “Titanic” Most of the movie is about the encounter and relationships of this boy with the members of the aristocratic family mentioned above.
• Black Vernaculars in “Sinking of the Titanic” by Hughes and “Shine and the Titanic” by Abraham In both poems, the main character is a black man named Shine who works in the boiler room of the Titanic and attempts to inform the captain of the impending disaster.
• “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Titanic” Film Analysis As a result, it can be argued that the time difference between these two films is significant in terms of understanding the changes in the depiction of the theme of love by the producers of […]
• The Significance and the Esteem of the Film “Titanic” It is hard to believe that James Cameron envisaged the love narrative involving the two characters and ultimately decided the ideal backdrop would be the sinking of the Titanic.
• Gender Propagation in Titanic Miniseries In spite of the film indicating that the people travelling in the Titanic are divided based on their social status, the film goes ahead to show a high level of interaction among the different classes […]
• Technological Catastrophe: Titanic in 1912 The events leading to the sinking of the ship and the finding of its wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean led to in-depth analysis of technology with a clear line between advantages and disadvantages of technological […]
• Rhetorical Criticism of the Titanic Jack and Rose develop a friendship They walk round the ship and explore all the hidden areas The people of the high class treat and see the employees and people from the lower societies There […]
• My Opinion on the Movie Titanic Upon the knowledge of the portray, Dawson Calvert contacted Lovett, she was asked if she knew about the necklace and she said that indeed she was the one Rose DeWittone of the passengers deemed to […]
• Loss of RMS Titanic (1912): Significant Events of the 20th Century The loss occurred while the ship was on its Maiden voyage from Southampton, United Kingdom to the New York City in the United States causing one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the 20th century.
• Similarities and Differences Between the Movies “Titanic” and “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Night That Changed Everything for the “Titanic”
• Analysis of the Use of Mise-En-Scène to Convey Narrative in “Titanic”
• Acting and Emotions in “Titanic” Movie
• Elegant Production Design and Surprising Visual Outcomes: “Titanic”
• The History and Sinking of the “Titanic”
• “Titanic”: The Most Fascinating and Well-Known Ship in History
• Archetypal and Mythic Patterns in the “Titanic”
• “Titanic”: The Birth of a New Generation and Its Terrible Destruction
• The Events That Led to the Sinking of the “Titanic” in 1912
• Flaws, Failures, and Fractures of the “Titanic”
• Human Neglect as a Reason Behind the Sinking of the “Titanic”
• A Tragic Love Story in “Titanic” Movie
• “Titanic” and “Lusitania”: The Ships That Have Changed History
• Historical Decision: The Incident of the “Titanic”
• “Titanic”: Standout Ship and Legendary Fail
• Comparative Analysis of American Independent Films: “Clerks” and “Titanic”
• “Titanic” and Its Poetics Elements
• Structural Weakness and the Hull of the “Titanic”
• Factors of Success of the Film “Titanic” by James Cameron
• Hollywood Elite and “Titanic” Film by Director James Cameron
• The Size, Shape, and Design of the “Titanic”
• The Theme of Social Classes and Inequalities in the Movie “Titanic”
• The Age-Old Mystery Surrounding the Sinking of the Maiden Ship “Titanic”
• Regarding the “Titanic” and What Should Be Done With the Remains
• Themes and Motives in James Cameron’s “Titanic”
• Impact of Sinking of the “Titanic” on the U.S. Capital Markets
• The Life and Works of Thomas Andrews, the Designer of “Titanic”
• The Wild Conspiracy Theory That the “Titanic” Never Sank
• Various Social Classes and How They Were Treated on the “Titanic”
• Captain Edward J. Smith on Trail for Sinking of the “Titanic”
• The Most Famous Survivor Passenger on “Titanic”
• How the Movie “Titanic” Relates to Suffering and Death
• Engineering and Construction Factors That Caused the “Titanic” to Fail
• James Cameron’s Presentation and Adaptation of “Titanic” for the Cinema
• Comparison of the Movies “Titanic” and “Pearl Harbor”
• The Real Story Behind the Discovery of “Titanic’s” Watery Grave
• Survival Prediction for “Titanic” Data Using Machine Learning Algorithms
• Comparing the “Titanic” Movie and the Real “Titanic” Story
• What Engineering and Construction Factors Caused the Sinking of the “Titanic”?
• Could Such an Accident as “Titanic” Happen Again?
• Why Were the “Titanic” and “Lusitania” Ships That Changed History?
• How Were Different Social Classes Treated on the “Titanic”?
• How Can the Film “Titanic” Be Considered From a Formalist Point of View?
• What Would Be the Survival Prediction of “Titanic” Data Using Machine Learning Algorithms?
• Who Was the Most Famous “Titanic” Survivor?
• How Has James Cameron Presented and Adapted the True Story of “Titanic” for the Cinema?
• Could Anything Have Saved the “Titanic”?
• What Critical Approach Is Used in the Movie “Titanic”?
• How Does James Cameron Represent the “Old World” and the “New World” in His Film “Titanic”?
• Why Did They Say That God Couldn’t Even Sink the “Titanic”?
• Did Any of the 3rd Class Passengers Survive on the “Titanic”?
• What Could Have Prevented the “Titanic” From Sinking?
• How Does Thomas Hardy Present the Tragedy of the Sinking of the “Titanic” in the Poem “The Convergence of the Twain”?
• Was Captain Smith Responsible for the Sinking of the “Titanic”?
• Has the Real “Titanic” Been Found?
• What Changed as a Result of the Sinking of the “Titanic”?
• Is There a Difference Between the Movie “Titanic” and the Real Story of the “Titanic”?
• Why Was the “Titanic” One of the Greatest Shipping Disasters of All Time?
• Is the Story of the “Titanic” a True Story of Life?
• What Events Led to the Sinking of the “Titanic” in 1912?
• What Is the Essence of the Inequality of Different Social Classes in the Story “Titanic”?
• How Much Was a First-Class Ticket on the “Titanic”?
• Was the “Titanic” the Most Fascinating and Well-Known Ship in History?
• Are There Similarities Between the Films “Titanic” and “Pearl Harbor”?
• What Events Led to the Discovery of the “Titanic”?
• How Accurately Does the Movie “A Night to Remember” Depict the Actual Sinking of the Ship “Titanic”?
• Why Will the “Titanic” Always Hold Significance?
• What Were the Causes and Consequences of the “Titanic” Disaster?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Titanic The Titanic Disaster Or Unsinkable

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Informative Essay — Purpose, Structure, and Examples

What is informative writing?

Informative writing educates the reader about a certain topic. An informative essay may explain new information, describe a process, or clarify a concept. The provided information is objective, meaning the writing focuses on presentation of fact and should not contain personal opinion or bias.

Informative writing includes description, process, cause and effect, comparison, and problems and possible solutions:

Describes a person, place, thing, or event using descriptive language that appeals to readers’ senses

Explains the process to do something or how something was created

Discusses the relationship between two things, determining how one ( cause ) leads to the other ( effect ); the effect needs to be based on fact and not an assumption

Identifies the similarities and differences between two things; does not indicate that one is better than the other

Details a problem and presents various possible solutions ; the writer does not suggest one solution is more effective than the others

Purpose of informative writing

The purpose of an informative essay depends upon the writer’s motivation, but may be to share new information, describe a process, clarify a concept, explain why or how, or detail a topic’s intricacies.

Informative essays may introduce readers to new information .

Summarizing a scientific/technological study

Outlining the various aspects of a religion

Providing information on a historical period

Describe a process or give step-by-step details of a procedure.

How to write an informational essay

How to construct an argument

How to apply for a job

Clarify a concept and offer details about complex ideas.

Explain why or how something works the way that it does.

Describe how the stock market impacts the economy

Illustrate why there are high and low tides

Detail how the heart functions

Offer information on the smaller aspects or intricacies of a larger topic.

Identify the importance of the individual bones in the body

Outlining the Dust Bowl in the context of the Great Depression

Explaining how bees impact the environment

How to write an informative essay

Regardless of the type of information, the informative essay structure typically consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction

Background information

Explanation of evidence

Restated thesis

Review of main ideas

Closing statement

Informative essay introduction

When composing the introductory paragraph(s) of an informative paper, include a hook, introduce the topic, provide background information, and develop a good thesis statement.

If the hook or introduction creates interest in the first paragraph, it will draw the readers’ attention and make them more receptive to the essay writer's ideas. Some of the most common techniques to accomplish this include the following:

Emphasize the topic’s importance by explaining the current interest in the topic or by indicating that the subject is influential.

Use pertinent statistics to give the paper an air of authority.

A surprising statement can be shocking; sometimes it is disgusting; sometimes it is joyful; sometimes it is surprising because of who said it.

An interesting incident or anecdote can act as a teaser to lure the reader into the remainder of the essay. Be sure that the device is appropriate for the informative essay topic and focus on what is to follow.

Directly introduce the topic of the essay.

Provide the reader with the background information necessary to understand the topic. Don’t repeat this information in the body of the essay; it should help the reader understand what follows.

Identify the overall purpose of the essay with the thesis (purpose statement). Writers can also include their support directly in the thesis, which outlines the structure of the essay for the reader.

Informative essay body paragraphs

Each body paragraph should contain a topic sentence, evidence, explanation of evidence, and a transition sentence.

A good topic sentence should identify what information the reader should expect in the paragraph and how it connects to the main purpose identified in the thesis.

Provide evidence that details the main point of the paragraph. This includes paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting facts, statistics, and statements.

Explain how the evidence connects to the main purpose of the essay.

Place transitions at the end of each body paragraph, except the last. There is no need to transition from the last support to the conclusion. A transition should accomplish three goals:

Tell the reader where you were (current support)

Tell the reader where you are going (next support)

Relate the paper’s purpose

Informative essay conclusion

Incorporate a rephrased thesis, summary, and closing statement into the conclusion of an informative essay.

Rephrase the purpose of the essay. Do not just repeat the purpose statement from the thesis.

Summarize the main idea found in each body paragraph by rephrasing each topic sentence.

End with a clincher or closing statement that helps readers answer the question “so what?” What should the reader take away from the information provided in the essay? Why should they care about the topic?

Informative essay example

The following example illustrates a good informative essay format: