Closing the circle

An excellent way to impart a sense of unity to an essay is to return at the end to a quotation, image, or statement that the essay began with. We can call it closing the circle. Done well, closing the circle conveys a sense of order, elegance, and thought that can make a reader smile with appreciation. Here's an example from another essay on Coriolanus. You might contrast it with the balder ending above:

BEGINNING

　　"Boy of tears," Aufidius taunts the Roman general Coriolanus near the end of Shakespeare's play （5.6.100）, and the vehemence of Coriolanus' response suggests that Aufidius has hit the mark: there is something childish and sad about this fiercely proud warrior. . . .

ENDING

　　By the end, Coriolanus has thrown away not only his old identity but his new one as well. The"boy of tears" is left with only his immature fury and sullen isolation. His final act of mercy leads not to reconciliation but to further suffering, loss, and death.

　　Here's an example from an essay about a visit to an isolated Caribbean island. The writer begins with a little detail that captures the island's isolation and slow pace: a tardy mail boat, the only regular way to get on or off the island. Then, at the end, he comes back to the opening image:

BEGINNING

　　The mail boat should have been here hours ago. From my stool in Blind Sonny Lloyd's tiny waterfront bar, I can see past a stand of coconut palms to the wooden deck where the boat was to have picked me up. . . .

ENDING

　　As it turns out, I'm the only passenger on the mail boat this time. I stash my gear in a tiny cabin and later recall something Percy had told me after our lobster dive as we waded ashore under the lavish Bahamian sun."Think about what kind of world we'd have if every kid on the planet could grow up on an island like this. There'd be no more violence, mon. No more hatred. Just love for everybody. A big, big love."

　　If only Ragged Island could gobble up the rest of the world, in other words, instead of sliding slowly in the opposite direction. We could all be stranded together. Marooned as a way of life. The world as one big island.

　　And we wouldn't need mail boats any more.

　　Mike Tidwell,"Found at Sea: Seeking an Obscure Haven in a Tourist-soaked Region, a Traveler Gets Himself Seriously Marooned on a Desert Island," Washington Post （February 28, 1999）, E1.

　　As these examples suggest, a skilled writer doesn't merely repeat exactly what was said at the beginning. The trick is to echo the words or image one began with while adding some new twist or perspective to broaden the perspective.