Using Transitions
Transitions are words and
phrases that help explain relationships between sentences; they help
make a paragraph coherent. While transitions can help clarify the
relationships between ideas, they cannot create those relationships. In
other words, the logic of the paragraph must already exist in order for
transitions to do their job.
There are different ways of making an
effective transition:
- Place a strong sentence at the end of
the preceding paragraph.
The last sentence of some paragraphs in a critical
essay or paper may act as a mini-conclusion to the paragraph. It may
wrap up the thought, or tie the information presented to your thesis. It
may also act as a bridge to your next paragraph. Consider this example,
from a paper in which a writer compares Americans' reactions to
traveling to other parts of the country:
Many Westerners don't like rivers in the East.
They are alarmed by the muddy water, the overhanging trees, and the
snakes. Some Easterners aren't too thrilled about Western rivers,
either. Western rivers can seem shallow, freezing cold, too exposed to
the sun, rocky, and uninviting to someone used to the gentle and
fertile rivers of the East. Instead of a gentle float in a canoe, a
Western "river run" can be a terrifying experience for the
novice Easterner. . .
Note how the writer begins the transition at the
end of the first paragraph and then continues the transition with a
strong topic sentence in the next paragraph.
- Make an allusion to the topic
of the preceding paragraph.
You might refer to the main topic of your last
paragraph. Read your topic sentence or gloss the paragraph to make sure
you know its main thrust (see glossing).
Note, in the preceding example, how the second
paragraph's topic sentence sets the reader up for the new topic (Western
rivers) and also refers back to Eastern rivers. It is also possible to
begin a transition in the second paragraph, like this:
Many Westerners don't like rivers in the East.
They are alarmed by the muddy water, the overhanging trees, and the
snakes. Westerners often won't stick their big toes in rivers that
look like the James. To Easterners, on the other hand, Western rivers
can seem shallow, freezing cold, too exposed to the sun, rocky, and
uninviting. . .
In this example, the final sentence of the first
paragraph serves as that "mini- conclusion" discussed above.
Note: Whatever type of transition you use, you
should clearly present the topic of the paragraph that follows. For more
information, see Writing Paragraphs.
One way to check your transitions is to read
through your paper, paying close attention to the last and first
sentences in every paragraph. Do these sentences provide a basic outline
of the information you cover in your paper? |
