Transitions

Transitions

Getting smoothly from A to B

Why are transitions important?

Let’s say you go to a friend’s wedding. You see a bunch of

people you don’t know. At the reception, your friend begins to

point them out to you, even introduces you to a few. “This is my

Uncle Bob, and that’s his wife Linda over there. They don’t

get along too well with my dad; they are just here to make my

grandmother happy.”

Suddenly all the strange faces start to have meaning and connections to you. There’s your friend’s sister, Lulu who

useto steal his toys. There’s your friend’s childhood

neighbor, who once had a crush on Lulu, and so on.


Ideas in your head, that will eventually come out on paper, are

like the relatives at the reception. To a reader, the ideas will

not have connections or relationships unless YOU, as the writer, explain those relationships.

It is your responsibility as a writer to make the organization of

your ideas smooth and logical to your reader. You can do this

through use of transitions. Never make your reader put two

and two together – that is your job.


Let’s look at a few writing samples with andwithout transitions.

Without transition:

Gerald didn’t care for golf; he played a full 18 holes with his father on Saturday.

With transition:

Although Gerald didn’t care for golf, he played a full 18 holes with his father on Saturday.

*Please also note the punctuation differences.


Here’s another example.

Without transitions:Our current consumer approach to the holiday season creates excessive waste throughproduction, packing and wrapping. It adds to materialistic greed in children, who come to expect a myriad of toys each year to add to their already overflowing closets and toy chests ofunused items. Create a tradition of homemade gifts, which are more heartfelt than last minute items off a shelf, or vintage items, that do not require taking more of the Earth’s resources to produce.

With transitions:Our current consumer approach to the holiday season creates excessive waste through production,packing and wrapping. Moreover, it adds to materialistic greed in children, who come to expect amyriad of toys each year to add to their already overflowing closets and toy chests of unused items. Instead, create a tradition of homemade gifts, which are more heartfelt than last minuteitems off a shelf, or consider vintage items, that do not require taking more of the Earth’s resources to produce.

Why are transitions important?Here’s an example of a transition between paragraphs. This comes out of my master’s degree thesis; we had to use APA style of citation, so it looks a little different than MLA.

Without transition: Student’s fear of being different in any respect comes from an environment that sadly punishes, rather than celebrates, differences. One way to help create the type of embracing environment all teaches would like to seein schools is through fostering empathy (Toranzo, 1996). Students who show a greater acceptance of individual differences, or tolerance, also have higher empathy scores (Bryant, 1982). Researchers have found skills in empathy are related to social success (Cotton, 1995). Reading is

interpreting and interacting with the expressed thoughts of others. Writing is the reverse, attempting to interact with a futurereader, or audience, through careful coding of ideas into words. A fully competent and engaged reader or writer needs to understand and consider the viewpoints, motivations, actions and intentions of others (Toranzo, 1996).

With transition: Student’s fear of being different in any respect comes from an environment that sadly punishes, rather than celebrates, differences. One way to help create the type of embracing environment all teaches would like to seein schools is through fostering empathy (Toranzo, 1996). Students who show a greater acceptance of individual differences, or tolerance, also have higher empathy scores (Bryant, 1982). In addition to social skills, researchers have found skills in empathy are related to social success (Cotton, 1995). Reading is interpreting and interacting with the expressed thoughts of others. Writing is the reverse, attempting to interact with a future reader, or audience, through careful coding of ideas into words. A fully competent and engaged reader or writer needs to understand and consider the viewpoints, motivations, actions and intentions of others (Toranzo, 1996).

Helpful transitions

Words that show contrast or a change in ideas:

However RatherBut Not withstandingNevertheless On the contraryIn spite of In contrast toWhile this may be true ConverselyStill InsteadDespite Yet

Helpful transitions

Words that show an addition to ideas:

Also Besides FinallyFurthermore In addition AlsoMoreover Again As well asToo Likewise SimilarlyIn fact For instance AnotherFor example Equally importantNot only/but also As a result

Helpful transitions

Words that show a consequence:

Hence ConsequentlyThus AccordinglyTherefore Due toFor this reason SinceBecause As a resultThereupon

Helpful transitions

Words that show sequence:

At first To begin withThe next step In timeIn turn MeanwhileEventually Simultaneously For the time being Next, then, soonLater, while, earlier AfterwardSubsequently Previously

Helpful transitions

Words that show emphasis or restatement:

Above all Indeed In briefTruly Of course In shortCertainly Surely In other

wordsIn fact In truth FurthermoreAgain That is to sayIn essence Namely

Helpful transitions

Words that show concession:

Although At any rateAt least StillThough Even thoughGranted that In spite ofWhile it may be true True

Helpful transitions

Words that show details and examples:

Specifically For exampleEspecially To illustrateTo explain ThusIn particular In other wordsTo enumerate As an illustrationIn detail To witNamelyIncluding

Helpful transitions

Words to summarize or generalize:

After all As a ruleBriefly As usualConsidering In generalIn any case OrdinarilyOn the whole TypicallyBy and large UsuallyAccordingly For the most partAs a result To this endConsequently In short

Now you try!Fill in blank with a transition word, then click to seeif you picked the right one.

I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, __________ I called in sick.a. to explainb. howeverc. therefored. in addition to

therefore

Now you try!Fill in blank with a transition word, then click to

seeif you picked the right one.

Projects must be handed in by the due date, __________ they

will not be scored.a. obviouslyb. otherwisec. as a resultd. finallyotherwis

e


__________ it has been shown that lightening strikes are rare, it’s still a good idea to stay away from tall or metallic structures duringa storm.

a. Even thoughb. Consequentlyc. Neverthelessd. Because

Even though


Sales of CD’s have a small but steady fall over the lasttwelve months. _________, vinyl records have seen an increase

intheir share of the market, up to 1.7%.

a. Above allb. Correspondinglyc. For exampled. In contrast

In contrast



“I plan to take a very long trip, and I don’t suspect I shall

return,” Biblo told the crowd. “_______, I mean not to.”

a. Stillb. Of coursec. In factd. Furthermore

In fact



My basketball coach told me I was doing better, ________

my shots seem to keep getting worse.a. yetb. thereforec. in generald. by and large

yet



_________ photographing the animals in Madagascar for herNational Geographic article, Evelyn hopes to take some shots

of thevillages and people of the area, too.

a. Uponb. Due toc. Despited. In addition to

In addition to

Need a handout?For a easy-to-use list of transition words similar to those on this PowerPoint presentation, visit:

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/writing-composition/vocabulary/1780.html

Your best bet is to copy and paste the list to another

page for easy, non-wasteful printing.



Transitions

Education

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