Necessary Transition

1
Necessary Transition

• Article by Elisabeth Dahl
• Presentation by Catherine Blachly

2
What I will be discussing

• What is a transition?
• Small transition words
• Advice from writers
• Examples
• Quotations
• Conclusion

3
What is a transition?

• Transitions are the glue that binds sentences,
  and paragraphs that help readers follow what you
  write.
• Transitions keep our arguments, descriptions,
  reports, and explanations not just cohesive but
  coherent.

4
Small Transition Words But

• One goal of transitions is to rid of unnecessary
  words.
• But is used to shift direction in your writing
  in order to make a clear transition.
• If a different word/phrase is used in its place,
  the transition would be blurrier.

5
Advice from Writers

• Good writers seldom use the mechanical
  transition words such as thus, therefore,
  moreover, furthermore, and however. The best
  transitions rarely call attention to themselves.

6
Compare

• I am not a scholar of English or literature. I
  cannot give you much more than personal opinions
  on the English language and its variations in
  this country or others. vs.
• You would not call me a scholar of English or
  literature, and I have only personal opinions on
  the English language and its variations in this
  country or others.
• (Amy Tan)

7
Whats wrong?

• The first moves from the negative "I am not" and
  "I cannot" to the affirmative "I am."
• The second is more conversational and clear.

8
Beginning with a Quote

• Beginning a paragraph with a quotation that
  builds on information from a previous paragraph
  is another technique good writers use.
• This way, the quote can give a definite name to a
  previously loose description.

9
Example

• If a question stumps everyone in the office, a
  plant sample is sent off to the plant
  pathologists at UC Berkeley for an answer.
• "We are an information source," emphasizes
  Hildegard Griffin, desk coordinator for the Marin
  Master Gardeners in Novato.

10
Conclusion

• Transitions are extremely important in writing.
• The smaller the transition word, the more clear
  and conversational it is.
• Beginning a paragraph with a quote can clear up
  loose ends from the previous paragraph.