Transitions

Cause & Effect, Comparison & Contrast, Definition, Description, Narrative, Persuasion, Process Analysis, Essays

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Paragraph transitions:
Each paragraph must relate logically to the previous paragraph (s)

Readers expect paragraphs to relate to each other as well as to the overall purpose of an essay. Transitional sentences for paragraphs are one of the most difficult challenges for writers. Writers
need to guide the reader carefully. When writers are too blatant (or obvious) in the way they use transitions, readers may feel patronized. The readers may feel that the writer is underestimating them.
To highlight the connections between ideas, writers provide transitional sentences at the end of each paragraph which look forward to the topic of the next paragraph. Or, writers may can place a transition at the beginning of the next paragraph which reflects back to the topic of the previous paragraph.

When evaluating transitions from idea to idea, writers must question whether the transitions appear too obvious. If they are too obvious, this may undercut credibility. Poor transitions may make writing less believable. At best, when transitions are unnecessary, readers may feel that explicit transitional sentences are simply wordy; at worst, they may perceive these sentences as insulting (they imply that readers are too inept (or stupid) to follow the discussion.

Transitions:

In an academic essay, transitions highlight the link between two distinct but interrelated ideas (e.g., two supporting ideas/topic sentences) and ease the reader from one to the other.

A transition can be made with a topic sentence. But in many cases a topic sentence for a transition can be awkward.
One solution to this problem is to create a a separate transitional sentence that (1) either precedes the topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph or (2) concludes the previous paragraph.

In general, transitional sentences should point back to the topic discussed in a previous paragraph while at the same time guiding the reader towards points or ideas that will be developed in the next paragraph.

For example:

Mary Cassatt, one of the few female Impressionist painters, lived in France although she was of American descent. Unlike her fellow painters, who chose landscapes as their primary medium, Cassatt's main subjects were her immediate family. In fact, her nieces and nephews were captured in many of her most famous works of art.

For instance, the painting, Mother with Child, shows Cassatt's sister bathing her child. This painting not only illustrates Cassatt's use of her family as subjects, but also highlights the theme of mother and child. The closeness of the mother with her child remains a constant theme of Cassatt's painting and sketching throughout the Impressionist period.

Note: The first sentence of the second paragraph draws the reader's attention to a new
idea: a specific example. The following sentence repeats a familiar theme (family members)
from the first paragraph and then introduces a new idea (mother and child).

Transitions between sections

Transitions may be needed between major sections of a paper, especially when the
paper is lengthy. In this case, an entire paragraph may serve as a transition between
two or more major sections of your paper.

For example:

If you were writing a twenty-page research paper on plant regeneration, the first ten
pages might deal with general information about plant regeneration and the last ten
pages might focus on an in-depth study of a particular experiment. In this case, you
should include a paragraph that transitions the reader out of the general information
in the first section into the specific experiment in the second section.

Effective Transitions Transitional Devices Paragraphs and Transitions

Adventures in Writing With Readings
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Writer's Harbrace Handbook
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