Success Center Directed Learning Activity (DLA) Essay Essentials 5: Transitioning in Essays W005.1
Directed Learning Activity Essay Essentials 5: Transitioning in Essays Description: After completing this Directed Learning Activity (DLA), you will be able to develop transition sentences that seamlessly move your readers from paragraph to paragraph in your essay. Prior Knowledge: This DLA assumes a working knowledge of thesis statements, topic sentences, and body paragraph development. If you have not covered these important topics in class this semester, then you will likely benefit from completing the activities titled Essay Essentials 1: Reasoning Essays, Essay Essentials 2: Organizing Essays, and Essay Essentials 3: Unifying Essays before tackling this fifth DLA in our Essay Essentials series. Materials: To complete this activity, you will need a copy of an essay. If you do not have a copy of one of your own essays, you may use the sample essay in this DLA, instead. Step One: Understanding the Purpose of Transition Sentences Transition sentences are the unsung heroes of an organized essay. Effective transition sentences allow the audience to easily read the essay, moving smoothly from paragraph to paragraph. The uninterrupted flow between paragraphs enables the audience to stay engaged with the essay from introduction to conclusion. Effective transition sentences between paragraphs connect the main idea of one paragraph to the main idea of the next, showing how the ideas relate to each other. In addition, transition sentences introduce the topic sentence of each paragraph, which prepares the audience for the next idea that supports the thesis statement. Writers often shift the audience from one paragraph to the next with clear, but obvious, transition words, for example: first, second, third, next, in addition, also, although, on the other hand, or finally. While these transition words signal a change between supporting paragraphs, these words alone cannot adequately connect the ideas of paragraphs together to create a cohesive essay in which all paragraphs work together to support the thesis statement. Writers can learn how to craft subtle transition sentences that move the audience from paragraph to paragraph and connect the main ideas from the paragraphs together; however, this is best done once a draft of the essay has been written. A transition should prepare the reader for what is to come next in the essay, but a writer will often not have a clear idea of the topic of the paragraph that the transition sentence is transitioning into until the paragraph is actually drafted. Therefore, the body paragraphs must be developed and organized in order to create effective transition sentences between paragraphs. Drafting the essay first also allows the writer to choose the most effective location for a transition sentence, which can be placed at either the end of one paragraph or at the beginning of the next paragraph. Therefore, it is important for writers to allow time at the end of the writing process to develop transition sentences that unite the individual body paragraphs into a cohesive essay. Step Two: Identifying Paragraph Topics Read through either your own essay or the sample essay attached to this DLA, Rescue Dogs: The Best Option by Danielle Smith. Then number each paragraph. In each paragraph, underline the sentence that reveals the topic of the paragraph. On the lines below, write a short summary approximately five words long of each paragraph.
Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 1: Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 2: Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 3: Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 4: Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 5: Brief Summary of Body Paragraph 6: Was it difficult to identify and summarize the topic of each body paragraph? Explain why or why not. Step Three: Developing Transition Sentences Now that you have identified the topic of each paragraph, you can develop the type of transition sentences that connect the ideas from one paragraph to the ideas in the next paragraph. In this section of the DLA, you will refer to the summaries you wrote for each paragraph in Step Two and develop sentences that links the idea from one paragraph to the idea in the next paragraph. For example, look at the topic of Body Paragraph 1 and the topic of Body Paragraph 2, then develop a sentence that relates the topic from Paragraph 1 to the topic from Paragraph 2. The sentence should show how the ideas connect to each other. The sentence can also provide the audience with information about the organization of the essay. For example, the transition sentence can show the audience a shift in time, process, classification, division, or argument. You can use the transition words and phrases listed in the word bank to help you develop the
transition sentences. Transition words can be used at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence to link the two paragraph ideas together. Addition Argument Cause and Effect Comparison Contrast Description Narration Process Time Transition Word Bank and, too, also, in addition, further, furthermore, moreover, besides to be sure, granted, of course, on the contrary, certainly, consequently, with the exception of, although, even though, naturally, despite, even so, however, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, nonetheless, of course, since, therefore, thus therefore, consequently, thus, accordingly, as a result, hence, then, so similarly, likewise, by comparison but, however, in contrast, on the contrary, on the other hand, yet, nevertheless, after all, in spite of above, behind, below, between, beyond, inside, nearby, next to, on the other side, outside, the next, under, elsewhere, farther on, around after, as, as soon as, before, by this time, earlier, eventually, finally, immediately, in time, later, later on, meanwhile, next, now, soon, suddenly, then, when, while after that, as soon as, at the same time, at this point, before, meanwhile, once, when, then, while afterward, later, earlier, subsequently, at the same time, simultaneously, immediately, this time, until now, before, meanwhile, shortly, soon, currently, when, lately, in the meantime, formerly Transition Sentence Between Body Paragraph 1 and Body Paragraph 2: Should this transition sentence be placed at the end of Paragraph 1 or the beginning of Paragraph 2? Why? Transition Sentence Between Body Paragraph 2 and Body Paragraph 3:
Should this transition sentence be placed at the end of Paragraph 2 or the beginning of Paragraph 3? Why? Transition Sentence Between Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4: Should this transition sentence be placed at the end of Paragraph 3 or the beginning of Paragraph 4? Why? Transition Sentence Between Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5: Should this transition sentence be placed at the end of Paragraph 4 or the beginning of Paragraph 5? Why? Transition Sentence Between Paragraph 5 and Paragraph 6:
Should this transition sentence be placed at the end of Paragraph 5 or the beginning of Paragraph 6? Why? Was it difficult to develop transition sentences that link the ideas from two separate paragraphs? Explain why or why not. Step Four: Checking for Effectiveness of Transition Sentences Now that you have developed transition sentences between paragraphs, it is time to check to see how effective the transition sentences are in seamlessly moving the audience from paragraph to paragraph. On your essay or the sample essay, write the transition sentences that you developed between the paragraphs. Read the essay aloud to see how the transition sentences function in connecting ideas, creating a unified essay, and helping the audience read through the essay from introduction to conclusion without stopping. How did the transition sentences improve your ability to read through the essay? Step Five: Transitioning into Practical Application How will you incorporate this new skill into your writing process?
W005.1 Essay Essentials 5: Transitioning in Essays PRINT STUDENT NAME STUDENT # Tutor Feedback: In Step Two, the student summarized the main ideas of paragraphs. In Step Three, the student developed transition sentences that linked the main ideas from each paragraph. In Step Four, the sentences the student placed between paragraphs unified the essay. The student can explain the purpose of using transition sentences in essays. Additional Comments: PRINT INSTRUCTOR/TUTOR NAME DATE INSTRUCTOR/TUTOR SIGNATURE STUDENT DO NOT FORGET TO TURN THIS SHEET IN AT THE FRONT DESK! You may not get credit for completing this DLA if you fail to leave this sheet with the front desk receptionist.