How to Write a Good Transition Sentence a la Shmoop.
You can't go from the highway to... anywhere else... without an exit ramp.
You can't get from one classroom to another without going down a hallway.
And you can't go from one point to another in an essay without a transition.
So how do you write good transition sentences? Transition sentences exist to guide your reader
from one idea to the next. You don't want to jump from talking about
Violet Beauregard to talking about serial killers without some sort of tradition.
Unless your reader really hates Willy Wonka, or blueberries, they are not going to follow
that logic. If an essay represents your train of thought,
each of the paragraphs are different cars on this train.
They need to be hooked together by a strong transition, or one of them is going to jump
the tracks. And if that's the dining car, it's going to
make a huge mess. Think of the feedback you've received from
your teacher and peers. If they've called your work choppy or disjointed
or hard to follow, you might just need a few good transitions to get your essays back on
track. The first thing to try is to simply use transition
words such as next and however to link your paragraphs together.
Your transition sentence can come at the end of a paragraph, or at the beginning of the
next one. Experiment with both and see where it feels
right. If your ideas are similar, you can link them
together with phrases like "also," "likewise," or "in the same way."
In much the same way... but a little different... sometimes you need to contrast things.
When contrasting, you can use linking words and phrases like but, yet, nevertheless, and
however. However... hey, look what we just did... if
you're listing things, like detailed characteristics of the different cars in a descriptive essay
about trains, transitions come in handy, too. Here are a few good transitions to use when
providing additional support to your thesis: additionally, also, in addition, and furthermore.
Furthermore, there are times when you need to emphasize a point. Perhaps right before
you go into your kick-butt closing paragraph. Good, emphatic transitions include indeed,
in fact, truly, and, of course, of course. Of course... whoa, did it again...
There is no set way to transition between paragraphs. Sometimes all you need is a next or a however.
Sometimes you can compare with words like also and likewise.
Or contrast with words like but and nevertheless. Or emphasize your point with indeed, in fact, and of course.
Finally...that's a good transition word, too... ...never underestimate the power of a well-placed
and. Sometimes the small words are the best...
...especially when you're trying to stop a runaway train.