In Chapter 4, you’ll learn how writers tie their ideas together. You’ll also learn
about two kinds of relationships between ideas: addition and time.
Here are two items. Which one do you think is easier to read and understand?
1. Most people choose a partner who is about as attractive as themselves. Personality and
intelligence affect their choice.
2. Most people choose a partner who is about as attractive as themselves. Moreover, personality
and intelligence affect their choice.
You probably figured out that the second item is easier to understand. The word moreover,
which means also, shows that the writer is adding two more qualities that people look
for in romantic partners.
Moreover and words like it are called “transitions.” Transitions are words that show the connections
between ideas. They’re like bridges that carry the reader from one idea to the next.
One way that writers show relationships between ideas is with addition words. Addition words
show that a writer is presenting one or more ideas that continue along the same lines of
thought as a previous idea. Look at this cartoon:
Notice that the white bird gives two reasons for not wanting to marry Henry. First of all,
he’s too tall for her. The words “in addition” introduce a second reason: she doesn’t like
pink.
Here are some more words that writers use to signal they are adding ideas:
one first
or first of all second
or secondly third
or thirdly
to begin with for one thing
other another
also in addition
next moreover
further furthermore
last or last of all
final or finally
Addition words are used in a pattern of organization called the list of items pattern. In this
pattern, each of the major supporting details is introduced by an addition word.
Here’s a paragraph that is organized according to the list of items pattern. See if you can
pick out the three details that support the main point by looking for the addition words
that introduce each detail:
Nearly half of the six billion people in the world experience one of three degrees of poverty.
First is extreme poverty, defined by the World Bank as getting by on an income of less than
$1 a day, which means that households cannot meet such basic needs for survival as food,
clothing, and shelter. Next is moderate poverty, defined as living on $1 to $2 a day, which
refers to conditions in which basic needs are met, but just barely. Last, relative poverty,
defined by a household income level below a given proportion of the national average,
means lacking things that the middle class now takes for granted.
The paragraph begins with the main idea: “Nearly half of the six billion people in the world
experience one of three degrees of poverty.” The next three sentences go on to describe
the three degrees of poverty. The transitions First, Next, and Last each introduce one of
the kinds of poverty.
A second way that writers show relationships between ideas is with time words. Time words
tell us at what point something happened in relation to when something else happened.
They help writers organize and make clear the order of events, stages, and steps in
a process.
Look at this cartoon.
Notice that the man describes four events in the story. The words first, next, finally,
and then tell us when each of the events happened.
Here are some other common words that show time:
before previously
first or first of all
second or secondly
now later
after following
when while
during as
or as soon as
until often
eventually last
or last of all
A writer will also sometimes show time by using phrases such as In 1991 or other time
references such as Within a week.
Authors usually present events and processes in the order in which they happen, resulting
in a pattern of organization known as time order. Each event or step is introduced by
a time word.
Here’s a paragraph that is organized according to time order. See if you can pick out the
time words that signal when each stage took place:
The first books in the United States were imports, brought by the new settlers. Then,
in 1638, a press in Cambridge, Massachusetts printed a book of psalms that became an instant
bestseller. During the years that followed, booksellers emerged in the Boston area, and
by 1685 the leading bookseller offered over three thousand books. Eventually, in 1731,
Benjamin Franklin asked fifty subscribers to help him start America’s first circulating
library.
The paragraph describes the stages by which books became common in the new colonies in
America. Each stage is signaled by one or more time words: first; Then, in 1638; During;
by 1685; Eventually, in 1731.
To summarize, writers use transitions and patterns of organization to make their ideas
clear. Two common patterns of organization are the list of items pattern and the time
order pattern.
When authors use addition relationships, they present a list or series of reasons, examples,
or other details that support an idea. The items have no time order, but are listed in
whatever order the author prefers.
When authors discuss a series of events or steps, they usually present them in the order
in which they happen. This results in a time order.