DEVELOPING COHESION AND CLARITYMarch 20th 2012

(pp.9 – 15)

Transitions and connectors

• Used to indicate relationships between ideas.

• Can be used within sentences• Chocolate ice cream tastes good, but vanilla ice cream is

better.

• Can be used between sentences• One advantage of regular exercise is better health. On the

other hand, it requires a lot of work and commitment.

Transitions and connectors

• Indicate relationships between ideas.

• Think of these as “road signs” for your readers.

• Without road signs, finding your way can be difficult.

Transitions and connectors• Writing without transitions or connectors:

• Paragraph or essay =

Transitions and connectors• With “signs”, things become much clearer:

Transitions and connectors

Transitions and connectors

• There are clearly MANY of these words.

• We will look at them over the course of this semester.

Transitions and connectors

• Giving reasons with because, so, and therefore.

• These words indicate cause or result.

because• Indicates a cause or reason.

• e.g.,

• Baskin Robbins is a popular ice cream shop because they have so many flavors.

• Because snakes are so cute, many people have them as pets.

Notice if because starts the sentence, there is a comma between the dependent clause and the independent clause.

so and therefore• Indicate effect or result.

• e.g.,

• Learning how to write is very fun, so all students take a writing class.

• Learning how to write is very fun; therefore, all students take a writing class.

• Learning how to write is very fun. Therefore, all students take a writing class.

in addition and also• Connect similar ideas.

• e.g.,

• Vanilla ice cream tastes great. In addition, it is cheaper than other flavors.

• In addition to being cheaper, vanilla ice cream tastes better than other flavors of ice cream.

Notice ‘in addition’ is always followed by a comma.

in addition and also• Connect similar ideas.

• e.g.,

• Large stores also offer better discounts than small shops.

• Also, large stores offer better discounts than small shops.

• Large stores can also offer better discounts than small shops.

Notice also is followed by a comma if it begins the sentence.

first of all and finally• Connect ideas when listing several points (“listing cues”).

• There are several reasons that chocolate ice cream is sold more

than other flavors. First of all, people tend to think it has the best

taste. Also, it is the most common flavor available. Finally,

chocolate ice cream is cheaper to make than other kinds of ice

cream.

Notice both of these start a sentence, and both are followed by a comma.

Making general statements

• Use verbs in the simple present tense (People like ice cream.).

• Subjects are PLURAL and do not have articles (a, an, the).• Avoids awkwardness.

• All students must leave their families.• A student must leave his or her family.

Making general statements

• Use simple present verbs.• All male students do military service eventually.

• Add ‘-s’ to verbs with third-person singular subjects (he, she, it).• When a male reaches a certain age, he does his military service.

• Countable nouns should be plural with no article.• Birds fly south in the winter.

• Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents.• Every student must leave their family. (student = singular, their = plural)

Every student must leave his or her family.

Making general statements• NOTE: Avoid overgeneralizations! (p.14)

• Try not to use ‘always’ or ‘never’

• ‘NEVER’ Instead:• ‘hardly ever’, ‘rarely’, ‘almost never’

• People never eat ice cream in the morning.• VS

• People hardly ever eat ice cream in the morning.

Making general statements• NOTE: Avoid overgeneralizations! (p.14)

• Try not to use ‘always’ or ‘never’

• ‘ALWAYS’ Instead:• ‘usually’, ‘often’, ‘almost always’

• Students always finish their writing assignments early.• VS

• Students usually finish their writing assignments early.