Video Transcripts:

Academic Paragraphs: Types of Transitions Part 1: Transitions Between Paragraphs

Audio: Guitar music.

Visual: The video’s title is displayed on a background image of a table with a computer, notebook, and phone. The screen opens to the following slides: Transitions Within and Between Paragraphs

Transitions create flow between your ideas, leading your reader from one idea to the next.

Audio: Transitions are an important way to show the connection between our ideas and create flow in our writing because they help lead your reader through your ideas. We writers often see the connection between our ideas easily because we wrote them. But readers sometimes need help to see the connection between ideas like we do.

 

Visual: The following is added to the slide:

Between Paragraphs [picture of hands holding a paper map]

• Connect main points
• Explicit or implicit

Within Paragraphs [picture of street signs]

• Connect ideas
• Explicit or implicit

Audio: There are two levels of transitions: transitions within paragraphs and transitions between paragraphs.

You can think about these in terms of giving directions. Transitions between paragraphs are like high-level directions, the kind I get before I start driving to tell me the general direction I need to go, like the highway I should get on. Transitions within paragraphs are then like the directions that I get once I’m actually driving to my destination, telling me the exact street to turn down and the exit to take. Both kinds of directions—and transitions--are important, but they’re at different levels.

We’re going to focus on transitions between paragraphs in this video. Be sure to see Part 2 of this series to learn about transitions within paragraphs.

 

Visual: Slide changes to the following: Transitions Between Paragraphs

Showing the relationship between two or more paragraphs

• Implicit
• Explicit

Implicit Transition:

…Jones (2009) confirmed that the many CEOs have no future plans to offer health benefits to their part-time employees.

                  Government officials are tackling the issue of health care for part-time employees in other ways. For example…

 

Audio: Transitions between paragraphs are meant to connect your main points within your paper and can be either explicit or implicit.

Implicit transitions between paragraphs are most common. This is where your paragraphs naturally flow because the topics of the paragraphs are clearly related. In this example, the first paragraph discusses the benefit plans companies give for their part-time employees, while the second paragraph discusses how government officials want to provide benefit plans to part-time employees. These two ideas are clearly related, with the connection being benefit plans for part-time employees. So an explicit transition isn’t necessary because the connection is implied. We can also see the repetition of the key word “part-time employees”, which helps to form this implicit transition.

For the most part, you’ll be using implicit transitions in your writing. This is particularly true if your paragraphs’ ideas smoothly and clearly lead from one to the next.

 

Visual: The implicit example is replaced with the following implicit example:

Explicit Transition:

…Jones (2009) confirmed that the many CEOs have no future plans to offer health benefits to their part-time employees.

                  Although part-time employees may have difficulty getting benefits, government officials are tackling the issue of health care in other ways. For example…

 

Audio: However, sometimes you might want to use explicit transitions between paragraphs. To do so, you’ll add some sort of reference back to the previous paragraph in the next paragraph, as we see here. Note that explicit transitions between paragraphs don’t usually appear at the end of a paragraph, but appear at the start of the next paragraph, like in this example.

This is our same paragraph, so the first paragraph talks about the benefit plans companies give for their part-time employees, and then for the next paragraph about how government officials want to provide benefit plans to part-time employees, I’ve added the phrase “Although part-time employees may have difficulty getting benefits,” and then I continue with my topic sentence introducing the new focus of this new paragraph. This added phrase refers back to the previous paragraph, but then helps move us on to the main point of this new paragraph.

 

Visual: The example paragraph is replaced with the following on the slide:

Use transitions effectively and appropriately

Ask yourself:

• Did I use enough transitions to show the relationships between the ideas of my paragraphs?
• Did I use my transitions between paragraphs effectively and appropriately?

Audio: Strong writers use both implicit and explicit transitions between paragraphs throughout their papers. When doing so, be mindful to use transitions between paragraphs effectively and appropriately. Effectively using transitions means avoiding too much repetition or including transitions when they aren’t necessary; appropriately using transitions means using the right transition to communicate the right relationship between ideas.

Now that you know about implicit and explicit transitions between paragraphs, analyze a piece of your past writing. Try underlining the implicit and explicit transitions between your paragraphs, asking yourself: Did I use enough transitions to show the relationships between the ideas my paragraphs? Did I use my transitions between paragraphs effectively and appropriately? Analyzing your past writing will help you see how you can make adjustments in future writing.

 

Visual: The screen changes to end with the words “Walden University Writing Center” and “Questions? E-mail writingsupport@mail.waldenu.edu.”