Last update 11/13/2017
Video Length: 3:49
Visual: Walden logo at bottom of screen along with notepad and pencil background.
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.
Between Paragraphs [picture of hands holding a paper map]
Within Paragraphs [picture of street signs]
Audio: As we discussed in Part 1 of this series about types of transitions, transitions are an important way to show the connection between our ideas and create flow in our writing. If you haven’t watched Part 1 of this video series yet, we encourage you to do so for an overview of both kinds of transitions and their importance.
We’re going to focus on transitions within paragraphs in this video.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Transitions Within Paragraphs
Showing the relationship between two or more paragraphs
Without transitions, readers can get lost and the relationship and importance of your ideas can be missed.
Audio: Transitions within paragraphs are meant to connect your ideas within a paragraph itself, showing the relationship between ideas within the paragraph. These transitions can also be either explicit or implicit.
Transitions in paragraphs are important because without them, readers can get lost—they may not understand how your ideas relate to one another or their importance. If that happens, your ideas and argument will be less effective, so as authors, it’s in our best interest to create clear transitions.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Implicit Transitions
Researchers have studied and presented the relevant literature about teacher professional development in many ways. However, at the core of such endeavors is always the understanding that professional development is about teachers learning, learning how to learn, and using their knowledge for the benefit of their students. All of this occurs in particular educational policy environments or school cultures, some of which are more appropriate and conducive to learning than others. The instruments used to trigger development also depend on the objectives and needs of teachers as well as those of their students; thus, formal structures such as courses and workshops may serve some purposes, while involvement in the production of curricula, the discussion of assessment data, or the sharing of strategies may serve other purposes. Not every form of professional development, even those with the greatest evidence of positive impact, is relevant to all teachers. There is thus a constant need to study, experiment, discuss, and reflect in dealing with teacher professional development.
repetition of key words • implicit phrases • sentence structure
Audio: Let’s first look at implicit transitions. In this paragraph about teacher professional development, we can see three kinds of transitions: repetition of key words, implicit phrases, and sentence structure.
Let’s first look at the repetition of key words. These are bolded in the paragraph, and we can see how the writer repeated the phrases “teacher professional development” and “learning” throughout the paragraph. Repeating these phrases is key because it helps remind the reader the focus of these ideas and that they are all connected.
Next, let’s look at the implicit phrases. These are italicized in the paragraph, and these implicit phrases help connect ideas as well. These implicit phrases could be explicit transitions if they were used at the start of sentences, but because these phrases are used in the middle of the sentence, they are more subtle in how they connect ideas and show relationships.
Finally, let’s look at how sentence structure can create implicit transitions. We have just one example of this in the paragraph, which is where we see the semicolon. A semicolon is used in place of a period to connect complete sentences. The difference is that a semicolon indicates the two complete sentences have a related idea or their ideas are a continuation of one another, so this also creates an implicit transition.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Explicit Transitions
Causation • Concession
Audio: Now that we know about implicit transitions, let’s look at explicit transitions. These are the types of transitions you may be most familiar with—these are words like “however” or “additionally” that start a sentence.
In this paragraph, we have two transitions, “however” and “thus”, which is used twice. These transitions show both causation and concession, helping to show the reader explicitly the relationship between these ideas in the paragraph.
Visual: Transitions Within Paragraphs
Use transitions effectively and appropriately
Ask yourself:
Audio: Within paragraphs, strong writers often use both implicit and explicit transitions. Beyond using both types of transitions, also be mindful to use transitions within 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. Be sure to view our video Appropriately Using Explicit Transitions for more information in this area.
Now that you know about implicit and explicit transitions within paragraphs, analyze a piece of your past writing. Try underlining the implicit and explicit transitions, asking yourself: Did I use enough transitions to show the relationship between the ideas in this paragraph? Did I use my transitions 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.”
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