Guidelines and Suggestions for Writing Transitions

Transitions are the glue that holds a paper together. These cohesive allies are needed when a paper “does not flow,” is “choppy,” or seems unrelated to the thesis of their parent essay. Transitions can be simple, such as the following: moreover, therefore, nevertheless, despite, consequently, instead, also. However (that’s another transition), it is better to use transitional phrases, rather than transitional words, to improve the clarity of your writing, emphasize your thesis, and keep you focused throughout your paper. Explicit transitional phrases state the link between ideas A and B. Example: End of paragraph one: “Jill is to blame for all of Jack’s troubles.” Beginning of paragraph two: “Jill is not an evil character.” The relationship between these two ideas is not clearly presented. Shown below are two possible ways to fix that using transitional phrases: