COHERENCE:

TRANSITIONS
BETWEEN IDEAS
THE MOST CONVINCING IDEAS IN THE WORLD, expressed in the most be!ti"!# senten$es,
%i## mo&e no one !n#ess those ides re proper#' $onne$ted( )n#ess reders $n mo&e esi#'
"rom one tho!*ht to nother, the' %i## s!re#' "ind somethin* e#se to red or t!rn on the
te#e&ision(
+ro&idin* trnsitions bet%een ides is #r*e#' mtter o" ttit!de( ,o! m!st ne&er ss!me
tht 'o!r reders -no% %ht 'o! -no%( In "$t, it.s *ood ide to ss!me not on#' tht 'o!r
reders need ## the in"ormtion tht 'o! h&e nd need to -no% ho% 'o! rri&ed t the point
'o!.re t, b!t #so tht the' re not /!ite s /!i$- s 'o! re( ,o! mi*ht be b#e to #ep "rom one
side o" the strem to the other0 be#ie&e tht 'o!r reders need some steppin* stones nd be s!re to
p#$e them in redi#' $$essib#e nd &isib#e spots(
There re "o!r bsi$ me$hni$# $onsidertions in pro&idin* trnsitions bet%een ides1
!sin* trnsition# expressions, repetin* -e' %ords nd phrses, !sin* prono!n re"eren$e, nd
!sin* pr##e# "orm(
USING TRANSITIONAL TAGS
Transitional tags run the gamut from the most simple the little conjunctions: and,
but, nor, for, yet, or, (and sometimes) so to more complex signals that ideas are somehow
connected the conjunctive adverbs and transitional expressions such as however,
moreover, nevertheless, on the other hand.
The use of the little conjunctions especially and and but comes naturally for most
writers. However the !uestion whether one can begin a sentence with a small conjunction
often arises. "sn#t the conjunction at the beginning of the sentence a sign that the sentence
should have been connected to the prior sentence$ %ell sometimes yes. &ut often the
initial conjunction calls attention to the sentence in an effective way and that#s just what
you want. 'ver(used beginning a sentence with a conjunction can be distracting but the
device can add a refreshing dash to a sentence and speed the narrative flow of your text.
)estrictions against beginning a sentence with and or but are based on sha*y grammatical
foundations+ some of the most influential writers in the language have been happily
ignoring such restrictions for centuries.,
Here is a chart of the transitional devices (also called conjunctive adverbs or adverbial
conjunctions) accompanied with a simplified definition of function (note that some devices
appear with more than one definition):
addition
*in, #so, nd, nd then, besides, e/!##' importnt,
"in##', "irst, "!rther, "!rthermore, in ddition, in the
"irst p#$e, #st, moreo&er, next, se$ond, sti##, too
comparison #so, in the sme %', #i-e%ise, simi#r#'
concession *rnted, nt!r##', o" $o!rse
contrast
#tho!*h, nd 'et, t the sme time, b!t t the sme
time, despite tht, e&en so, e&en tho!*h, "or ## tht,
ho%e&er, in $ontrst, in spite o", insted, ne&erthe#ess,
not%ithstndin*, on the $ontrr', on the other hnd,
other%ise, re*rd#ess, sti##, tho!*h, 'et
emphasis $ertin#', indeed, in "$t, o" $o!rse
example or
illustration
"ter ##, s n i##!strtion, e&en, "or exmp#e, "or
instn$e, in $on$#!sion, indeed, in "$t, in other %ords,
in short, it is tr!e, o" $o!rse, nme#', spe$i"i$##', tht
is, to i##!strte, th!s, tr!#'
summary
## in ##, #to*ether, s hs been sid, "in##', in brie",
in $on$#!sion, in other %ords, in prti$!#r, in short, in
simp#er terms, in s!mmr', on the %ho#e, tht is,
there"ore, to p!t it di""erent#', to s!mmri2e
time se!uence
"ter %hi#e, "ter%rd, *in, #so, nd then, s #on*
s, t #st, t #en*th, t tht time, be"ore, besides,
er#ier, e&ent!##', "in##', "ormer#', "!rther,
"!rthermore, in ddition, in the "irst p#$e, in the pst,
#st, #te#', men%hi#e, moreo&er, next, no%, present#',
se$ond, short#', sim!#tneo!s#', sin$e, so "r, soon,
sti##, s!bse/!ent#', then, there"ter, too, !nti#, !nti# no%,
%hen
- word of caution: .o not interlard your text with transitional
expressions merely because you *now these devices connect ideas. They must
appear naturally where they belong or they#ll stic* li*e a fishbone in your
reader#s craw. (/or that same reason there is no point in trying to memorize this
vast list.) 'n the other hand if you can read your entire essay and discover none
of these transitional devices then you must wonder what if anything is holding your ideas
together. 0ractice by inserting a tentativehowever, nevertheless, consequently. )eread the
essay later to see if these words provide the glue you needed at those points.
Repetition of Key Words and !rases
The ability to connect ideas by means of repetition of *ey words and phrases
sometimes meets a natural resistance based on the fear of being repetitive. %e#ve been
trained to loathe redundancy. 1ow we must learn that catching a word or phrase that#s
important to a reader#s comprehension of a piece and replaying that word or phrase
creates a musical motif in that reader#s head. 2nless it is overwor*ed and obtrusive
repetition lends itself to a sense of coherence (or at least to the illusion of coherence).
)emember 3incoln#s advice:
"o# $an foo% so&e of t!e peop%e a%% of t!e ti&e' and a%% of t!e peop%e so&e of t!e ti&e'
(#t yo# $annot foo% a%% of t!e peop%e a%% of t!e ti&e)
"n fact you can#t forget 3incoln#s advice because it has become part of the music of
our language.
)emember to use this device to lin* paragraphs as well as sentences.
rono#n Referen$e
0ronouns !uite naturally connect ideas because pronouns almost always refer the
reader to something earlier in the text. " cannot say 4This is true because . . .4 without
causing the reader to consider what 4this4 could mean. Thus the pronoun causes the
reader to sum up !uic*ly and subconsciously what was said before (what this is) before
going on to the becausepart of my reasoning.
%e should hardly need to add however that it must always be perfectly clear what a
pronoun refers to. "f my reader cannot instantly *now what this is then my sentence is
ambiguous and misleading. -lso do not rely on unclear pronoun references to avoid
responsibility: 4They say that . . .4
ara%%e%is&
5usic in prose is often the result of parallelism the deliberate repetition of larger
structures of phrases even clauses and whole sentences. %e urge you to read the 6uide#s
section on 0arallelism and ta*e the accompanying !ui7 on recogni7ing parallel form (and
repairing sentences that ought to use parallel form but don#t). 0ay special attention to the
guided tour through the parallel intricacies within -braham 3incoln#s 6ettysburg -ddress.
Co!eren$e De*i$es in A$tion
In our section on writing the -rgumentative 8ssay, we have a complete student
essay ("Cry, Wolf" at the bottom of that document) which we have analyzed
in terms of argumentative development and in which we have paid special
attention to the connective devices holding ideas together
3oo* at the following paragraph:
T!e an$ient E+yptians ,ere &asters of preser*in+ dead peop%e-s (odies (y &a.in+
&#&&ies of t!e&) /#&&ies se*era% t!o#sand years o%d !a*e (een dis$o*ered near%y
inta$t) T!e s.in' !air' teet!' fin+ernai%s and toenai%s' and fa$ia% feat#res of t!e &#&&ies
,ere e*ident) It is possi(%e to dia+nose t!e disease t!ey s#ffered in %ife' s#$! as
s&a%%po0' art!ritis' and n#tritiona% defi$ien$ies) T!e pro$ess ,as re&ar.a(%y effe$ti*e)
So&eti&es apparent ,ere t!e fata% aff%i$tions of t!e dead peop%e: a &idd%e1a+ed .in+
died fro& a (%o, on t!e !ead' and po%io .i%%ed a $!i%d .in+) /#&&ifi$ation $onsisted of
re&o*in+ t!e interna% or+ans' app%yin+ nat#ra% preser*ati*es inside and o#t' and t!en
,rappin+ t!e (ody in %ayers of (anda+es)
Though wea* this paragraph is not a total washout. "t starts with a topic sentence
and the sentences that follow are clearly related to the topic sentence. "n the language of
writing the paragraph isunified (i.e. it contains no irrelevant details). However the
paragraph is not coherent. The sentences are disconnected from each other ma*ing it
difficult for the reader to follow the writer#s train of thought.
&elow is the same paragraph revised for coherence. Italics indicates pronouns and
repeated9restated *ey words bold indicates transitional tag(words
and underlining indicates parallel structures.
T!e an$ient E+yptians ,ere &asters of preser*in+ dead peop%e-s (odies (y making
mummies of t!e&) In s!ort' mummification $onsisted of re&o*in+ t!e interna% or+ans'
app%yin+ nat#ra% preser*ati*es inside and o#t' and t!en ,rappin+ t!e (ody in %ayers of
(anda+es) And the process ,as re&ar.a(%y effe$ti*e) Indeed' mummies se*era%
t!o#sand years o%d !a*e (een dis$o*ered near%y inta$t) Their s.in' !air' teet!' fin+ernai%s
and toenai%s' and fa$ia% feat#res are sti%% e*ident) Their diseases in %ife' s#$! as s&a%%po0'
art!ritis' and n#tritiona% defi$ien$ies' are sti%% dia+nosa(%e) E*en their fata%
aff%i$tions are sti%% apparent: a &idd%e1a+ed .in+ died fro& a (%o, on t!e !ead2 a $!i%d
.in+ died fro& po%io)
The paragraph is now much more coherent. The organi7ation of the information and
the lin*s between sentences help readers move easily from one sentence to the next. 1otice
how this writer uses a variety of coherence devices sometimes in combination to achieve
overall paragraph coherence.