Introduction
Imagine that you have walked into a party and you don’t know anyone. You want to strike up a conversation with someone, but you don’t quite know how. You might walk up to someone and introduce yourself, ask how they know the hosts, complement their shirt, or otherwise engage in polite conversation. The topic you introduce will provide a main idea and guide the discussion you and the other guest have until one of you changes the topic. Like introducing a topic of conversation at a party, topic sentences in your paper introduce the main idea of a paragraph. Topic sentences provide focus for your paragraph by telling your reader what the paragraph is going to be about.
But what about when it’s time to shift focus and develop a new idea that is relevant to the current conversation? Then you’ll want to help your reader transition into this new idea with you. Creating effective transitions in writing is often called “signposting” because just like signs alongside the road that help you prepare for conditions ahead, transitions help your reader prepare for the new ideas your essay engages with to support your thesis statement.
Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences and Signposting
Topic sentences and signposts make an essay’s claims clear to a reader. Good essays contain both. Topic sentences reveal the main point of a paragraph. They show the relationship of each paragraph to the essay’s thesis, telegraph the point of a paragraph, and tell your reader what to expect in the paragraph that follows. Topic sentences also establish their relevance right away, making clear why the points they’re making are important to the essay’s main ideas. They argue rather than report. Signposts, as their name suggests, prepare the reader for a change in the argument’s direction. They show how far the essay’s argument has progressed vis-ˆ-vis the claims of the thesis.
Topic sentences and signposts occupy a middle ground in the writing process. They are neither the first thing a writer needs to address (thesis and the broad strokes of an essay’s structure are); nor are they the last (that’s when you attend to sentence-level editing and polishing). Topic sentences and signposts deliver an essay’s structure and meaning to a reader, so they are useful diagnostic tools to the writer—they let you know if your thesis is arguable—and essential guides to the reader
Forms of Topic Sentences
Sometimes topic sentences are actually two or even three sentences long. If the first makes a claim, the second might reflect on that claim, explaining it further. Think of these sentences as asking and answering two critical questions: How does the phenomenon you’re discussing operate? Why does it operate as it does?
There’s no set formula for writing a topic sentence. Rather, you should work to vary the form your topic sentences take. Repeated too often, any method grows wearisome. Here are a few approaches.
Complex sentences. Topic sentences at the beginning of a paragraph frequently combine with a transition from the previous paragraph. This might be done by writing a sentence that contains both subordinate and independent clauses, as in the example below.
Although Young Woman with a Water Pitcher depicts an unknown, middle-class woman at an ordinary task, the image is more than “realistic”; the painter [Vermeer] has imposed his own order upon it to strengthen it.
This sentence employs a useful principle of transitions: always move from old to new information. The subordinate clause (from “although” to “task”) recaps information from previous paragraphs; the independent clauses (starting with “the image” and “the painter”) introduce the new information—a claim about how the image works (“more than Ôrealistic'”) and why it works as it does (Vermeer “strengthens” the image by “imposing order”).
Questions. Questions, sometimes in pairs, also make good topic sentences (and signposts). Consider the following: “Does the promise of stability justify this unchanging hierarchy?” We may fairly assume that the paragraph or section that follows will answer the question. Questions are by definition a form of inquiry, and thus demand an answer. Good essays strive for this forward momentum.
Bridge sentences. Like questions, “bridge sentences” (the term is John Trimble’s) make an excellent substitute for more formal topic sentences. Bridge sentences indicate both what came before and what comes next (they “bridge” paragraphs) without the formal trappings of multiple clauses: “But there is a clue to this puzzle.”
Pivots. Topic sentences don’t always appear at the beginning of a paragraph. When they come in the middle, they indicate that the paragraph will change direction, or “pivot.” This strategy is particularly useful for dealing with counter-evidence: a paragraph starts out conceding a point or stating a fact (“Psychologist Sharon Hymer uses the term Ônarcissistic friendship’ to describe the early stage of a friendship like the one between Celie and Shug”); after following up on this initial statement with evidence, it then reverses direction and establishes a claim (“Yet … this narcissistic stage of Celie and Shug’s relationship is merely a transitory one. Hymer herself concedes . . . “). The pivot always needs a signal, a word like “but,” “yet,” or “however,” or a longer phrase or sentence that indicates an about-face. It often needs more than one sentence to make its point.
Harvard College Writing Center: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/topic-sentences-and-signposting
Transitions
Transitional Words and Phrases
Types of Transitions
Now that you have a general idea of how to go about developing effective transitions in your writing, let us briefly discuss the types of transitions your writing will use.
The types of transitions available to you are as diverse as the circumstances in which you need to use them. A transition can be a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or an entire paragraph. In each case, it functions the same way: First, the transition either directly summarizes the content of a preceding sentence, paragraph, or section or implies such a summary (by reminding the reader of what has come before). Then, it helps the reader anticipate or comprehend the new information that you wish to present.
- Transitions between sections: Particularly in longer works, it may be necessary to include transitional paragraphs that summarize for the reader the information just covered and specify the relevance of this information to the discussion in the following section.
- Transitions between paragraphs: If you have done a good job of arranging paragraphs so that the content of one leads logically to the next, the transition will highlight a relationship that already exists by summarizing the previous paragraph and suggesting something of the content of the paragraph that follows. A transition between paragraphs can be a word or two (however, for example, similarly), a phrase, or a sentence. Transitions can be at the end of the first paragraph, at the beginning of the second paragraph, or in both places.
- Transitions within paragraphs: As with transitions between sections and paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as cues by helping readers to anticipate what is coming before they read it. Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single words or short phrases.
Transitional Expressions
Effectively constructing each transition often depends upon your ability to identify words or phrases that will indicate for the reader the kind of logical relationships you want to convey. The table below should make it easier for you to find these words or phrases. Whenever you have trouble finding a word, phrase, or sentence to serve as an effective transition, refer to the information in the table for assistance. Look in the left column of the table for the kind of logical relationship you are trying to express. Then look in the right column of the table for examples of words or phrases that express this logical relationship.
Keep in mind that each of these words or phrases may have a slightly different meaning. Consult a dictionary or writer’s handbook if you are unsure of the exact meaning of a word or phrase.
| LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP | TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSION |
| Similarity | also, in the same way, just as … so too, likewise, similarly |
| Exception/Contrast | but, however, in spite of, on the one hand … on the other hand, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, in contrast, on the contrary, still, yet |
| Sequence/Order | first, second, third, … next, then, finally |
| Time | after, afterward, at last, before, currently, during, earlier, immediately, later, meanwhile, now, recently, simultaneously, subsequently, then |
| Example | for example, for instance, namely, specifically, to illustrate |
| Emphasis | even, indeed, in fact, of course, truly |
| Place/Position | above, adjacent, below, beyond, here, in front, in back, nearby, there |
| Cause and Effect | accordingly, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus |
| Additional Support or Evidence | additionally, again, also, and, as well, besides, equally important, further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, then |
| Conclusion/Summary | finally, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, in the end, in the final analysis, on the whole, thus, to conclude, to summarize, in sum, to sum up, in summary |
Transitional Words and Phrases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_s1bgu_4Ec
The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/transitions/
Summary
Topic sentences and transitions often go hand in hand, because both help your reader to better follow your ideas in writing. Topic sentences provide meaning in your writing, while transitions provide structure. Both of these make your essay easy for your audience to read and understand.
Topic sentences are usually the first sentence of a new paragraph and introduce the focus of that paragraph, telling your reader how the information you discuss in that paragraph supports your thesis statement.
Transitions are the words and phrases that help your reader to understand how two ideas are connected, helping your reader follow your ideas better. Different kinds of transitional words or phrases establish kinds of relationships between ideas and should be carefully selected to convey the meaning you intend.
Strong transitions and clear topic sentences that support your thesis help to make your writing smooth and easy to read. They also help you to craft a clear and concise essay in which every paragraph supports your thesis statement.
