English 104: College Composition

Writing strong transitions and transitional statements is imperative to give the reader the proper instructions for reading your work. Doing this well will allow your piece to be read with ease.

Transition Or A Transitional Statement

What is a transition or a transitional statement? According to Merriam-Webster, a transition is 'a passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another' - a change. When it comes to writing,transitions and transitional statements alert the reader to a change that is about to happen in the piece. They let the reader know the author has finished one thought and is moving on to another.

A great way to think about transition statements is imagining someone giving you directions to a location. You open up the paper and read in horror as you are informed to:

1. Start driving down Main Street.

2. Turn on to 2nd Street.

3. Come to a light at Bridge Street and drive four blocks.

4. The address is 404 Daisy Avenue - you will see it immediately on the side. You can't miss it!

Wow, there are a few things missing here! Which way do I go on Main Street? Which way do I turn on 2nd Street? What does the light at Bridge Street have to do with anything and how the heck did I get on Daisy Avenue?

Why Do We Use Transition Statements?

As you can see from our example, transition statements fill the pertinent information into the blanks to let us know that first, a change is coming and second, how we need to adjust to that change.

In our example, we could have gotten off to a really good start by being told to '1. First get started by driving east down Main Street.' This is an example of an introductory transition statement. It lets us know that we are starting, and that we should also stay tuned because more information and instructions will follow.

It is important to remember if you use a transition statement like 'first' or 'to begin with', you should have additional points you will be following up with as well. Those follow-up transition statements will likely be things such as 'next' or 'secondly' or even 'now that we have discussed X, let's move on to Y'.

There are several types of transitional statements. Transitional statements can be used to add new information, to compare, to prove, to show exception, to emphasize and even to show sequence. The types of transitional statements you use should be guided by your writing.

Where Should Transitions Appear?

Transition statements should appear in your introduction, before each main point and at the beginning of your conclusion. Remember, the transition statements are those guides in the writing to help the reader ensure they are going in the right direction.

If you are ever uncertain about when to use a transition statement, just ask yourself these five questions:

1. Have I told the reader exactly where we are going in this piece? If you haven't yet done this in your introduction, utilize a transition statement such as, 'In this piece we are going to cover the following...' or 'This essay addresses five key factors which are...' - just make sure it alerts the reader to exactly what your piece is going to be covering. Some examples of transition statements found in your introduction can also be:

1. 'We will be covering in this piece'
2. 'This piece will explore'
3. 'The focus will be'

2. Am I about to begin my first main point? It's important for the reader to know exactly when they are getting to the heart of your piece. The reader should be alerted with this transition statement if there is going to be just one or several main points that are going to be covered. Some examples of introducing main point transition statements are:

1. 'First'
2. 'To begin'
3. 'To start with'

3. Am I starting a new main point? The reader should be given advance notice when you are changing gears or when information they are reading is about to cover a new part of your topic. A paragraph break is not enough to alert people of a focus change. A transition statement is needed. Some examples of transition statements between main points are:

1. Second (or third, fourth, etc.)
2. In addition
3. By comparison

4. Am I about to write something the reader needs to pay particular attention to? This could be a place in which you are trying to emphasize a particular point, show an exception to the information you have given, compare points that have already been mentioned or prove a point you are making. Some transitional statements that might be utilized in this instance are:

1. By comparison
2. Sometimes
3. As noted
4. As an illustration of

5. Am I ready to wrap up and end my piece? It's really important to let your readers know when the ride is coming to an end. They should be alerted to when it's time to think about wrapping their head around the entire piece as a whole. It is also important to let them know they have reached the point in your piece when you will be simply reiterating your main points rather than giving them new information. You might use something like:

1. In conclusion
2. As I have shown
3. As a result

Lesson Summary

To wrap it up, remember, transitions and transitional statements are an important part of your writing. They are the directional markers for your reader to understand where they are in your piece, where they are going, and when they should be switching gears. They help bring the entire piece together and create the proper flow for your writing. A piece without appropriate transition statements can seem choppy, be hard to follow and be as frustrating to read as trying to follow directions where someone informs you to turn - but doesn't tell you if you are turning left or right.

Transition statements let the reader know when a change is coming and how they should prepare for that change. Remember, you are the one responsible to the reader for the proper way to navigate your piece - make sure to write great directions by utilizing transitions and transitional statements.