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Transition sentences and sections are essential to presenting
a cohesive, well-organized term paper. Essentially transitions
move the paper skillfully from one section to another.
Let's look at a cheesey example about the way transitions work.
Pretend you are going on a trip through the Hawaiian islands.
Each island is distinct and has its own qualities. While the
journey to each island can be a very good experience, you still
have to get from one island to another. A bad trip from one island
to another can really hurt the entire vacation. Similarly, bad
transitions from one section to another can really hurt an entire
paper. But if those transitions are smooth, boy will you give
the reader a much more pleasant and enriching experience reading
your paper.
A student writing a research paper about how golf has expanded
to have a much greater diversity of participants had the following
two sections next to each other without any transition sentences:
Over the years the ladies PGA tour has had a significant increase
in prize money, growing to $30.2 million in 1997.
Today many counties have established a variety of public golf
courses that are open to everyone.
The absence of transition sentences give the reader the impression
that the student has just slapped into the computer whatever
notes he (in this case the student is a "he") has without
putting the necessary thought behind his writing to present a
meaningful discussion. Below is the way he revised the section
to present a more cohesive and thoughtful commentary (to better
understand the context of the transition, the two previous paragraphs
dealt with the expansion of minority and women golfers).
Over the years the ladies PGA tour has had a significant increase
in prize money, growing to $30.2 million in 1997. Minority and
women professionals have helped spread interest in the game of
golf around the United States. They have inspired many Americans
to go to the range, hit balls and play a round of golf either
at a private club, if they are a member, or at a public course.
Today many counties have established a variety of public golf
courses that are open to everyone.
Transitions are often written after the initial sections
are typed up, since sometimes the amount of material is so overwhelming
that you may just need to get material organized and printed
out before you can make it cohesive. A good approach is to print
out the rough draft and write transitions between the sections.
Between those transitions and a strong introduction-conclusion
(see separate Introduction and Conclusion sections for details),
your paper should be sophisticated and meaningful.
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