Chapter 4 deals with organizing and connecting specific evidence in your paragraphs. To me, these are THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of successful writing: being able to put ideas in their proper place and showing the relationship between ideas.
So, you need to decide how to organize your ideas and how to connect them using appropriate transitions. I find transitions to be a simple way to bridge ideas together in your writing, yet so many college writers do not use transitions effectively. Chapter 4 gives you a great refresher on the kinds of transitional words you should be using and how to use them!
In order to practice using transitions, your assignment is to write a paragraph, in time order. You only have to write one paragraph, but you may choose from four different topics, as listed below. Be sure to use transitions appropriate to indicate the passage of time (first, next, afterward, etc) and also be sure to include adequate description in your submission!
Describe how to do something in chronological order!
Please choose one of the following topics:
- How do you get ready for school/work in the morning?
- How do you prepare your favorite meal?
- Describe the things you would do at a typical visit to a carnival or amusement park.
- How do you prepare for a big exam at school?
Keep in mind that we are also studying Description (Chapter 7) this week, so in addition to focusing on transitions, try to also take a close look at adding some descriptive details to this paragraph!
Your paragraph should be at least 350 words in length. It should have a topic sentence, several steps presented in time (chronological) order, and include proper transitional words/phrases where needed.
transitions for Time order – first, next, then, after, as before, while, meanwhile, soon, now, during, finally, after a while, as soon as, at that time, by then, since, suddenly, thereafter, by then, in a few hours, by that time, previously, at last, later, all this time, shortly, formerly
illustrations signals: for example, for instance, specifically, as an illustration, once, such as
conclusion signals therefore, consequently, thus, then, as a result, in summary, to conclude, last of all, finally, in review
