Linking Paragraphs Together
For
Adding Things On
Again… also…in addition…as well
as…moreover…furthermore…still…next…what is more…and
To
Give Examples
for example…for instance…one example is… to
illustrate…namely…as an illustration…in this case
To
Contrast
however…but…although…despite…nevertheless…on the
contrary…yet…even so…even though…on the other hand
To
Repeat
as I have said…as has been said…as has been
noted…moreover…furthermore
To
Show Argument
therefore…thus…because…evidently…although…meanwhile…in conclusion…however
as a result…moreover…at this point…consequently…since…hence
as a result…moreover…at this point…consequently…since…hence
To
Emphasise
indeed…in
fact…certainly…especially…particularly…unquestionably…without any
doubt…definitely
To
Make A Concession
whilst…although…even though…however
To
Put Things In Sequence
first…firstly…second…secondly (etc)…then…after
that…following…again…and…and so forth…and so
on…subsequently…later…finally…thereafter…to conclude…lastly
To
Sum Up Or Conclude
finally…as a conclusion…to conclude…all in all…in other
words…in short…in brief…to sum up…as I have said…as has been stated…on the
whole…in general
Using
'This' Or 'It'
There's a simple principle here - when you use 'this' or
'it' to sum up what was in the last paragraph, don't leave the reader to work
out what 'this' or 'it' was. Spell it out briefly. This makes the link much
clearer. Here's an example: if the essay is on the Conservative Party and its
policies, and the last paragraph has been about the way the Party makes
objections to the European Community, how should you put the link in the
beginning of the next paragraph?
Don't Put: This is a major part of Conservative thinking.
Do Put: This hostility to Europe
is a major part of Conservative thinking.
Using
Questions As Links
One way of linking paragraphs is to ask a question at the
end of one paragraph, and then answer it in the next. This is a possible way of
linking paragraphs, but many tutors don't like it, and in any case you
shouldn't use it more than once or twice in an essay. This is for two reasons.
The first is that this kind of question-answer sequence is very common in
journalism, and an academic essay should be more formal than that. The second
is that it doesn't sound as if you are in control of the essay - it sounds as
if you are finding things out for the first time, and an academic essay should
be more controlled and confident than that.
Repetition
And Reiteration
As we've seen, you can make a link by repeating key words
or phrases from the previous paragraph. This makes a rather weaker link than
most. 'Reiteration' means repeating, but without using exactly the same words.
So you could reiterate 'Dickens, Hardy and Eliot' as 'Victorian novelists', or
'Leeds , Manchester
and Newcastle '
as 'Northern cities'. Reiteration makes for an even weaker link than repetition,
so you shouldn't rely on it as your main form of linking.
The
Right Number of Links
In general, you should put AT LEAST one link in between
each paragraph and the one before it. As we saw in the analysis of 'Sociology
as a Form of Consciousness', it's actually better to use more than one - using
three or four links is quite common there. When you're writing your essay, it
might seem that putting in a lot of links makes it sound laborious and a bit
obvious. However, this isn't how it will sound to the tutor marking it.
Remember that you are very close to the essay - you know what you mean. But the
links between the different parts of your essay aren't as obvious to anyone
else. Put in rather more links than sounds quite right to you - that way, it
will sound right to anyone reading it.
Introductory paragraphs and concluding paragraphs are
especially important - so we'll look at them now.