Blinger Friday 11/2/12

1. BlingerFriday 11/2/12 • Why do people love To Kill a Mockingbird?(Even if you don’t, many people feel very strongly about this book. Why?)

2. Transitions • Transitions are all about relationships. • Transitions help readers build bridges between your ideas. Remember, your reader is not psychic! • Not just joining ideas, but expressing the relationship between them. • Between Sentences • Often only a word or a phrase • Between Paragraphs • A sentence or multiple sentences

3. Sentence Level Transitions • Be careful: Before using a particular transitional word, be sure you understand its meaning and usage completely and be sure that it's the right match for the logic in your paper. • Example: I love to write essays for school. Not every student feels the same. • Revision: I love to write essays for school. Of course, not every student feels the same. OR I love to write essays for school; however, not every student feels the same. NOT I love to write essays for school, therefore not every students feels the same.

4. Paragraph Level transitions • Picking up key phrases from the previous paragraph and highlighting them in the next creates a logical progression for readers. • Instead of writing transitions that could connect any paragraph to any other paragraph, write a transition that could only connect one specific paragraph to another specific paragraph. Example: Harper Lee became a famous author after her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, skyrocketed up the bestseller list. There are other things to note about Lee as well. She also plays the bass in a heavy metal band called The Destroyers. Revision: Harper Lee became a famous author after her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, skyrocketed up the bestseller list. Though her written work is well known, her work with the heavy metal band The Destroyers receives far less publicity.

5. Always ask yourself: What connection do I want my reader to make at this point? • Build a bridge for them!