2. Implicit or intrinsic transition hooks (Cont.)Last week, Part 2 of this series started discussing
implicit or intrinsic paragraph transition hooks. Unlike
explicit or extrinsic hooks, this second type of paragraph transition device makes use of the natural progression or “flow” of the ideas themselves to link paragraphs logically. Instead of using the usual transitional phrases and conjunctive adverbs, they employ a semantic play on key words or ideas in the body of the exposition itself. This involves repeating a key word or phrase used in the preceding paragraph and making it the takeoff point for the succeeding paragraph, or else using a synonym or words similar to that key word or phrase to do the transition job.
IMAGE CREDIT: SLIDESHARE.NETWhether implicit or explicit, a good paragraph transition hook ensures
that a succeeding paragraph has a clear and logical connection
or interlock with the paragraph that precedes it.
The most commonly used implicit paragraph transition hooks are the pronouns “this,” “that,” “these,” “those,” and “it,” which can often bridge adjoining paragraphs very smoothly while minimizing the distracting overuse of their subject nouns in the exposition.
To clearly see how “this,” “that,” “these,” “those,” and “it” can effectively do the role of intrinsic paragraph transitions, let’s assume that you’ve already written the following first paragraph for your essay:
“As a traveler, I am a stickler for schedules and will adamantly resist any change in my itinerary, no matter how attractive that change might be. This was my cardinal rule until I accompanied a longtime friend from Paris on a five-day visit to several vacation resorts in Luzon and the Visayas, and for which Boracay Island was to be our final stop. At the last minute, however, on her insistence and egged on by our tour guide, I reluctantly broke my own rule and agreed to join her on an unplanned trip to Palawan.”
How do you make an intrinsic transition to the next paragraph of your essay? The task, of course, will involve constructing a logical connecting sentence for that next paragraph. We will look into four basic intrinsic transition strategies—from the simplest to the more complex.
Strategy 1: Use a summary word—in this case
“the idea”—for an operative word or thought used in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph:
“…At the last minute, however, on her insistence and egged on by our tour guide, I reluctantly broke my own rule and agreed to join her on an unplanned trip to Palawan.
“
The idea was at first totally out of the question to me. I was such in a hurry to get back to Manila because of an mportant prior engagement…”
Strategy 2: Use the pronoun
“this” for an operative word or thought in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph:
“…At the last minute, however, on her insistence and egged on by our tour guide, I reluctantly broke my own rule and agreed to join her on an unplanned trip to Palawan.
“
This was actually not a very easy decision to make. I had to be in Manila later that week for a business meeting…”
Strategy 3: Use the pronoun
“that” for an operative word or thought in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph:
“…At the last minute, however, on her insistence and egged on by our tour guide, I reluctantly broke my own rule and agreed to join her on an unplanned trip to Palawan.
“
That proved to be the most memorable part of our tour. Despite my misgivings…”
Strategy 4: Use a more emphatic transition by using
“that” to intensify an operative word or idea, say your
“decision,” that was used in the preceding paragraph:
“…At the last minute, however, on her insistence and egged on by our tour guide, I reluctantly broke my own rule and agreed to join her on an unplanned trip to Palawan.
“
That decision had very serious and far-reaching consequences for me. I missed an important meeting in Manila and lost a major account…”
We will explore in Part 4 even more effective strategies for effecting intrinsic paragraph transitions.
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This reprises and updates the author’s 2006 series in his English Plain and Simple columns on making effective paragraph transitions. This essay, 2129th of the series, appears in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the December 15, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2022 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay in
The Manila Times:
Making effective paragraph transitions - 3(Next week:
Making effective paragraph transitions - 4) December 22, 2022
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
