Outlines
Organize a strong outline to break down your essay sections. Outlining is optional, but it's a great step in keeping your essay tight and organized. It'll be a lot easier to plan your transitions when you know which topics you'll be covering in your essay. Spend some time brainstorming and outlining before you start writing so you know your planned topics and where to introduce them. A strong outline includes your overall topic idea, planned thesis statement, essay structure, and the topics and themes you'll be covering in each section. Note on your outline when you're going to be introducing new topics. This helps you plan ahead and anticipate where you'll need transitions. Include an introductory paragraph when you're drafting your outline. In that introduction, give the reader some context about what you're going to talk about. That way, it won't seem so abrupt when you switch to the new topic in the essay. If you've already started your paper, it never hurts to go back and write an outline anyway. This way, you can keep all your thoughts organized and give your essay more direction.
Make a new paragraph for new topics within the same section. For shorter papers or related topics in the same section, you don’t need a whole new section break to introduce a new topic. In this case, you can just make a new paragraph to introduce the next topic. If you start a new paragraph, you'll just need a transitional topic sentence to introduce the topic. For example, you may be writing a large paper about the Civil War, and the current section is about arguments over slavery. You can have one part on Southern arguments defending slavery, then transition to Northern arguments against slavery, since both topics are in the same section. Usually for a shorter paper, up to about 5-7 pages, you won’t need individual section headings. It’s fine to just transition from paragraph to paragraph in these cases.
Start a new section if you’re introducing a completely different topic. In other cases, you might be introducing a new topic that isn’t closely related to the previous one at all. In this case, it’s best to start a whole new section in your paper. This keeps your paper nice and organized so the reader can tell where brand new topics start. When you start a new section, you’ll introduce the topic with a whole paragraph instead of a sentence or 2. For example, if your paper is about the Civil War and you’re transitioning from arguments over slavery to the outbreak of the war, then it’s worthwhile to make a whole new section. These topics are related, but distinct and important enough to get their own sections. In another example, you might be writing a compare and contrast essay. It’s helpful to start a new section labeled “Differences” when you move from comparing to contrasting. Individual section headings are common in longer papers, around 15-20 pages or more. For long papers like this, it helps your reader stay focused.
Pick complementary transition words for similar topics. The words you use to introduce new topics are very important, and using the wrong ones could confuse the reader. Identify whether the topic you're introducing supports or contrasts with the previous one. For topics that are complementary or agree with each other, use words and phrases indicating that agreement. A few choices include: Similarly, in the same way, likewise, also, as well, and so too. For example, start a paragraph about slavery and the Civil War with, “In the same way that northern abolitionists were singularly focused on eliminating slavery, the Republican Party was concerned with stopping it from spreading into America's territories.”
Use contrasting transition words for topics that clash. On the other hand, a new topic might contrast with the previous one. In this case, use words that indicate that disagreement, like: In contrast, however, nevertheless, yet, and still. For the Civil War example, arguments defending and criticizing slavery are completely different. To reflect that, you’d use a transition indicating disagreement. You could say “In sharp contrast to southern slave owners, northern abolitionists argued that enslaving a human being was evil in all circumstances.”
New Paragraphs
Place your transition phrase at the beginning of your topic sentence. With a new paragraph, your topic sentence needs to tell your reader exactly what the paragraph is about. Place your transition word or phrase somewhere in that sentence so readers know how these 2 topics are related. If you’re showing contrast, you could say, “Yet King Arthur was destined to fail in his quest to find the Holy Grail.” This shows that the previous topic may have been about Arthur starting his quest, but now you’ll explain how he failed to accomplish it. You could also show similarity by saying “Similarly, Abraham Lincoln agreed that slavery was a moral evil.” This indicates that the new topic you’re introducing is related to and supports the previous one.
Provide a brief overview of the topic you’re moving on to. After your transitional topic sentence, you need a bit more information to fill your reader in on what exactly this new topic is. Add one more sentence summing up the topic and how it relates to your larger paper. In this overview, tell the reader what you're going to talk about and tell them why they should care. You could also follow up on the King Arthur example with “In Arthurian stories, Arthur made numerous journeys to find the Grail, but never actually succeeded.” This tells the reader that the rest of the paragraph will include information on these failures. Using the Abraham Lincoln example, you could follow up your topic sentence with “Throughout his entire life, Lincoln saw the evils of slavery and spoke about stopping the practice.” This indicates that the paragraph will elaborate on this point and provide more details.
Add necessary details about the topic in the middle of the paragraph. Once you’ve made your transition and introduced the topic, finishing the paragraph is the same as finishing any other paragraph. Use the body sentences of the paragraph to provide necessary details on the topic you introduced. Make sure these details support the argument of your paper and line up with the topic sentence. For the King Arthur example, you can spend 2-4 sentences explaining Arthur's unsuccessful quests for the Grail. This supports your transition statement saying that Arthur failed to find the Grail. Make sure the details you fill in line up with your topic sentence. If your topic sentence said that Abraham Lincoln was anti-slavery, it wouldn’t be consistent to introduce examples of him supporting or praising slavery.
Wrap up the paragraph with a firm conclusion sentence. Just like with any other paragraph, this paragraph needs a strong conclusion to finish it off. A conclusion sentence essentially re-states the topic of the paragraph using different wording. This provides a nice endpoint for the paragraph. A conclusion for your King Arthur paragraph could be “Hard as Arthur tried, he never found the Holy Grail.” Don’t introduce any new topics in the conclusion sentence. Save that for the topic sentence of the next paragraph if you want to add another topic. If you have a similar paragraph after this one, you can link them by giving a hint of where it's going. For example, you could conclude by saying "Abraham Lincoln's lifelong opposition to slavery naturally set him up for a career fighting the institution." Then make the next paragraph about Lincoln's political career.
New Sections
Place your transition phrase at the beginning of your topic sentence. Even if you’re starting a whole new section, you still need a strong topic sentence to organize your new topic. Place a transitional phrase somewhere in that topic sentence to indicate the relationship between the two topics you’ve discussed. You can use transitional language without a ton of detail. For example, “While Odysseus was glad to be home, there was trouble brewing in his kingdom.” This provides a strong transition, hints at the next topic, and gets the reader interested in continuing.
Sum up the topic of the previous section. Spend the next 1 or 2 sentences reminding the reader of the previous topic. This is important to show the relationship between the topics, and also to keep your information organized in a larger paper. For the Odysseus example, your previous section may have been about the events of The Odyssey. You could sum up the previous topic by saying “He had spent 20 years away from home—10 fighting the Trojan War and 10 on his journey back to Ithaca—and conquered every challenge that came his way.” Don’t spend too much time on this summary. Wrap it up within 2 sentences at most.
Provide a concise summary of the topic in this section. Use the next few sentences to introduce the new topic with a quick summary. In 2-3 sentences, explain the topic of this new section and what the reader can expect. This eases the reader into the section and makes your transition much smoother. You could give a quick introduction of how the suitors in the Odyssey had moved in to Odysseus’ home and would attack him when he arrived. This sets up the challenge and tension for this new topic, and sets the theme for this section of your essay.
End the paragraph with a strong conclusion sentence. As with any other paragraph, this transition paragraph requires a conclusion that re-states that theme. Giving the paragraph a strong conclusion helps your reader anticipate where the section if going next. For the Odysseus example, a strong conclusion would be “Perhaps this was to be Odysseus’ greatest challenge yet.” In a more research-based paper, you can be less literary. For example, “In the end, the Constitutional Convention was a success, but only after the Framers overcame numerous challenges in the process.”
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