How To Logically Connect The Essay Subtopics

When you write an essay, one of the most important features is logic. Students can usually write the respective parts of their essays, but they have difficulty with connecting those parts. They usually craft thesis statements that show the purpose of the essay, but students are not always successful at showing how the body paragraphs connect with each other while still supporting the goal of the essay. Writing instructors are so busy teaching students how to craft interesting introductions, supporting body paragraphs, and conclusions that they often fail to teach their students how to connect all of the parts.

Use Transitions to Show Relationships

Fortunately, learning how to logically connect essay subtopics, also known as body paragraphs, is with the use of transitions. These are connecting words that show relationships between ideas. The best writers use transitions with ease, not only to show relationships between the body paragraphs and the thesis statement, but to add to the voice and fluency of the essay itself. Transitions can be used at the sentence level, as well as the paragraph level. Even though transitions have so many uses, they should not be used in every single sentence.

Find Charts of Transitions for Help with Usage

Students do not have to create their own transitions when they are writing essays. The Internet is full of charts with writing transitions. Many of the charts are organized according to the way writers should use the transitions. For example, if you need a transition to show contradiction, you can use transitional words and phrases like, “even though,” “nevertheless,” or “in spite of.” When you need transitions to show examples, use words like “notably”, “to clarify”, or “in other words” to name a few. In other words, when you need a transition for a certain type of sentence or paragraph, you can find them and use them easily.

Use Synonyms and Keywords for More Logical Connections

Along with transitions (note the use of a transition here), you can also use words that are similar to the keywords in your thesis statement. You use the similar keywords in the topic sentences of your body paragraphs, as well as in the conclusion. If you are able to find ways to work those keywords and synonyms into your body paragraph sentences, then you should. But, do not overdo the use of synonyms or you might become redundant.