As a means of conveying structure, headings are formal, they are simple, and
they stand out. In contrast to this, the transitional paragraph, which will now be
considered, is less formal, less obtrusive, but more detailed in its portrayal of
structure.
Transitional Paragraph
A transitional paragraph is like a transitional sentence. It explicitly links one or
more preceding paragraphs with one or more succeeding paragraphs. It looks
back to the prior place that the text visited on its journey of exposition. It says:
“This is where we have been”. This is revision. Then it looks forward to the
future place it will
shortly be visiting. It says: “This is where we are now
going”. This is prevision. It then explains to the reader why the text is moving
from the prior place to the future place. This is resonance.
A transitional paragraph is obviously richer in information than a heading. It
can also be used in conjunction with headings.
Testing the Structure
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
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Introduction
It is often a useful exercise to test the structure of your text. There are several
means for doing this –
the whole text approach, the summary approach, the
table of contents approach and the imaginary lesson approach. Testing the
structure allows the author to ensure that there is a logical, flowing argument
present, or to identify omissions or places where the argument or the evidence
for their argument needs bolstering. It may also allow the author to identify
where out-of-sequence propositions may be better placed in order to serve the
overall argument.
Whole Text Approach
The requirement to structure writing applies at all levels, that is, to chapters,
paragraphs and sentences. Therefore the simple test for structure is to ask the
following question of each part of your text: Does this chapter or paragraph,
sentence or idea flow from the one before it and lead to the one that follows it?
If it does, the structure is good. If not, you have found a problem that needs
to be fixed. This problem may just be the way in which something has been
said. Or it may be that the arguments or ideas in the writing have not been
clearly thought through or are out of place.
Summary Approach
Sometimes it is hard to see the flow of the main argument in a finished whole
text, especially if it is a text of substantial length. An approach which avoids
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Henry Ford
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