450 McGRAW-HILL’S SAT
Be Specific Consider the following paragraphs:
Every first-year chemistry or physics student
learns that opposite charges attract and like
charges repel. If we try to force two positive
charges together, they will fly apart as soon as
we release them. Similarly, if we try to hold a
positive charge apart from a negative charge,
they will fly together as soon as we release them.
The nucleus of an atom consists of a collec-
tion of positively charged protons and uncharged
neutrons squashed together in a very small space.
Negatively charged electrons remain in “shells”
that never touch the nucleus.
You should notice that the facts in these paragraphs
don’t “fit” logically. If like charges fly apart, then how
on earth could they remain together in a nucleus?
Also, if unlike charges fall toward each other, why
don’t the negative electrons fall into the positive nu-
cleus? However, the second paragraph provides no
logical “guideposts” to indicate this surprising rela-
tionship between these ideas. A good writer should
acknowledge the contrasts between the ideas of the
first paragraph and the ideas of the second paragraph
withlogical transitions.Notice how this revision pro-
vides the necessary transitions:Every first-year chemistry or physics student
learns that opposite charges attract and like
charges repel. If we try to force two positive
charges together, they will fly apart as soon as we
release them. Similarly, if we try to hold a posi-
tive charge apart from a negative charge, they will
fly together as soon as we release them.
However, science students are also told that
the nucleus of an atom consists of a collection of
positively charged protons and uncharged neu-
trons squashed together in a very small space.
They are also told that negatively charged elec-
trons remain in “shells” that never touch the nu-
cleus. How can this be?
You need to think carefully about the logic of individ-
ual sentences, as well.Not logical: The bill was in committee, and the oppo-
sition of several senators killed it because
of the unpopular amendments that they
attached to it.
Better: Several senators who opposed the bill
killed it in committee by attaching un-
popular amendments to it.Lesson 7: Write Logically
Your argument is much more effective when
you discuss real and specific examples rather
than hypothetical and general ones. You can
generalize in your thesis and conclusion, but
be specific everywhere else.Provide your readers with “guideposts” to help
them understand the logical relationships
between your ideas. These guideposts, which
usually come at the beginning of a paragraph or
a sentence, are called transitions. They include
words like however(to indicate a contrast), there-
fore(to indicate a result), furthermore(to indicate
an extension of an argument), first, second,or
third(to indicate a sequence of examples or rea-
sons),nevertheless(to indicate irony), and so on.Consider this paragraph:
Although our Constitution provides us with the
right to bear arms, this right should not be a uni-
versal one. That’s not what the Second Amend-
ment was intended for. A lot of times it’s not
appropriate and just plain dangerous or foolish.
This is obvious to anyone who reads newspa-
pers or watches the TV news and knows about
what is going on in the world.
The argument isn’t effective because it gives no
specifics. Consider this improvement:
Although our Constitution provides us with the
right to bear arms, this right was intended only to
protect citizens from the tyranny of government,
and not to arm citizens against one another. In
many places, for instance in schools and other
public places, the right to bear arms does not
enhance public safety. Even the popular argument
that it makes our homes safer is absurd. Rather, it
merely increases the likelihood that a problematic
situation like an argument will turn deadly, as it
did last month when an eight-year-old boy shot
his six-year-old sister to death in New Jersey.
This revision is more forceful because it turns
the generalizations into specifics, and gives concrete
examples.
Help Your Reader with
Logical Transitions