ClearTips: Powerful paragraphs

Signal what's to come

Revealing the relationships between sentences, transitional words can signal continuation (and, further, furthermore, in addition, similarly), reversal (or, but, still, despite, otherwise, even so, nevertheless), and conclusion (so, thus, after all, in sum, in short, in brief).

Here's a paragraph with no signals:

One of Mr. Blair's reasons for linking Britain and 2000 so closely is surely off the mark; strictly, the day begins at Greenwich, because it is at zero degrees of longitude, the meridian from which hours forward or back are conventionally reckoned. It is argued, the millennium will start in Britain. Tell that to the Russians, or to any of the majority of mankind that lives eastwards of Greenwich up to the International Date Line and whose midnight comes well before Britain's.

The paragraph makes sense, but the jump from the first sentence to the second is jarring and the remaining sentences are loose. Consider the following alternative, with signals:

Yet one of Mr. Blair's reasons for linking Britain with 2000 so closely is surely off the mark: strictly, the day begins at Greenwich, because it is at zero degrees of longitude, the meridian from which hours forward or back are conventionally reckoned. So, it is argued, the millennium will start in Britain. But tell that to the Russians, or indeed to any of the majority of mankind that lives eastwards of Greenwich up to the International Date Line and whose midnight comes well before Britain's.

Here are two more examples of deftly signaling what's to come:

Despite its one-sided arguments and hyperbolic claims, The Great Betrayal ought to stir discussion of such alternatives to the free-market internationalist status quo. Contrary to the best hopes of its advocates, the status quo has not extinguished the flames of nationalism but may actually be feeding them. If more of Buchanan's critics don't realize this soon, they may, ironically, end up leaving the stage to Buchanan himself.

This commercial dominance has been protected by a 10,000-strong private army, which has long fought off efforts by the central government in Yangon to bring it under control. As a result, Khun Sa is a rich man, with a lucrative market position to protect. So when, on New Year's Day, government troops walked unopposed into his headquarters at Ho Mong, it looked less like a military defeat, more as if the drug peddler had cut one more deal.

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