This extended illustration
may help you understand how the use of transitional sentences can
help you achieve coherence by linking paragraphs to one another, and
by virtue of so doing, to the paper's thesis idea.
Carefully read the sample multi-paragraph paper which follows,
paying particular attention to the first sentence in paragraphs 2
through 4.
Then go to the analysis of the paper.
THREE BASIC TYPES OF TEACHERS
This is my 14th year of formal
education, and by now I calculate that I have sat before at
least 70 different teachers. They have come in all sizes,
shapes, ages and weights. Some were doddering senior citizens,
while others were young and still wet behind the ears. Some were
tall enough to play pro basketball; others barely peered over
their desks. Some were talkative and flamboyant; others were
surly and secretive. But despite these and many other
differences in age, personality and appearance, when it comes to
job performance, three basic types of teachers emerge --lazy,
tyrannical, and concerned.
While individual students may react
differently to these three types, I personally have the least
regard for lazy teachers. Since such instructors do not want to
do any work themselves, they demand very little work from their
students. Assignments are few, tests are strictly of the
True-False variety for easy grading, and papers are returned
without any helpful commentary .A grade is all the student is
ever likely to see, without any indication of why something was
marked wrong. Since lazy teachers don't provide any challenges,
they create lazy students. Lazy students don't learn very much.
Although the atmosphere is less
pleasant than in the country club run by his lazy counterpart,
the tyrannical teacher's classroom is a better place to learn.
The tyrant, at least, demands performance from his or her
students, and they are bound to benefit somewhat just from being
forced to work. However, the classroom tyrant also frustrates
young learners by insisting that they perform every task in only
one way, with no experimentation allowed. Such a teacher is not
open to inquiry and does not tolerate any honest disagreement
with pronouncements from behind the imperial podium. For
example, the tyrannical literature teacher insists on one, and
only one interpretation of even a complex poem like "La Belle
Dame sans Merci." God help the student who tries to disagree! By
insisting on a slavish recitation of their own narrow views,
tyrannical teachers discourage students' desire to find things
out for themselves.
Head and shoulders above either the
lazy teacher or his tyrannical cousin stands the concerned
teacher. This type of instructor not only enjoys knowledge, but
also genuinely loves to communicate it to students. A concerned
teacher sometimes makes the students work hard, but they usually
enjoy the effort because the teacher explains why an assignment
is important. The concerned teacher's tests may not be easy, but
they always require the student to think. Papers are returned
with commentary, and the criticism is always constructive. When
a student does something particularly well, this type of teacher
is quick to compliment that student. If a student honestly
disagrees, the concerned teacher is willing to listen and never
puts a student down. Tyrannical teachers may be better than the
lazy variety, but both types could learn as much from a
concerned teacher as the students do.
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