what does connecting information mean in an essay

• Academic Skills
• Reading, writing and referencing
• Writing effectively

Connecting ideas

How to connect ideas at the sentence and paragraph level in academic writing.

What is cohesion?

Cohesion refers to the way we use vocabulary and grammatical structures to make connections between the ideas within a text. It provides flow and sequence to your work and helps make your paragraphs clear for the reader.

Cohesive devices are words and expressions that show relationships between parts of text and ideas, such as cause and effect, time, addition, or comparison and contrast.

Watch the video to learn how to make your ideas link together and your narrative flow.

How can I create cohesion?

Let’s look at types of cohesive devices.

Linking words

Academic writing usually deals with complex ideas. To enable the reader to follow your thoughts, they need to be clearly and smoothly linked. To join ideas and sentences, we use a number of connecting words and phrases. For example:

Additionally, and, also, apart from this, as well (as), in addition, moreover, further, furthermore.

If, in that case, provided that, unless.

Correspondingly, equally, for the same reason, in a similar manner, in comparison, in the same way, on the one hand, similarly.

Alternatively, although, but, conversely, despite, even so, even though, however, in contrast, in spite of, instead, on the contrary, contrary to, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the other hand, rather, still, though, yet, whereas, while.

Again, in fact, interestingly, indeed, it should be noted (that), more important(ly), most importantly, to repeat, (un)fortunately, unquestionably.

A further instance of this is..., an example of this is…, for example, for instance, such as, thus, as follows.

In other words, more simply, namely, simply put, to put it differently / another way, such as, that is.

A / the consequence of, because, due to, for, the effect of …, since, the result of …

Accordingly, as a result/consequence, consequently, for this reason, hence, so, therefore, thus.

Admittedly, although, clearly though, even though, however, indeed, obviously.

As a rule, for the most part, generally, in general, in most cases, normally, on the whole, usually.

First, second, third (etc), next, before, earlier, finally, following, given the above, later, meanwhile, subsequently, then, to conclude, while.

A note about presentation and style

Check a usage guide for exact rules for punctuation. Many introductory phrases have a comma after them. For example, 'therefore,' and 'in addition,'.

Referring backwards

To avoid repeating words and phrases many times, we use cohesive devices to make references to other parts of a text, such as:

• Pronouns: it, he, she, his, her, they, their
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
• Articles: a, the
• Adverbs: previously, subsequently

The Australian prime minister has called an early election. The date was selected to coincide with the start of the Olympic Games. This decision was based on the views of his ministerial advisors, who predicted that voter confidence in the government’s policies would be strong at this time . As previously mentioned , decisions on the timing of elections are based on predictions of voter confidence in the existing government.

In the example above:

• The date - refers back to the election date
• This decision - refers to the prime minister calling an early election
• His - refers to the Australian prime minister
• this time - refers to the start of the Olympic Games
• As previously mentioned - refers to all of the earlier information about the selection of election dates

Looking forward

We often use words and phrases to highlight new information for the reader. This helps make a smooth transition from one point to another. Such phrases include: the following, as follows, below, next, subsequently .

The following dates have been proposed for the forthcoming election: September 8, September 15 and 3 October.

The next issue to be discussed is the influence of the media on voter confidence in the government.

Connecting paragraphs

Apart from using the linking words / phrases above, showing the link between paragraphs could involve writing ‘hand-holding’ sentences. These are sentences that link back to the ideas of the previous paragraph. For instance, when outlining the positive and negative issues about a topic you could use the following:

Example (from beginning of previous paragraph):

• One of the main advantages of X is…

When you are ready to move your discussion to the negative issues, you could write one of the following as a paragraph opener:

• Having considered the positive effects of X, negative issues may now need to be taken into account…
• Despite the positive effects outlined above, negative issues also need to be considered...

It is always important to make paragraphs part of a coherent whole text; they must not remain isolated units.

Checking for paragraph links in your own work

When you are editing your next written assignment, ask yourself the following questions as you read through your work (Gillett, Hammond, & Martala, 2009):

• Does the start of my paragraph give my reader enough information about what the paragraph will be about?
• Does my paragraph add to or elaborate on a point made previously and, if so, have I made this explicit with an appropriate linking word / phrase?
• Does my paragraph introduce a completely new point or a different viewpoint to before and, if so, have I explicitly shown this with a suitable connective?
• Have I used similar connectives repeatedly? If yes, try to vary them using the above list.

Strategies to improve cohesion

• Select a piece of writing, preferably from a textbook or journal article, from your area of study.
• Choose a paragraph and underline or highlight all the different forms of cohesion used, such as using linking words, referring backwards, looking forwards or adding synonyms.
• Which forms are the most common?
• Choose a couple that you think are effective and practice using them in your own writing.
• Try to use a variety of ways to show the relationship between your ideas.

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Connecting Ideas in Writing

An argumentative essays  comprises –

• A thesis statement – this states your argument.
• Topic sentences – these introduce each new idea to prove your argument. Writers build paragraphs around topic sentences.
• Supporting information – details, examples, facts, and data that support each topic sentence.

Good organization and logical flow make an effective argumentative essay.

Transitions, signals, and other language devices allow writers to link thoughts and achieve coherence. Coherence means ideas are well organized, fact driven and, as a whole, they prove the thesis statement. This is essential in argumentative essay writing.

Writing is a skill that can be improved over time, and understanding how to connect ideas together is a great step in the right direction. For example, when writing college admission essays, it is important to have a clear understanding of how to tie ideas together to make an effective argument. Professional college admission essay writers can help you to refine your essay and ensure your argument is clear and cohesive.

Connecting Sentences

A common way to link sentences is with the basic words and, but, so, and because. Academic language offers alternative words and phrases to ensure your sentences flow well. Furthermore, in order to ensure a smoother flow of ideas, one can use linking words and phrases such as “in addition”, “similarly”, “notwithstanding”, or “consequently”, when writing book reports .

And – in addition, additionally, moreover, apart from this, as well (as), further, furthermore. But – alternatively, conversely, despite, although, even though, however, on the other hand, in contrast, on the contrary, nevertheless, nonetheless. So – accordingly, as a result/consequence, consequently, for this reason, hence, therefore, thus. Because – due to, a/the consequence of, the result of, for, since, the effect of.

Most of these words join two independent clauses, and they follow similar punctuation and grammar rules. For example:

Technology has enhanced communication. In addition, health & lifestyle benefits are unprecedented. Technology has a dramatic impact on lifestyle choices. Nevertheless, humanity continues to abuse the power that technology bestows. Economic turmoil threatens businesses’ survival. Most companies, therefore, invest in technology that promotes efficiency and reduces costs.

To make a successful sentence, it is important to know how to use linking words to join independent clauses. Take note of their punctuation marks and the diverse positions within a sentence that they can occupy. If you are uncertain about the appropriate rules, be sure to consult a usage guide or buy a thesis . This will help you craft sentences that meet the highest standards of writing, and ensure that your thesis is of the best quality.

Connecting Ideas

A strong essay links ideas so a reader can follow the progression of an argument without losing focus or becoming confused. Sometimes information needs to be repeated to highlight the angle being developed. Other times, concepts and accusations must be explained or clarified by providing examples.

To repeat/simplify – in other words, simply put, to put it differently, / another way To show similarities – similarly, in a similar manner, correspondingly, in the same way, equally, for the same reason To give examples – for example, for instance, a further instance of this is…, an example of this is…, such as To concede/contrast – admittedly, although, even though, however

Here is an example of how these words improve cohesion  and sentence flow:

The complexities and moral dilemmas that nuclear technology poses are beyond the scope of simple minds. In other words, mankind is not ready to adopt nuclear technology into mainstream life. In the same way, advances in cloning and stem cell treatment raise ethical questions that humans struggle with. For example, could cloning be used to advance warfare? Admittedly, progression to this level is years away, but it is a valid concern.

Again, take note of sentence construction and punctuation in the paragraph above.

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Connecting Paragraphs

We have linked sentences and connected ideas. The final step is to provide stepping-stones between paragraphs. This seals the overall essay unity.

A useful mechanism is to remind readers of the main points from previous paragraphs so that your next topic sentence makes a stronger impression. Use signal/pointing words at the beginning of paragraphs, as well as time signals.

Signal words – besides, in addition to, having…, not only…but also…, although, even though, while, despite Time signals – first, second (etc.), meanwhile, subsequently, finally, to conclude

In an essay about the effects of technology on humanity, the topic of one paragraph could be:

• Technology has prolonged life through advances in healthcare.

To proceed to the next paragraph, you could write:

• In addition to unparalleled progress in medical treatment, technology enables people to acquire unlimited knowledge.

Alternatives are:

• While there have been many positive outcomes, technology has also caused much pain and suffering.
• Having looked at several advantages of technology, the negative implications now need to be considered. First,…

At Edusson , we understand the importance of connecting ideas in writing. We provide a platform that helps students, entrepreneurs and professionals to connect with experienced writers to get their work done quickly and effectively. Our blog section offers insight into the benefits of connecting ideas in writing, helping readers gain a better understanding of the concept.

The purpose of connecting sentences, ideas, and paragraphs is to guide the reader along the path you develop. That is a solid way to prove an argument. An essay writer does not leave it to the reader to make assumptions or to fill in the blanks. Linking words and phrases, and other transition signals are a vital element of academic work. Learn to use them accurately to write a better essay.

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• Ways to Improve Readability of Your Essay
• All You Need for an Exceptionally Good Compare and Contrast Essay
• How to Use Sentence Starters for Essays
• How to Write a Hook for your Essay or Paper [Examples Included]

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Transitional Words and Phrases

One of your primary goals as a writer is to present ideas in a clear and understandable way. To help readers move through your complex ideas, you want to be intentional about how you structure your paper as a whole as well as how you form the individual paragraphs that comprise it. In order to think through the challenges of presenting your ideas articulately, logically, and in ways that seem natural to your readers, check out some of these resources: Developing a Thesis Statement , Paragraphing , and Developing Strategic Transitions: Writing that Establishes Relationships and Connections Between Ideas.

While clear writing is mostly achieved through the deliberate sequencing of your ideas across your entire paper, you can guide readers through the connections you’re making by using transitional words in individual sentences. Transitional words and phrases can create powerful links between your ideas and can help your reader understand your paper’s logic.

In what follows, we’ve included a list of frequently used transitional words and phrases that can help you establish how your various ideas relate to each other. We’ve divided these words and phrases into categories based on the common kinds of relationships writers establish between ideas.

Two recommendations: Use these transitions strategically by making sure that the word or phrase you’re choosing matches the logic of the relationship you’re emphasizing or the connection you’re making. All of these words and phrases have different meanings, nuances, and connotations, so before using a particular transitional word in your paper, be sure you understand its meaning and usage completely, and be sure that it’s the right match for your paper’s logic. Use these transitional words and phrases sparingly because if you use too many of them, your readers might feel like you are overexplaining connections that are already clear.

Categories of Transition Words and Phrases

Causation Chronology Combinations Contrast Example

Importance Location Similarity Clarification Concession

Conclusion Intensification Purpose Summary

Transitions to help establish some of the most common kinds of relationships

Causation– Connecting instigator(s) to consequence(s).

accordingly as a result and so because

consequently for that reason hence on account of

since therefore thus

Chronology– Connecting what issues in regard to when they occur.

after afterwards always at length during earlier following immediately in the meantime

later never next now once simultaneously so far sometimes

soon subsequently then this time until now when whenever while

Combinations Lists– Connecting numerous events. Part/Whole– Connecting numerous elements that make up something bigger.

additionally again also and, or, not as a result besides even more

finally first, firstly further furthermore in addition in the first place in the second place

last, lastly moreover next second, secondly, etc. too

Contrast– Connecting two things by focusing on their differences.

after all although and yet at the same time but

despite however in contrast nevertheless nonetheless notwithstanding

on the contrary on the other hand otherwise though yet

Example– Connecting a general idea to a particular instance of this idea.

as an illustration e.g., (from a Latin abbreviation for “for example”)

for example for instance specifically that is

to demonstrate to illustrate

Importance– Connecting what is critical to what is more inconsequential.

chiefly critically

foundationally most importantly

of less importance primarily

Location– Connecting elements according to where they are placed in relationship to each other.

above adjacent to below beyond

centrally here nearby neighboring on

opposite to peripherally there wherever

Similarity– Connecting to things by suggesting that they are in some way alike.

by the same token in like manner

in similar fashion here in the same way

likewise wherever

Other kinds of transitional words and phrases Clarification

i.e., (from a Latin abbreviation for “that is”) in other words

that is that is to say to clarify to explain

to put it another way to rephrase it

granted it is true

naturally of course

finally lastly

in conclusion in the end

to conclude

Intensification

in fact indeed no

of course surely to repeat

undoubtedly without doubt yes

for this purpose in order that

so that to that end

to this end

in brief in sum

in summary in short

to sum up to summarize

Improving Your Writing Style

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Clear, Concise Sentences

Use the active voice

Put the action in the verb

Tidy up wordy phrases

Reduce wordy verbs

Reduce prepositional phrases

Reduce expletive constructions

Avoid using vague nouns

Avoid unneccessarily inflated words

Avoid noun strings

Connecting Ideas Through Transitions

Using Transitional Words and Phrases

Unit 4: Fundamentals of Academic Essay Writing

29 Steps for Integrating Evidence

A step-by-step guide for including your “voice”.

To integrate evidence, you need to introduce it, paraphrase (or quote in special circumstances), and then connect the evidence to the topic sentence. Below are the steps for “ICE” or the “hamburger analogy.”

Step 1 Introducing evidence: the top bun or “I”

A sentence of introduction before the paraphrase helps the reader know what evidence will follow. You want to provide a preview for the reader of what outside support you will use.

• Example from the model essay: (“I”/top bun) Peer review can increase a student’s interest and confidence in writing. (“C”/meat) Rather than relying on the teacher, the student is actively involved in the writing process (Bijami et al., 2013, p. 94).
• Notice how the introduction of increasing interest and confidence provides a hint of the evidence that will follow; it links to the idea of becoming a more independent and engaged learner.

Step 2 Paraphrasing and citing evidence: the meat or “C”

Typically, in academic writing, you will not simply paraphrase a single sentence; instead, you will often summarize information from more than one sentence – you will read a section of text, such as a part of a paragraph, a whole paragraph, or even more than one paragraph, and you will extract and synthesize information from what you have read. This means you will summarize that information and cite it.

Paraphrase/summarize the evidence and then include a citation with the following information (A more detailed explanation of documentation, including citations, can be found in Unit 44: Documentation.

• The author’s last name (but if you do not know the author’s name, use the article title).
• The publication date.
• The page number.

Formats for introducing evidence (when you know the author)

• Gambino (2015) explains how social networks help foster personal connections (p. 1).
• According to Gambino (2015), social networks help foster personal connections (p. 1).
• Social networks help foster personal connections (Gambino, 2015, p. 1).

Formats for introducing evidence (when you the author is unknown)

• Several tips for college success are explained (“Preparing for College,” 2015, p. 2).
• Example from the model essay: Rather than relying on the teacher, the student is actively involved in the writing process (Bijami et al., 2013, p. 94).
• Here we can see a paraphrase, not a direct quotation, with proper citation format.

Step 3 Connecting evidence: the bottom bun or “E”

In this step, you must explain the significance of the evidence and how it relates to your topic sentence or to previously mentioned information in the paragraph or essay. This connecting explanation could be one or more sentences. This “bottom bun” is NOT a paraphrase; instead, it is your explanation of why you chose the evidence and how it supports your own ideas.

• Example from the model essay: (“I”/top bun) Peer review can increase a student’s interest and confidence in writing . (“C”/meat) Rather than relying on the teacher, the student is actively involved in the writing process (Bijami et al., 2013, p. 94) . (“E”/bottom bun) As students take more responsibility for their writing, from developing their topic to writing drafts, they become more confident and inspired .
• Notice how the “E” or “bottom bun” elaborates on the idea of becoming an independent learner.  

Step 3 Strategies : Questions to ask yourself when analyzing the function of evidence

What “move” is the “E” / bottom bun is making? (e.g. What’s the “function” of the “E” / bottom bun?”)

• Is it interpreting the evidence?
• Is it analyzing the evidence?
• Is it describing an outcome?
• Is it providing an example?
• Is it making a prediction?
• Is it evaluating the evidence?
• Is it challenging the evidence?
• Is it elaborating on evidence that came before in the paragraph/essay?
• Is it comparing the evidence with something else or another piece of evidence?
• Is it connecting the evidence to a previously stated idea in the paragraph/essay?

Choose a function: Evaluate, Compare, Analyze, Connect, Predict

Watch this video: Evidence & Citations

Watch this video on the importance of explaining your evidence and including citations.

From: Ariel Bassett

Language Stems for Integrating Evidence

The sentence stems below can help you develop your command of more complex academic language.

Stems to refer to outside knowledge and/or experts

• It is / has been believed that…
• Researchers have noted that…
• Experts point out that…
• Based on these figures… / These figures show… / The data (seems to) suggest(s)…

Stems for introducing example evidence

• X (year) illustrates this point with an example about… (p. #).
• One of example is…. (X, year, p. #).
• As an example of this/___, ….. (X, year, p. #)
• …. is an illustration / example of… (citation).
• For example, …or For instance, …

Stems to support arguments and claims

• According to X (year), …. (p. #).
• As proof of this, X (year) claims…. (p. #).
• X (year) provides evidence for/that… (p. #).
• X (year) demonstrates that… (p. #).

Stems to draw conclusions (helpful to use in the explanation / bottom bun)

• This suggests / demonstrates / indicates / shows / illustrates…

(In the above examples, you can combine the demonstrative pronoun “this” with a noun. Ex: “these results suggests…” or “this example illustrates…” or “these advantages show….”)

• This means…
• In this way,…
• It is possible that…
• Such evidence seems to suggest… / Such evidence suggests…

Stems to agree with a source (helpful to use in the explanation / bottom bun)

• As X correctly notes…
• As X rightly observes, …
• As X insightfully points out, …

Stems to disagree with a source (helpful to use in the explanation / bottom bun)

• Although X contends that…
• However, it remains unclear whether…
• Critics are quick to point out that…

Academic Writing I Copyright © by UW-Madison ESL Program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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What this handout is about

This handout will help you understand and write for the appropriate audience when you write an academic essay.

Audience matters

When you’re in the process of writing a paper, it’s easy to forget that you are actually writing to someone. Whether you’ve thought about it consciously or not, you always write to an audience: sometimes your audience is a very generalized group of readers, sometimes you know the individuals who compose the audience, and sometimes you write for yourself. Keeping your audience in mind while you write can help you make good decisions about what material to include, how to organize your ideas, and how best to support your argument.

To illustrate the impact of audience, imagine you’re writing a letter to your grandmother to tell her about your first month of college. What details and stories might you include? What might you leave out? Now imagine that you’re writing on the same topic but your audience is your best friend. Unless you have an extremely cool grandma to whom you’re very close, it’s likely that your two letters would look quite different in terms of content, structure, and even tone.

Isn’t my instructor my audience?

Yes, your instructor or TA is probably the actual audience for your paper. Your instructors read and grade your essays, and you want to keep their needs and perspectives in mind when you write. However, when you write an essay with only your instructor in mind, you might not say as much as you should or say it as clearly as you should, because you assume that the person grading it knows more than you do and will fill in the gaps. This leaves it up to the instructor to decide what you are really saying, and they might decide differently than you expect. For example, they might decide that those gaps show that you don’t know and understand the material. Remember that time when you said to yourself, “I don’t have to explain communism; my instructor knows more about that than I do” and got back a paper that said something like “Shows no understanding of communism”? That’s an example of what can go awry when you think of your instructor as your only audience.

Thinking about your audience differently can improve your writing, especially in terms of how clearly you express your argument. The clearer your points are, the more likely you are to have a strong essay. Your instructor will say, “They really understands communism—they’re able to explain it simply and clearly!” By treating your instructor as an intelligent but uninformed audience, you end up addressing her more effectively.

How do I identify my audience and what they want from me?

Before you even begin the process of writing, take some time to consider who your audience is and what they want from you. Use the following questions to help you identify your audience and what you can do to address their wants and needs:

• Who is your audience?
• Might you have more than one audience? If so, how many audiences do you have? List them.
• Does your assignment itself give any clues about your audience?
• What does your audience need? What do they want? What do they value?
• What is most important to them?
• What are they least likely to care about?
• What kind of organization would best help your audience understand and appreciate your argument?
• What do you have to say (or what are you doing in your research) that might surprise your audience?
• What do you want your audience to think, learn, or assume about you? What impression do you want your writing or your research to convey?

How much should I explain?

This is the hard part. As we said earlier, you want to show your instructor that you know the material. But different assignments call for varying degrees of information. Different fields also have different expectations. For more about what each field tends to expect from an essay, see the Writing Center handouts on writing in specific fields of study. The best place to start figuring out how much you should say about each part of your paper is in a careful reading of the assignment. We give you some tips for reading assignments and figuring them out in our handout on how to read an assignment . The assignment may specify an audience for your paper; sometimes the instructor will ask you to imagine that you are writing to your congressperson, for a professional journal, to a group of specialists in a particular field, or for a group of your peers. If the assignment doesn’t specify an audience, you may find it most useful to imagine your classmates reading the paper, rather than your instructor.

Now, knowing your imaginary audience, what other clues can you get from the assignment? If the assignment asks you to summarize something that you have read, then your reader wants you to include more examples from the text than if the assignment asks you to interpret the passage. Most assignments in college focus on argument rather than the repetition of learned information, so your reader probably doesn’t want a lengthy, detailed, point-by-point summary of your reading (book reports in some classes and argument reconstructions in philosophy classes are big exceptions to this rule). If your assignment asks you to interpret or analyze the text (or an event or idea), then you want to make sure that your explanation of the material is focused and not so detailed that you end up spending more time on examples than on your analysis. If you are not sure about the difference between explaining something and analyzing it, see our handouts on reading the assignment and argument .

Once you have a draft, try your level of explanation out on a friend, a classmate, or a Writing Center coach. Get the person to read your rough draft, and then ask them to talk to you about what they did and didn’t understand. (Now is not the time to talk about proofreading stuff, so make sure they ignore those issues for the time being). You will likely get one of the following responses or a combination of them:

• If your listener/reader has tons of questions about what you are saying, then you probably need to explain more. Let’s say you are writing a paper on piranhas, and your reader says, “What’s a piranha? Why do I need to know about them? How would I identify one?” Those are vital questions that you clearly need to answer in your paper. You need more detail and elaboration.
• If your reader seems confused, you probably need to explain more clearly. So if they say, “Are there piranhas in the lakes around here?” you may not need to give more examples, but rather focus on making sure your examples and points are clear.
• If your reader looks bored and can repeat back to you more details than they need to know to get your point, you probably explained too much. Excessive detail can also be confusing, because it can bog the reader down and keep them from focusing on your main points. You want your reader to say, “So it seems like your paper is saying that piranhas are misunderstood creatures that are essential to South American ecosystems,” not, “Uh…piranhas are important?” or, “Well, I know you said piranhas don’t usually attack people, and they’re usually around 10 inches long, and some people keep them in aquariums as pets, and dolphins are one of their predators, and…a bunch of other stuff, I guess?”

Sometimes it’s not the amount of explanation that matters, but the word choice and tone you adopt. Your word choice and tone need to match your audience’s expectations. For example, imagine you are researching piranhas; you find an article in National Geographic and another one in an academic journal for scientists. How would you expect the two articles to sound? National Geographic is written for a popular audience; you might expect it to have sentences like “The piranha generally lives in shallow rivers and streams in South America.” The scientific journal, on the other hand, might use much more technical language, because it’s written for an audience of specialists. A sentence like “Serrasalmus piraya lives in fresh and brackish intercoastal and proto-arboreal sub-tropical regions between the 45th and 38th parallels” might not be out of place in the journal.

Generally, you want your reader to know enough material to understand the points you are making. It’s like the old forest/trees metaphor. If you give the reader nothing but trees, they won’t see the forest (your thesis, the reason for your paper). If you give them a big forest and no trees, they won’t know how you got to the forest (they might say, “Your point is fine, but you haven’t proven it to me”). You want the reader to say, “Nice forest, and those trees really help me to see it.” Our handout on paragraph development can help you find a good balance of examples and explanation.

Reading your own drafts

Writers tend to read over their own papers pretty quickly, with the knowledge of what they are trying to argue already in their minds. Reading in this way can cause you to skip over gaps in your written argument because the gap-filler is in your head. A problem occurs when your reader falls into these gaps. Your reader wants you to make the necessary connections from one thought or sentence to the next. When you don’t, the reader can become confused or frustrated. Think about when you read something and you struggle to find the most important points or what the writer is trying to say. Isn’t that annoying? Doesn’t it make you want to quit reading and surf the web or call a friend?

Putting yourself in the reader’s position

Instead of reading your draft as if you wrote it and know what you meant, try reading it as if you have no previous knowledge of the material. Have you explained enough? Are the connections clear? This can be hard to do at first. Consider using one of the following strategies:

• Take a break from your work—go work out, take a nap, take a day off. This is why the Writing Center and your instructors encourage you to start writing more than a day before the paper is due. If you write the paper the night before it’s due, you make it almost impossible to read the paper with a fresh eye.
• Try outlining after writing—after you have a draft, look at each paragraph separately. Write down the main point for each paragraph on a separate sheet of paper, in the order you have put them. Then look at your “outline”—does it reflect what you meant to say, in a logical order? Are some paragraphs hard to reduce to one point? Why? This technique will help you find places where you may have confused your reader by straying from your original plan for the paper.
• Read the paper aloud—we do this all the time at the Writing Center, and once you get used to it, you’ll see that it helps you slow down and really consider how your reader experiences your text. It will also help you catch a lot of sentence-level errors, such as misspellings and missing words, which can make it difficult for your reader to focus on your argument.

These techniques can help you read your paper in the same way your reader will and make revisions that help your reader understand your argument. Then, when your instructor finally reads your finished draft, they won’t have to fill in any gaps. The more work you do, the less work your audience will have to do—and the more likely it is that your instructor will follow and understand your argument.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Table of Contents

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, finding the bunny: how to make a personal connection to your writing.

• © 2023 by Sandie Friedman - George Washington University

Having trouble finding the motivation to complete assignment? This article reviews strategies for making a personal connection to any writing project—even those that don’t immediately spark your interest.

How many times have you had to slog through the process of writing a paper? An assignment is due next week, or tomorrow, but you struggle to put words on the page. Maybe when you have the freedom to choose your topic , you connect, but when a topic is assigned to you, you’re at a loss. 

It’s hard to complete any academic work—not only writing projects—if you don’t care. The educational researcher L. Dee Fink cites data indicating that “the majority of seniors graduate with less academic motivation” than when they entered college (Fink, 2013, p. 3). In his conversations with students, Fink observed that “they have difficulty seeing the value or significance of what they are learning” (Fink, 2013, p. 5). You may share that difficulty, especially when it comes to writing assignments.

Writing studies scholar Michele Eodice (2019, 2020) and her co-investigators surveyed 700 students to find out what makes a writing project meaningful: how do students connect to their work? The researchers discovered that students found a writing project meaningful when they made a “personal connection” (Eodice, 2019, 2020). My goal in this essay is to give you strategies for making a personal connection to any writing project—even those that don’t immediately spark your interest.  

Before we get to those strategies, it’s important to know a bit more about what Eodice and her team mean by a personal connection. They don’t just mean personal writing: the kind of writing where you use “I” and bring in your own experience or perspective. Instead, they understand the concept of “personal connection” more broadly and see students’ connections as falling into three categories:

• and subject matter (Eodice, 2019).

When we think of making a connection to a project, we almost always assume the excitement has to do with subject matter—that is, caring about the content of the course or the paper. That’s one way of making a personal connection; in fact, that’s how most professors assume students connect, according to Eodice’s research. Professors also tend to believe that acquiring academic skills is enough to make projects meaningful, but that’s not really the main reason for students (Eodice, 2020).  

There are at least two other ways of making a personal connection with your academic work (not just writing), which are just as important—if not more. These reasons have to do with you as a person, your past and future. For example, one of my former students—a future veterinarian—stayed motivated in science classes by remembering something that had happened to her: she once rescued a newborn rabbit, placing it safely back in its burrow. Even though the content of her science course wasn’t her main interest, she was able to motivate herself by thinking, “the bunny!”  In other words, she made a conscious effort to connect to her work through her compassion for the baby rabbit; the memory of “the bunny” and her love for animals kept her going in tough classes that prepared her for veterinary school.

Beyond individual reasons, students might find a course or writing project meaningful because t helped them connect to their family, community, or classmates—what Eodice (2019) calls the social dimension. Another of my former students found it meaningful to write a detailed plan for a basketball practice in his course, Principles of Coaching, because he dreamed of returning to coach children in his community. A third student had a younger brother who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and she spent time trying to help him with online learning during the pandemic. Connecting to the experience of working with her brother, she chose to research the experiences of neurodivergent college students: to investigate the challenges they faced, but also to show how they might overcome these challenges. A student from Cameroon, who grew up speaking both French and English, conducted a study of multilingual college students and how they navigated the shift to an American university. Each of these students found a way of exploring their identities or connecting with others through their writing projects.

So now you hopefully have a broader sense of what a personal connection can mean: beyond an interest in the subject matter, the connection might have to do with your individual path or with the people you care about. How can this help you? When you’re facing the prospect of writing a paper that just doesn’t spark immediate interest for you, stop for a moment. Clear ome space to reflect. Try writing in response to these questions, or just taking the time to think about them: 

Reconsider the subject matter from a new angle. 

• Is there a dimension of the topic, which might not be obvious at first glance, that you actually do care about? Does the topic connect to your passions and interests in some small or unexpected way?  
• Does this project help you prepare for the future, paving the way for work that connects in a more direct way to your passions?  
• Even if the topic itself fails to grab you, are you able to see its broader significance? Could it contribute to a scholarly or public conversation in a meaningful way?  

Connect the project to yourself as an individual:

• How might this project help you express something from your own perspective or experience, perhaps something that might otherwise remain hidden?  
• Could it begin to create a bridge towards your future? 
• Are you trying new research or writing skills, and in doing so, building your sense of yourself as an author?  
• How could it help you develop an aspect of yourself—for instance, your love of animals or your identity as a multilingual student?

Think about the social dimensions of the project:

• Does the project help you understand or connect to a family member or friend—for example, because of a shared interest or because of their profession?  
• Could it enable you to have a conversation or build a relationship with a professor or classmate? Does it offer you the opportunity for collaboration?  
• Could it be a way of entering more fully into a community of scholars, researchers, or other professionals?  

By reflecting on these questions, you may find an alternative way of making a personal connection to your writing project, beyond an interest in the subject matter.  

You might also consider whether you can connect to your writing project in the most immediate and direct way—by using “I” and bringing in your own experiences. In Jenna Pack Sheffield’s Writing Commons article, “ Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When Is It Okay? ” she explains that there are occasions in academic writing when you can use “I.”

When you find yourself slogging through another writing project, feeling disconnected, it’s worth asking: How can I make a personal connection? If not through subject matter, could it be because this project helps me connect to others, envision my future, or develop as a writer?  Where is “the bunny”—the powerful experience or dream that keeps me going?

Eodice, M., Geller, A. E., & Lerner, N. (2019). The power of personal connection for undergraduate student writers. Research in the Teaching of English, 53(4), 320–339.

Eodice, M., Geller, A. E., Learner, N. (2020). Meaningful writing and  personal connection: Exploring student and faculty perspectives. In L. E. Bartlett, S. L. Tarabochia, A. R. Olinger, & M. J. Marshall (Eds.), Diverse approaches to teaching, learning, and writing across the curriculum: IWAC at 25 (pp. 329-346). WAC Clearinghouse. http://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2020.0360.2.18

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. Jossey-Bass.

Further Reading

Eodice, M., Geller, A. E., & Lerner, N. (2016). The meaningful writing project: Learning, teaching, and writing in higher education. Utah State University Press.

McKinney Maddalena, K. (2010). “I need you to say ‘I’”: Why first person is important in college writing. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Series editors, Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. vol. 1., pp. 180-190.

Murray, D. M. (1991). All writing is autobiographical. College Composition and Communication, 42(1), 66-74.

Sheffield, J. P. (4/25/2012). Using first person in an academic essay: When is it okay? Writing Commons. https://writingcommons.org/article/using-first-person-in-an-academic-essay-when-is-it-okay/

Sommers, N. (1993). I stand here writing. College English, 55(4), 420-428.

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What Matters Most About Trump’s Guilty Verdict, According to 7 Opinion Writers

By New York Times Opinion

Welcome to Opinion’s coverage of the guilty verdict in the Manhattan trial of Donald Trump. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers reflect on this extraordinary development in American political history, on the moments and the dynamics that mattered most in the trial — and tease out its potential impact on the presidential election.

What mattered

Jamelle Bouie I am no lawyer and did not follow every in and out of the trial, but if there was a single thing that doomed Donald Trump — or at least, if there was a single thing that harmed his effort to escape a guilty verdict — it was his total contempt for the process and the proceedings. It is hard to imagine that he was helped, in any way, by his constant attacks on judge, jury and the trial itself. The jury, obviously, is asked only to evaluate the evidence before it, and yet, it is asking a lot of anyone to sit and ignore the fact that the defendant has, publicly, turned you into an enemy.

Matthew Continetti What mattered was that this case was brought at all. When Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, indicted Trump in April 2023, he not only established the dangerous precedent that local officials can bring criminal charges against former presidents, he annexed the 2024 presidential campaign to the legal system, with unknown and potentially hazardous consequences. Bragg’s actions undermined confidence in the rule of law and rallied G.O.P. voters to Trump, helping him win a third consecutive Republican nomination. Bragg didn’t defeat Trumpism. He revived it.

David French The prosecution had a compelling story to tell. Trump did not want Stormy Daniels to go public right after the “Access Hollywood” tape with evidence that would demonstrate that he does, in fact, believe that his celebrity entitled him to do what he wanted with women. And when Trump concealed the nature of the payments, the prosecution could easily make the case — at least to a jury — that he must have known that the payments were legally problematic. Trial outcomes are often dictated by the side that can create the most coherent narrative, and the prosecution’s theory of the case was easy for the jury to grasp.

Michelle Goldberg The mountain of evidence! Though the discourse around the trial was all about the wisdom of Bragg bringing charges in the first place, the question in court was more straightforward — did Trump do what he was accused of? The prosecution showed that he did. Trump’s defense, meanwhile, made the ludicrous argument that he never had sex with Stormy Daniels, and that the $420,000 paid to Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen — which was part of the reason he went to prison — was a legitimate legal fee. It would have been shocking if the jury had bought it.

Quinta Jurecic There’s no way to know what led the jurors to reach the verdict they did. But throughout the trial, I was struck by the insistence of Trump’s lawyers on pursuing arguments or lines of questioning that seemed unhelpful to their case. Todd Blanche, for example, insisted repeatedly that Trump had never slept with Stormy Daniels, even though this denial boxed Trump into a weaker argument. These tactics by the defense seemed designed to placate Trump’s own vanity and sense of grievance — but even if they made the client happy, it’s hard to imagine they helped his case with the jury.

Daniel McCarthy The dizzying number of the charges and the virtual absence of any dispute about the fact at the core of the case meant the prosecution only had to get the jury to doubt Trump’s motives. Justice Juan Merchan’s instructions were broad enough that the jury had many opportunities to find Trump guilty, and they did.

Kristen Soltis Anderson Focusing on winning the political battle and the communications battle when facing legal trouble only gets you so far. The law doesn’t necessarily care about public opinion.

Will it have an impact on the 2024 election?

Bouie I do not know if the guilty verdict will matter significantly for the 2024 presidential election, although it is fair to say that no presidential candidate wants to be a felon. If anything, I suspect that Trump’s conviction will be part of a background radiation of scandal that could weaken him beyond repair. One thing I do know, however, is that the guilty verdict is yet another instance of a fundamental truth of the Trump era: It has not been the institutions or the guardrails that have restrained the former president; it’s been ordinary American citizens who, when given the opportunity, have not hesitated to hold him accountable.

Continetti By November, we will be talking about something else. If we know one thing about Trump, it is that he is an expert at changing the subject. More important, despite President Biden’s efforts to shift the focus of the campaign to Trump’s rhetoric and conduct, the 2024 election is not about the former president. It is about the incumbent’s performance in office. The electorate will decide Biden’s fate based on its perceptions of the economy, the southern border and America’s global standing. A guilty verdict won’t lower prices, reduce border crossings or make the world a safer place.

French Yes, it will have an impact. Biden’s main weakness is with disconnected voters, and if there is one single news item that can break through with even the most apathetic citizens, it’s the headline “Trump Guilty on All Counts.” MAGA will redouble its support for Trump, of course, and some disconnected voters may well believe that the prosecution was political, but Trump is now a felon, and that will matter. Don’t expect anything like a dam break in public opinion that washes Trump away, but this will erode his support, and in a close election every bit of erosion matters.

Goldberg I’d guess a small one. A recent New York Times/Siena poll of swing state voters showed that a majority didn’t expect a conviction, so some might be jarred by it. Trump loyalists will easily rationalize casting ballots for a felon, but if this election is as close as the last two, even small shifts among wavering voters could be significant.

Jurecic Trump has a firm base of supporters who may be galvanized by his conviction. But they are not enough to win him the election on their own. His fate, instead, will rest with the voters whose support for him is less passionately held — people who might otherwise vote Republican but are put off by Trump’s boorishness. This verdict emphasizes all the aspects of Trump that those voters might find off-putting: Trump’s erratic behavior, his constant scandals. If this conviction harms Trump, it will likely be because a small but significant number of people in swing states simply couldn’t bring themselves to pull the lever for a felon.

McCarthy By outraging Trump’s supporters, the verdict will strengthen him, and voters who harbor doubts about the justice system may see him as more sympathetic as a result of this. He’s all the more an outsider and rebel now. The penalties may hamper Trump’s campaigning, but I expect the race will remain competitive, and become even more intense.

Soltis Anderson It may only matter at the margins. Voters who strongly dislike Trump will be thrilled with the verdict, but it won’t change things; they were never going to vote for him anyway. Voters who like him will not be surprised by a guilty verdict, because they have generally viewed the trial as political from the start. I believe the sentencing will play a bigger role in influencing the small group of persuadable voters, as Americans are forced to choose whether to vote for someone who could be facing prison time.

Jamelle Bouie, David French and Michelle Goldberg are Times columnists.

Matthew Continetti is the author of “The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservatism.”

Quinta Jurecic is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior editor at Lawfare.

Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review.

Kristen Soltis Anderson is a contributing Opinion writer for The New York Times. She is a Republican pollster and a speaker, a commentator and the author of “The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (and How Republicans Can Keep Up).”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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