Transitioning from the Article to Your Topic

After you have identified your topic, figure out if you are going to: Agree; Disagree; address a Missed Idea; present a Solution; provide Analysis; or discuss a New, Related Idea

Rule: Never mention yourself or the experience of reading the article.

Agree: Identify the idea you agree with as the most interesting idea in the article. Then, explain it.

Disagree: Identify the idea as the most questionable part of the article. Then, explain it.

Missing Idea: Bring up the idea as something that should have been taken into account & explain it.

Solution: Isolate the problem and explain it; then, your thesis can suggest that there is a solution (the best, of course) to this problem.

Analysis: Let the reader know that you will be looking at the various techniques and devices used by the writer and evaluating their effectiveness.

New, Related Idea: If you would like to address an idea that reading the article made you think about, identify it as a related idea and suggest that it, too, merits consideration. Explain it.

Transitional ¶ Example: New, Related Idea

Paglia discusses how this body image epidemic is beginning to affect men the way it has affected women for decades. The percentage of men who develop eating disorders has risen. Furthermore, more men feel the pressure to “compulsively exercise,” often devoting hours each day to muscular development. Another effect of the expectation of physical perfection is that men often seek out substances, many of them very unhealthy, in order to minimize the time it takes for them to see results. In essence, the objectification of men may soon be on par with the objectification of women—with similar results. However, because this situation is still at the inception stage, there is time to address it before it gets out of hand. The most egregious offender, more even than Hollywood, is the advertizing industry. Thus, this is the first group that needs to undergo or undertake reformation. The advertizing industry must be brought to task for the effects that their campaigns are having on our twenty-something men before the situation reaches the severity that it has reached with young women.

Transitional ¶ Example: Disagree

While Richie is correct about the need for a male-female rape dialogue, her claim that all men are biologically predisposed to be rapists is a huge generalization. Essentially, she states as fact the questionable assertion that all men are biologically driven to rape, that it is an “inherent” desire. She offers no support for this, making a blanket accusation of all men based on the actions of a small percentage of the population. Indeed, there is nothing to suggest that the desire to rape is anything more than an individual tendency, not an inherent male one.