Research Paper transitional words.

[Mega]

I'm having to write a research paper about the differences between the movie and real life events of Apollo 13.

I have 12 points to talk about (he said minimum of 4, but we also have to have 4 pages, which I could not for the life of me expand those 4 points enough to get that much).

I am needing help with transitional words at the start of each paragraph I'm talking about. I know in high school we were taught First, asd;lfjasdf. Second, a;dflkajsdf. Third, a;sldkfjasld. That doesn't cut it in college though lol.

What can I use throughout my 12 different paragraphs so that I'm not repetitive? Right now I just have been typing my thoughts out.....and reading back over it every paragraph starts with some sort of "Another change between the two is...." ;_;

[Sandrie]

Writer's Web: Transitional Words and Phrases

Similarity or Comparison

Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like manner, analogous to.

Contrast

On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true.

Don't just randomly throw them about though, it will make it even more awkward.

[JoyDivision]

Make an outline of the points you want to talk about. Write as much as you can without regard to transitions, but make sure you separate different points into different paragraph. Then, the transitions can become easier since you already have material you're working with.

Some words that can be used to link your sentences are as sandrie mentioned "similarly" or "in contrast", but you can also use "later on", "then", "furthermore", while in the movie [does this], the book [does this], etc.

Ask a friend to read your paper for help with transitions or to proofread your paper. Most colleges also usually also have a writing center where you can request help with writing assignments.

[Harlequin]

The trick is, you shouldn't really have to have too many transitional words. Instead, you should relate each paragraph through some commonality. Consecutive paragraphs should still be fairly related (like, say for one paragraph you were discussing sexuality issues within a film, then the next paragraph you might consider discussing issues of religion or of gender).

I personally tend to start off with a strong opening paragraph, and then spend another paragraph going deeper into that topic. Within that second paragraph, somewhere near the end, I try to relate the next topic of discussion to the topic of the current paragraph. From there, I just rinse and repeat until the paper is finished.

I would show you an example paper, but I'd have to get on my other PC to pull it up, and quite frankly, that's a lot of grief I'd rather not deal with. Good luck anyway.