Week 4 Tips - Connectives

Connectives are connecting words and help the reader move smoothly from one point to the next.

Here are some examples of connective words:

and ~ so ~ but ~ because ~ when ~ for ~ as ~ though

It's important to use connective words when setting a scene because setting a scene involves giving your reader lots of information. You want your reader to move smoothly through your description.

Here is a special exercise for classes learning about connectives:

Imagine the town in which our monster story takes place.

1. Choose a name for your imaginary town. Say that there are lots of interesting things to see in your town and choose one of these giving example connectives to launch into your description.

such as ~ for example ~ for instance

Here are some examples:

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for example ...'

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, such as ...'

'There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for instance ...'

2. Think of two things that can be found in your town. Now put them together using one of these adding connectives:

and ~ also ~ as well as ~ too ~

Here are some examples:
'... there are purple horses and orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses. Also, there are orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses as well as orange cows.'
'... there are purple horses, orange cows too.'

3. Think of two more things that can be found in your town. Now put them together using one of these space and place connectives:

above ~ behind ~ below ~ beyond ~ to the right ~ to the left ~ opposite ~ in the background

Here are some examples:
'Lumipoo momps fly above a glittering pond.'
'Lumipoo momps fly beyond a glittering pond.'
'A pond glitters beneath lumipoo momps.'

4. Imagine something that's different from your own town and use one of these opposite connectives to explain in what way it's different:

instead ~ whereas ~ unlike ~ but

Here are some examples:
'Instead of a blue sky, the sky is green.'
'Whereas most skies are blue, the sky in this town is green.'
'Unlike on Earth, the sky is green.'
'Skies are usually blue but this one is green.'

5. Think of something in the town that is causing something else, i.e. something that is happening as a result of something else. Use one of these results connectives to explain the cause and effect:

because ~ therefore ~ thus ~ consequently

Here are some some examples:
'All the people are walking puppies because they want to scare off tubsters of terror.'
'People fear tubsters of terror, therefore they all have puppies.'
'People want to scare off tubsters of terror, thus they all have puppies.'
'Evil tubsters of terror are scared of puppies, consequently all the people have dogs.'

Now let's look at my example without any connectives:

My place is called Soggyswamp. There are purple horses. There are orange cows. There are lumipoo momps. There is a pond. The sky is not blue. The sky is green. Tubsters and scared of puppies. The people walk dogs. 

Compare it to my example using connectives:

There are many interesting things to see in Soggyswamp, for example there are purple horses and orange cows. Lumipoo momps fly above a glittering pond. Whereas most skies are blue, the sky here is green. Evil tubsters of terror are scared of puppies, consequently all the people have dogs.

As you can see, using connectives makes a description flow nicely.