B. Phrases for balanced arguments

Introduction
1. It is often said that…
2. It is undeniable that…
3. It is a well-known fact that…
4. One of the most striking features of the essay is…

Thesis
1. The first thing that needs to be said is…
2. First of all, let us try to analyze…
3. One argument in support of…
4. We must distinguish carefully between…
5. The second reason for…
6. An important aspect of the text is…
7. It is worth stating at this point that…

Antithesis
1. On the other hand, we can observe that…
2. The other side of the coin is, however, that…
3. Another way of looking at this question is to…

Conclusion
1. What conclusions can be drawn from all this?
2. The most satisfactory conclusion that can come to is…
3. To sum up…we are convinced that…we believe that…we have to accept that…

C. REMARKS

VERBS 1
The quickest way to improve your writing is by paying attention to verbs.
1. English is rich in verbs. So the use of vague verbs or long phrases is unnecessary. Convert “takes a look at” into “examine”, “talks about in details” into “analyzes”.
2. Weak action verbs (do, get, have, go, make, say, etc.)can often be replaced by stronger ones. E.g. “has”- “displays”, “exemplifies”, “demonstrates”, etc.

VERBS 2
3. Weak action verbs paired with an adverb can usually be treated similarly (“talk heatedly” – “argue”) as can those paired with the nouns (“make an argument”- “argue”, “give an explanation” - explain).
4. Do not use can’t, won’t, etc. Instead use cannot, will not, etc.
5. And as much as possible make sure your verbs are in the active voice: “He threw the ball” rather than “The ball was thrown”. As you can see passive voice is wordier and less direct.

SENTENCE VARIETY
Make sure there’s some variety in the length and types of your sentences. Work at occasionally opening a sentence with something other than the subject. Student writers often tend to write strings of short, simple sentences. This makes the paper choppy and makes the ideas sound simpleminded. If choppy sentences are a problem, combine some of them into longer and more complex sentences.

Diversion
By the way, incidentally

Emphasis
Above all, chiefly, with attention to, especially, particularly, singularly

Exception
Aside from, barring, besides, except, excepting, excluding, exclusive of, other than, outside of, save

Exemplifying
Chiefly, especially, for instance, in particular, markedly, namely, particularly, including, specifically, such as.

Generalizing
As a rule, as usual, for the most part, generally, generally speaking, ordinarily, usually

Illustration
For example, for instance, for one thing, as an illustration, illustrated with, as an example, in this case.

Restatement
In essence, in other words, namely, that is, that is to say, in short, in brief, to put it differently, in a nutshell.

Sequence
At first, first of all, to begin with, in the first place, at the same time, for now, for the time being, the next step, in time, in turn, later on, meanwhile, next, then, soon, the meantime, later, while, earlier, simultaneously, afterwards, in conclusion, with this in mind.

Similarity
Comparatively, coupled with, correspondingly, identically, likewise, similar, moreover, together with.

Summarizing
After all, all in all, all things considered, briefly, by and large, in any case, in any event, in brief, in conclusion, on the whole, in short, in summary, in the final analysis, in the long run, on balance, to sum up, to summarize, finally.
Remember! Always understand the meaning of such traditional word or phrase before you insert it into your writing or else you might mislead your readers instead of guiding them. Bookmarking a list of the traditional phrases can help you with your next paper or project.

Addition
Also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly.

Consequence
Accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose, hence, otherwise, so then, subsequently, therefore, thus, thereupon, wherefore.