26. Create a Bridge Sentence

26. Create a Bridge Sentence:

Bridge sentences:

sentences that occur after the grabber / opener and lead the reader into the thesis. They provide a bridge from your directive, quote, rhetorical question, short narrative grabber / opener to the thesis. They usually fill in background information about the author, text, and subject matter.

For example: in the introductory paragraph below, the writer has employed quotations for an opener. (linking sentences are in bold)

“Native”: related to one as in connection with, the place of one’s birth or origin; Occurring in a pure state in nature and not refined, adorned, or altered by man. (Webster 902)

“Intelligence”: the ability to learn or understand from experience; ability to acquire and retain knowledge- any degree of keenness of mind, cleverness, shrewdness, etc. (Webster 702)

“Native Intelligence”: “develops through an unspoken or soft- spoken relationship with theses interwoven things; it evolves as the native involves himself in his region.” (Duncan 53)

David James Duncan’s novel The River Why develops the idea of being a native, of being intelligent, and of possessing native intelligence. Duncan argues that “the ability to acquire or retain knowledge” cannot be achieved unless one is “present in a place of one’s origin, unaltered by man.” This develops my belief that Gus’s journey toward adulthood involves his honing of intelligence as he involves himself in the natural and social environments of his world. According to the author native intelligence that combines academic, emotional, spiritual, and environmental acumen. Although Gus, the protagonist, begins the novel as a naive fisherman, he continues to develop into a native throughout the novel. Gus shows his progress to becoming a native through developing an understanding of spirituality, love, and death.

BRIDGE SENTENCE STARTERS:

FOR NARRATIVES:

-The point of this short narrative is ____________________________________.

FOR QUOTATIONS:

-In the passage above, the author expresses the idea that ____________________________. This develops my belief that ___________________________.

FOR DIRECTIVES:

-I ask you to consider this situation because ____________________________________.

-It is important to connect to this idea because ____________________________________.

FOR RHETORICAL QUESTIONS:

-Having contemplated these scenarios, ___________________________.

-With these questions in mind, it becomes apparent that _______________________________.