instructor: Jentery Sayers 
~ classroom: smi 309 
& ougl 101 ~ TTh: 9:30-11:20
Using Conjunctions Effectively, Thinking Rhetorically
Subordinating conjunctions create a sentence with unequal elements. Typically, there's a central idea in the independent clause (the part of the sentence that could be a sentence on its own) and a secondary idea in the subordinate clause, which modifies, qualifies, or comments on the independent clause.You then tell the reader what exactly is the relationship between the two clauses. The following words ought to come in handy:
Time
after, before, when, while, as, by the time, as soon as, since, until, whenever, the first time, the next time, the last time, every time
Cause and Effect
because, since, as, as long as, so long as, due to the fact that
Opposition
although, even though, though, whereas, while
Condition
if, only if, unless, whether (or not), even if, providing that, in case, in the event
Coordinating Conjunctions give equal weight to each sentence or part of the sentence by linking the two with a semicolon or a comma.
To coordinate, try:
Simple connection
and
Cause and Effect
for, so
Opposition
but, yet, or, nor
Condition
for, so
When using either mode of conjunction, don't forget your audience. Conjunctions are cues, which cause your reader to anticipate that something in particular is about to follow.
uw english | jentery at u.washington.edu
