When it comes to planned, non-spontaneous texts including written discourse and speeches, the manner in which the text is put together can be explained by elements of coherence and cohesion. While spontaneous discourse will also display coherence and cohesion, it is emphasized in planned texts because there is a greater deal of thought and intention behind the use of cohesive ties and devices of coherence. They can however often be difficult concepts to grasp. For starters, it is essential to understand the difference between the two terms. Coherence is defined as the quality of being logical, consistent and able to be understood. Imagine coherence as a building (It’s an analogy, go with it). Cohesion on the other hand refers to the act of forming a whole unit. It is effectively a subset of coherence. Picture cohesion as the bricks and cement which make up the building. Bricks and cement can be put together to create any form of structure. However, it is only when they are laid together properly that they form a building. Similarly, a text will be cohesive if cohesive ties are used however it will only be coherent if the cohesive ties are used appropriately to create meaning. You can have cohesion without coherence but you cannot have coherence without cohesion. The picture does not make sense unless the correct pieces are placed in the correct order, even if certain pieces may be the same size and shape. “I bought some hummus to eat with celery. Green vegetables can boost your metabolism. The Australian Greens is a political party. I couldn’t decide what to wear to the new year’s party.” In the example above, there are lexical links from one sentence to the next; cohesive ties are used to join the sentences. There is evidence of lexical repetition, ‘green’ ‘party’ and collocations, ‘new years’. However, this string of sentences do not make any sense; there is no binding semantic link. This is an example of cohesion without coherence. Cohesive devices effectively help the discourse flow. They include collocations, lexical repetition, linking adverbials, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions, synonymy/antonymy, hypernyms/hyponyms and referencing (anaphoric, cataphoric, deictic). These devices create physical links between the words in a discourse. Coherence which we previously defined as understanding can be achieved through devices such as cohesive ties, formatting techniques, inference, logical ordering of information, semantic patterning and consistency. These all enhance the ability of a text to be successfully interpreted and understood. Recipes, terms and condition documents, informative brochures all make use of formatting in the form of headings, bolding, underlines etc. to emphasis certain aspects of the text and draw audience attention to the most important elements. The focus of coherence factors is determined by the social purpose of the text. Is the text made to entertain? Inform? Persuade? Celebrate? If so, why? What is the overarching intention of the text? Answering such questions can help explain the purpose of coherence factors and cohesive devices within a discourse. This is effectively what you are aiming to do in your analytical commentaries and short answer questions in the exam. Identify the social purposes of the text and use them to explain the role of coherence and cohesion within the discourse. The other major factor of consideration is the intended audience of the text. Is the text aimed at teenagers? the Australian public? Or specifically to “bogan” Australians? The language choices and ideas implied in the text will reflect the intended audience. If a text is aimed at Victorian’s it may include lexemes such as “Mornington Peninsula” or “Shepparton” which Victorian’s can infer as locations within Victoria, however these terms would need to be further explained to those who reside outside this state. Lexical choices which require outside inference would be included if it can be reasonably interpreted that the intended audience would be aware of their meaning. Finding examples of inference in texts can be useful in identifying the social purpose of the text. The main thing to be mindful of is that finding cohesive devices and evidence of coherence in texts alone is not enough. You will gain your marks in your exam for linking these fragments of evidence to the wider social purposes of the text. 143.When all your sentences work together to develop a single idea, the result isa.the “you” attitude.b.paragraph unity.c.coherence.d.parallelisme.reader benefits.
Sentences should logically fit together in writing, connecting one idea to the next. This is referred to as cohesion. To ensure your writing is cohesive, consider using the old-new principle, where sentences begin with old information and end with new information. Notice how these two sentences work together: For many economists, the Great Depression was less a result of historical events than it was of poor international monetary policy. Such policy included the Federal Reserve’s failure to regulate interest rates and Great Britain’s return to Pre-WWI gold standard rate. The second sentence begins by recapping the ending of the first sentence. This enables readers to solidify the connection between one idea and the next. Just as sentences are cohesive when they “stick” together, paragraphs are coherent when they contain one controlling idea. Paragraphs should contain a single focus supported by related sentences that form into a major and coherent point. It is helpful to first state the topic of the paragraph thus informing the reader of its purpose and summarizing what the paragraph is about. The rest of the paragraph should be focused on that topic. To ensure that your paragraphs are coherent, make sure each paragraph is structured to make a particular point. Let’s look at the difference between two paragraphs, which are about the same thing. Paragraph A: “The particular ideas toward the beginning of sentences define what a passage is “about” for a reader. Moving through a paragraph from a cumulatively coherent point of view is made possible by a sequence of topics that seem to constitute a limited set of related ideas. A seeming absence of context for each sentence is one consequence of making random shifts in topics. Feelings of dislocation, disorientation, and a lack of focus in a passage occur when that happens.”* Paragraph B: “Readerslook for the topics of sentences to tell them what a whole passage is “about.” If theyfeel that its sequence of topics focuses on a limited set of related topics, then they will feel that they are moving through that passage from a cumulatively coherent point of view. But if topics seem to shift randomly, then readers have to begin each sentence from no coherent point of view, and when that happens, readers feel dislocated, disoriented, and the passage seems out of focus. For many readers, such an experience is like riding in a car that has a poor transmission.”* *Paragraphs A & B are adapted from Williamson and Bizup (2011). Most readers find Paragraph A incoherent, because its string of topics is inconsistent and diffuse; they do not focus our attention on a limited set of related ideas. In contrast, Paragraph B is much more coherent because it focuses on one central topic: readers. Along with limiting the topics in your paragraph, consider a specific strategy for developing your paragraphs. Typically, a well written paragraph will move from general to increasingly more specific claims or vice versa. Regardless of whether you move from general to specific or specific to general, be consistent with your pattern. If you do use a general-to-specific pattern in your paragraph, avoid beginning with an overly broad claim. Sentences (and essays) that begin “Every since time began…” encompass too much information for the writer and reader to manage.
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Identify strategies to revise for coherence at the paragraph level Reverse outlining can help you revise for high-level coherence. But it can also help you to make sure the individual paragraphs in your essay hold together and follow a coherent internal logic. Let’s return to the reverse outline. For each paragraph, you summarized the point (or claim) made in the paragraph. As you did so, you may have noticed that some paragraphs were easier to summarize than others. In cases where you struggled to identify the point of the paragraph, think about why it was difficult. Looking at paragraphs this way allows you to identify two of the main obstacles to paragraph coherence:
To think about what makes a paragraph coherent, let’s look at the elements of a paragraph in academic prose: What is a Paragraph?A paragraph is a single unit of thought made up of a group of related sentences. Two principles govern effective paragraphing: unity and coherence. Unity refers to the paragraph’s single main idea, which should be readily identifiable, introduced up front, developed convincingly, and concluded. Coherence refers to the relationships among the sentences in the paragraph. Each sentence should participate in the main idea and be arranged to create the sense of a developing logic rather than a random list. Paragraph UnityConsider the following paragraph. Identity politics provide a way for different social groups to fight for their own interests. Although fighting for one’s own interest might be beneficial on an individual scale, it could also be detrimental for the country as a whole. Due to interest conflicts between different groups, a nation can hardly redistribute its resources. Failing to redistribute the resources would likely cause socioeconomic inequality. This inequality will lead to systemic social problems over time. These problems can include national protests, riots, and even revolution. This paragraph lacks unity and coherence. Why? First, the bolded subjects of each sentence lack consistency and connection. Second, the first two sentences share a common topic (fighting for group interests), but the following sentences introduce new ideas (redistribution of national resources, socioeconomic inequality, and ensuing social problems), losing sight of the paragraph’s original focus. Finally, it’s difficult to identify a single point about identity politics these sentences work together to develop. Is the writer arguing for or against identity politics here? It’s difficult to tell. To revise for unity at the paragraph level. You should carefully review each paragraph in order to:
Paragraph CoherenceOne way to achieve paragraph coherence is to follow the ADVICE format. Here’s how this structure looks in practice:
The ADVICE framework provides a vocabulary for paying careful attention to paragraphs—your own, or those of the writers you’re supporting. Critical questions we can now ask include:
Paragraphing is a challenging skill to develop. Let’s consider some of the ways writers can get off track, and how these problems can be addressed.
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