Chapter 2 Unity and Coherence
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Transcript of Chapter 2 Unity and Coherence
UnityAn important element of a good paragraph is unity. Unity means that a paragraph discusses one and only one main idea from beginning to end. For example, if your paragraph is about the advantages of owning a compact car, discuss only that. Do not discuss the disadvantages.
The second part of unity is that every supporting sentence must directly explain or prove the main idea. For example, in a paragraph about the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States, you could mention buying drugs from pharmacies outside the United States as an alternative, but if you write several sentences about buying drugs outside the United States, you are getting off the topic, and your para- graph will not have unity.
Study the book and check the exercises on pages 19-20-21
CoherenceAnother element of a good paragraph is coherence. The Latin verb cohere means "hold together." For coherence in writing, the sentences must hold together; that is, the movement from one sentence to the next must be logical and smooth. There must be no sudden jumps. Each sentence should flow smoothly into the next one.
There are four ways to achieve coherence:
• 1. Repeat key nouns.2. Use consistent pronouns.3. Use transition signals to link ideas.
• 4. Arrange your ideas in logical order.
The easiest way to achieve coherence is to repeat key nouns frequently in your para- graph. Read the model paragraph about gold to see how it uses this technique to smooth the flow of sentences. The key noun in this paragraph is gold. Circle the word gold and all pronouns that refer to it.
Repetition of Key Nouns
SAMPLE with Coherence
You should have circled the noun gold seven times, the pronoun it twice, and the pronoun its three times. (The word it in sentence 5 refers to coin, not gold, so you should not have circled it.)There is no fixed rule about how often to repeat key nouns or when to substitute pronouns. You should repeat a key noun instead of using a pronoun when the mean- ing is not clear.Throughout the following paragraph, the word gold has been replaced by pro- nouns, making the paragraph much less coherent.
Consistent Pronouns
When you use pronouns, make sure that you use the same person and number throughout your paragraph. Don't change from you to he or she (change of person) or from he to they (change of number).
For example, how can pronouns eliminate repetition in the following passage?
• Jamie enjoys playing the clarinet. Jamie plays the clarinet every evening. Jamie ’s brother becomes annoyed when Jamie practices.
• When the passage is revised using pronouns, it conveys the same information much more concisely.
• Jamie enjoys playing the clarinet. She practices it every evening. Her brother becomes annoyed when she practices.
Transition SignalsTransition signals can be categorized into three groups by grammatical function. The three groups are:
• sentence connectors (including transition phrases and conjunctive adverbs) ,
• clause connectors (including coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions), and
• mixed group called others.
Transition Signals
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Meaning/ Function
Sentence Connectors
Clause ConnectorsOthers (Adjectives,
Verbs, and Prepositions)
Coordinators Subordinators
To introduce similar additional idea
alsobesidesfurthermorein additionmoreovertoo
andnor(“and not)
anotheran additional
To compare things alsolikewisesimilarlytoo
andboth ... andnot only ... but alsoneither ... nor
asjust as
as ... aslike/ alikejust likesimilar tobe alikebe similar
To introduce an opposite idea, and to contrast things
howeverin contrastinsteadin/ by comparisonneverthelessnonethelesson the other handon the contrarystill
butyet
althougheven thoughthoughwhereaswhile
despitein spite ofcompared to/ withbe different (from)be dissimilarbe unlikediffer (from)
Transition Signals
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Meaning/ Function
Sentence Connectors
Clause ConnectorsOthers (Adjectives,
Verbs, and Prepositions)
Coordinators Subordinators
To introduce an example
for examplefor instance
such asan example of
To emphasize in fact To explain and restate
indeedthat is
To introduce an alternative
otherwise or ifunless
To signal chronological order
first, second, etc.first of allthen, nextnow, then, soonlast finallymeanwhilegraduallyafter thatsince then
afterasas soon asbeforesinceuntilwhenwhile
the first, the secondthe next, the last, the finalbefore lunchafter the warsince ....in the year ...
Transition Signals
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Meaning/ Function
Sentence Connectors
Clause ConnectorsOthers (Adjectives,
Verbs, and Prepositions)
Coordinators Subordinators
To indicate order of importance
above allfirst and foremostmore/ most importantly/ significantlyprimarily
a more importantthe most importantthe second most significantthe primaily
To introduce a cause or reason
for becausesinceas
result frombe the result ofdue tobecause ofthe effect ofthe consequence ofas a result ofas a consequence of
To introduce an effect or result
accordinglyas a resultas a consequenceconsequentlyhence, thustherefore
So result incausehave an effect onaffectthe cause ofthe reason for
Transition Signals
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Meaning/ Function
Sentence Connectors
Clause ConnectorsOthers (Adjectives,
Verbs, and Prepositions)
Coordinators Subordinators
To conclude all in all,in brief,in conclusion,in short,in summary,indeed,
It is clear that ...We can see that ...The evidence suggets that ...These examples show that ...
Logical Order• In addition to using transition signals and repeating key nouns and
pronouns, a fourth way to achieve coherence is to arrange your sentences in some kind of logical order.
• Your choice of one kind of logical order over another will, of course, depend on your topic and your purpose. You may even combine two or more different logical orders in the same paragraph. The important point to remember is to arrange your ideas in some kind of order that is logical to a reader accustomed to the English way of writing.
• Some common kinds of logical order in English are chronological order, logical division of ideas, and comparison/contrast.
Chronological order is order by time-a sequence of events or steps ina process. The model paragraph on how to grow an avocado tree (check your coursebook page 33) uses time order to organize the steps.
In logical division of ideas, a topic is divided into parts, and each part is discussed separately.
In a comparison/contrast paragraph, the similarities and/or differences between two or more items are discussed.
Sources:
http://www.starkstate.edu/public/system/uploads/files/Writing-Center/Pronoun-consistancy.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/edibrata/essay-writing-unity-and-coherence-7968332
http://edibrata.wordpress.com