LESSON 8:

GLOBAL COHERENCE

Frankie Johnston

“One of the most difficult things [to write] is the

first paragraph. I have spent many months on a

first paragraph, and once I get it, the rest just

comes out very easily. In the first paragraph you

solve most of the problems with your book. The

theme is defined, the style, the tone.”

- Gabriel García Márquez

Frameworks Shape Reading

The introduction of a text should do two things:

Motivate readers by stating the problem that they

care about.

Frame the rest of your document by stating the

point and key concepts that you will develop in

the text.

Forecasting Themes to Create

Coherence

To help readers achieve coherence in a text, you can use the by-now-familiar principle:

Begin each document, its sections, and subsections with a short , easily grasped segment that states the point and introduces the themes that readers use to organize the rest.

The body of the text then supports, develops, or explain the point and themes stated in the first part.

Six Principles for Coherence

For the document:

1. Readers must know where the introduction

ends and the body begins, as well as where

each sections ends and the next begins.

Use headings that include key themes for each

section.

Use introductory and concluding sentences.

2. At the end of the introduction, readers look for

the document’s main point / solution to the

problem. It should state the main themes

developed in the rest of the text.

3. In the body, repeat concepts and themes

regularly that were mentioned in the introduction

so as not to lose the reader.

For each section and subsection:

4. Readers look for a short segment that introduces the

section or subsection.

5. At the end of the introductory segment, readers look for

a sentence that states both the point of the section and the

specific concepts you will develop as distinctive themes for

that section.

6. In the body of the section, readers look for the concepts

announced as themes at the end of the introductory

sentence.

Find the key concepts

1. In an essay written after four weeks of

instruction, the students visibly attempted to

distinguish fact from opinion, but did

inconsistently.

2. In a final essay written six months after

instruction ended, they did no better than

they did in their pre-instruction essays.

1. In an essay written after four weeks of

instruction, the students visibly attempted to

distinguish fact from opinion, but did

inconsistently.

2. In a final essay written six months after

instruction ended, they did no better than

they did in their pre-instruction essays.

Tweet: Simplify this paragraph so that it is

coherent. (2-3 sentences)

Thirty sixth-grade students wrote essays that were analyzed

to determine the effectiveness of eight weeks of training to

distinguish fact from opinion. That ability is an important

aspect of making sound arguments of any kind. In an essay

written before instruction began, the writers failed almost

completely to distinguish fact from opinion. In an essay

written after four weeks of instruction, the students visibly

attempted to distinguish fact from opinion, but did

inconsistently. In a final essay written six months after

instruction ended, they did no better than they did in their pre-

instruction essays. Their training had some effect on their

writing during the instruction period, but it was inconsistent,

and six months after the instruction it had no measurable

effect.

There are no key concepts mentioned in the first few sentences. The terms inconsistently, never achieved, no better, no measurable effect, are crucial to the point of the whole passage.

The point of the passage is not touched on until the end of the passage. The fact that training the students had no long-term effect is lost because of all the rambling.

To much effort to get to the point.

Answer

In this study, thirty sixth-grade students were

taught to distinguish fact from opinion. They

did so successfully during the instruction

period, but the effect was inconsistent and

less than predicted, and six months after

instruction ended, the instruction has no

measurable effect.

Underline: point of the passage

Bold: Key terms

To write a document that readers will think is

coherent , open every unit – section, subsection,

and the whole – with a short easily grasped

introductory segment. Then put a sentence that

states both the point of the unit and the key

concepts that follow.

For example: First, the lack of opportunity in the

job market is a main cause for youth crime.

Second, the lack of recreational facilities creates

boredom in youth which leads to youth crime.

We can make sense of almost anything we read if

we know its points. But to make full coherent sense

of a passage, we must see two more things:

Readers must see how everything in a section or

whole is relevant to its point.

Tweet out what kind of sentences can be relevant

to a point.

For example: Consideration of other points of view.

Relevance to a Point

Background or context

Points of a sections and the whole

Reasons supporting a point

Evidence, facts, or data supporting a reason

An explanation of reasoning or methods

Consideration or other points of view

Second requirement for Coherence

Readers must see how the parts of your document are ordered. Chronological: Move from earlier to later (or vice versa), as a

narrative, or as cause and effect.

Coordinate: Two or more sections are coordinate when they are like pillars equally supporting a common roof.

Ex: There are three reasons why the second Batman movie was better then the third. First, second….

You can also use: also, another, more important, in addition.

Logical: This is the most complex order. You have to discuss points in a logical order or else you will confuse your reader.

This is done by example and generalization, premise and conclusion, or by assertion and contradiction. Signal logic with for example, on the other hand, it follows that….

On Paragraphs

Begin with one or two short sentences that frame what follows.

State the point of the paragraph (topic sentence) in the last sentence of its introduction.

Toward the end of that point sentence, name the key themes that thread through what follows.

This method does not always work if the paragraph is long.

A Basic Principal of Clarity

Readers are more likely to understand a text

that opens with a short segment that can be

easily grasped. This is the subject/topic.

Tweet: Change the sentence so that it can be

more easily understood:

Resistance in Nevada against its use as a waste

disposal site has been heated.

Nevada has heatedly resisted its use as a waste

disposal site.

In a more complex sentence, the short easily grasped

sentence is a main clause that expresses the point of its

sentence.

Tweet: Which is better and why?

1: Greater knowledge of pre-Columbian civilizations and the

effect of European colonization destroying their societies by

inflicting on them devastating diseases has led to a historical

reassessment of Columbus’ role in world history.

2. Historians are reassessing Columbus’ role in world history

because they know more about pre-Columbian civilizations

and how European colonization destroyed their societies by

inflicting on them devastating diseases.

In the first example, the point of the sentence is

buried at the end. The reader has to dig around to

find what the sentences point is. In the second

example, the opening clause states the main point

of the sentence, which is it’s most important claim.

Historians are reassessing Columbus’ role…..

The claim is then supported by the longer and

more complex clause that follows. The reader is

engaged in what the claim is and then is able to

continue on to learn about the support.

A basic principle of clarity is that any unit of

discourse – a sentence, a paragraph, a section,

etc, should begin with a short segment that

introduces and frames the longer and more

complex segment that follows.