|WHAT IS COHERENCE?|
|HOW CAN YOU CREATE COHERENCE?|
|PRACTICAL STEPS FOR COHERENCE|
WHAT IS COHERENCE?
Coherence is the unifying element in good writing. It refers to the unity created between the ideas, sentences, paragraphs and sections of a piece of writing. Coherence is what gives a piece of writing its flow. It also gives the reader a sense of what to expect and, therefore, makes the reading easier to follow as the ideas appear to be presented in a natural, almost automatic, way.
When writing lacks coherence, the reader is forced to stop and reread. Occasionally,
the reader may just give up out of frustration.
HOW CAN YOU CREATE COHERENCE?
Coherence is created in a number of ways. The following are some important ways that coherence can be created within your writing:
|The government has a number of responsibilities including, maintaining public order and safety, providing educational services, developing and servicing the citys infrastructure, and collecting taxes.|
Parallel structures can also be used among a series of sentences or paragraphs to enhance the coherence and balance of the writing. For example, when a writer begins each section of a report by asking a question he/she is creating coherence between the different sections.
It is best to start writing with coherence in mind; however, sometimes when you are writing a first draft you may forget to do so. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to revise your drafts for coherence.
For some practical steps in revising your writing to improve coherence see page 5. For additional resources on this subject, see page 6 of this handout.
You may find this partial list of transitions and conjunctions helpful. Conjunctions are words that link ideas within sentences. (Co-ordinating conjunctions link two equal ideas or components within a sentence e.g., and, but, yet. Subordinating conjunctions, subordinate one idea in relationship to another with a sentence e.g., although, even though, whereas, since, before, during, because.)
There are many words that have not been included in each category. Can you think of any other words?
Practical Steps for Coherence
Ask yourself the following questions when revising:
- Begin from the second sentence in your writing;
- Circle the word or phrase in the second sentence that links it to a word or phrase in the first sentence;
- Draw a circle around the word or phrase in the first sentence that forms the connection;
- Draw a line between the two circles;
- Then show the connection between the second and third sentence in a similar manner; and
- Continue on through the entire piece of writing noting the links between sentences, between paragraphs and between sections of the writing.
These links may look something like this:
When the link is unclear or not there, it may be because there is a break in the coherent flow of your writing. If this happens, you will need to revise. This may involve:
For more help with coherence, the following materials are recommended:
Heffernan, James A.W. and John E. Lincoln (1997) Writing: A Concise Handbook New York: W.W. Norton.
Reid, Joy (1988) The Process of Composition 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Smalzer, William R. (1996) Write to Be Read: Reading Reflection, and Writing Cambridge, England: CUP. (Unit 4)
Last revised: 17 September 1998
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