Mini lesson on achieving Coherence in writing. Give it a try! But before you do, why not try some Coherent Breathing (i.e., breathing "from the heart")- to get in the mood?

1. Coherence in Writing
October 1st, 2012

2. liquid honey
• it flows
• it sticks together

3. a working definition
co·her·ence – noun Coherence refers to a certain
logical interconnection; overall characteristic or aspect of
sense or understandability. writing. Literally, the word
means "to stick together.“
Linguistics. the property of
unity in a written text that Coherence in writing means that
stems from the links among its all the ideas in a paragraph flow
underlying ideas and from the smoothly from one sentence to
logical organization and the next sentence. With
development of its thematic coherence, the reader has an
content. easy time understanding the
ideas that you wish to express.
[Dictionary.com - Reference]
[TOEFL- Prep Writing: Coherence]

4. Coherent… or not?
For me, the worst thing For me, the worst thing about
waiting tables was the
about waiting tables was uniform. At the last place I
the uniform. All the worked, all the waitresses had
waitresses had to wear to wear an ugly brown striped
jumper. Underneath it we had
this ugly brown striped to wear an even uglier
jumper. The shirts were polyester shirt. Sometimes
polyester. Sometimes someone I knew would come
in and I'd feel embarrassed by
someone you know my outfit. Now I have a job in
comes in. Now I have a an office, where I can wear my
job in an office. own clothes.

5. ways to achieve Coherence
ordering principles
pronouns
combining sentences
transitional words
repetition

6. ordering principles
(paragraph type)
narration
e.g. chronological order
description for narrative paragraphs
process
exemplification choose principle that fits
comparison/contrast your material
definition
cause &effect use it consistently

7. cause & effect ordering principle
While there were many contributing factors to the French
Revolution, a primary cause was a financial crisis brought on by
royal extravagance. For years before the revolution finally
exploded in 1789, the royal government had been borrowing
heavily to cover deficit spending. (Cobb, 1988.) Even though
France’s high courts of appeal cautioned against such
borrowing, the royal’s extravagance continued, eventually
resulting in a financial crisis that required the government to
institute a series of taxes. As the press highlighted the
government’s spending with cartoons and stories, the
peasants, already burdened by high taxes, low wages and poor
harvests, began to resent the demands of the royals. Finally, in
1789, the Third Estate- the common people- became so
enraged, they demanded a new constitution and refused to
compromise with the existing government until it was written.
This demand set off the first sparks of revolution.

8. pronouns
(antecedent!?)
Murdoch could hear Seymour’s whoops
and Katie’s laughter. He stepped up to
the window and, leaning in
close, rapped hard… He let himself into
the hall, hung up his hat and coat, and
opened the door to the parlour.
Seymour greeted him with more
exuberance than Murdoch had ever
seen him express before.

9. combining sentences
Fred Smith has a problem. Fred Smith has a problem. He
He has too many cats. This has too many cats. This
problem started innocently problem started innocently
enough with one female cat. enough with one female
She had kittens. They grew cat, but she had kittens that
up, and the kittens had grew up and had more
kittens. Fred has thirty cats. kittens. Fred now has thirty
He spends most of his cats and spends most of his
energy and resources on energy and resources on
maintaining them. He is maintaining them. He is
exhausted. exhausted.

10. transitional words
(linking words)
addition:
also / in addition to /
additionally reinforcement of ideas:
detail or example: also / in other words / in
for example / that is / more addition / for example /
specifically moreover
logic:
change in ideas:
therefore / thus / in
conclusion instead / on the other hand / yet
contrast: / although / however / but / in
yet / nevertheless / on the contrast / nevertheless
other hand conclusion:
similarity: thus / therefore / in conclusion /
likewise / similarly / in other finally / accordingly / so
words

11. repetition
(optimal redundancy;
deliberate & judicious)
It’s perhaps not surprising that Marshall McLuhan, the
most influential communications expert of the
twentieth century, was a Canadian. As a nation , we
have been preoccupied with forging communication
links among a sparse, widespread population. The old
Canadian one-dollar bill, with its line of telephone poles
receding to the distant horizon, illustrates this
preoccupation. Year after year we strive to maintain a
national radio and television broadcasting system in
the face of foreign competition. We have been
aggressive in entering the international high technology
market with our telecommunications equipment.

12. putting it all together
Throughout most of my school days my eyes failed to
focus correctly when reading. Consequently, I saw
different symbols every time I read a sentence. As a ordering
result, the printed page was a chaotic kaleidoscope of principles
constantly changing letters that made no sense. For
example, when reading the last sentence I would see: “ pronouns
A tters made sense,” or “As le ter that made no ense,” or combining
“Letters mad no sens,” depending on how my eyes
focused on a sentence. After my eye problem was sentences
corrected, my real problems began because it was transitional
assumed that I could now read like everyone else. This
was a big mistake that overlooked the psychological words
effects created by my visual disability. Most repetition
importantly, I was left doubting my understanding
when reading unfamiliar material while teachers began
to give me increasingly complex material to read.

13. Coherent for you?
Test Yourself: Make It Coherent
http://www2.athabascau.ca/services/write-
site/paragraph-resource/make-it-coherent/quiz/
Athabasca University Write Site 