ENGL 396

1. LESSON 8:
GLOBAL COHERENCE
Frankie Johnston

2. “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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11.  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.

12. 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

13.  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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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….

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Nevada has heatedly resisted its use as a waste
disposal site.

20.  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.

21.  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.

22. 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.