Five Minute Workshop: Cohesion in Writing

Five Minute Workshop: Cohesion in Writing

To help students understand the need for clarity in their writing, make clear the relation between the parts of a sentence, between entire sentences, or between paragraphs--that is, make explicit why their writing needs to be cohesive. (Note: Instead of "cohesion," many style books use the term "coherence" to refer to textual relationships, but linguist M. A. K. Halliday distinguishes between "cohesion" and "coherence," whereby "cohesion" is a property of the text and "coherence" is a property of meaning or interpretation.)

You might want to talk with your students about this writing principle in a manner similar to our discussion below.

Readers are confused when a text lacks cohesion. Readers cannot easily follow from one part to another, cannot tell which ideas are most important, and cannot determine how ideas are related. To connect the pieces of a text and to signal their relationship, skilled writers usually make use of five cohesive devices.

Five cohesive devices used in good writing

Pronouns
Repetition of key words and phrases
Transitional expressions
Parallel structures
Old/new information


Consider the readability of these two paragraphs. Paragraph A has only a few cohesive devices; paragraph B has several.

Paragraph A*

The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead bodies. Mummification, which was remarkably effective, consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and outside, and wrapping the body in layers of bandages. Mummies several thousands of years old have been discovered nearly intact, with well-preserved skin, hair, teeth, nails and facial features. Mummies may show evidence of diseases such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies. Fatal afflictions are apparent: a middle-aged Egyptian king died from a blow to the head; a child-king died from polio.

Paragraph B*

The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead bodies by mummifying them. Basically, mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and outside, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. This process was remarkably effective. Indeed, mummies several thousands of years old have been discovered nearly intact. Their skin, hair, teeth, nails, and facial features are still evident. Their diseases in life, such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies, are still diagnosable. Even their fatal afflictions are still apparent: a middle-aged Egyptian king died from a blow to the head; a child-king died from polio.

*(paragraphs from Little, Brown Handbook, 4th Edition, p. 87)



Pronouns

Pronouns refer back to nouns or other pronouns, and therefore link sentences together. In paragraph B, the pronoun "their," repeated in the last three sentences, refers back to "mummies" in the preceding sentence, linking all four sentences.

Repetition of key words and phrases

Deliberately repeating a key word, related words, or phrases will weave together the ideas within one or more paragraphs. The repeated words or phrases should be related to the main idea of the text. In paragraph B, the repetition of the words "mummies," "mummification," "mummifying," and "process" tie the paragraph together. The repetition of the word "still" in the last three sentences has the same effect. (It also adds emphasis.)

Transitional expressions

To indicate a connection between ideas, writers can use a wide variety of transitional expressions. Some of these words and word groups are listed below. (Those used in paragraph B are in boldface.)

To show addition--again, also, and, and then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, likewise, moreover, next, or, still, then, too.

To compare--also, in comparison, in the same way, likewise, similarly.

To contrast--although, and yet, at the same time, but, conversely, despite, even so, even though, for all that, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet.

To give examples or intensify--after all, as an illustration, certainly, even, for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, it is true that, namely, of course, specifically, that is, to be sure, to illustrate, to tell the truth, truly.

To summarize, repeat, or conclude--all in all, all together, as a result, as had been noted, basically, finally, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in particular, in short, in simpler terms, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to put it differently, to summarize.

To indicate place--above, adjacent to, below, elsewhere, farther on, here, near, nearby, on the other side, opposite to, there, to the east, to the left.

To indicate time--after a while, afterward, as long as, as soon as, at length, at that time, before, currently, earlier, eventually, first (second, third, etc.), finally, formerly, immediately, in the meantime, in the past (future), lately, later, meanwhile, now, presently, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, still, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, until now, when, while.

To indicate cause and effect--accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this purpose, hence, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thereupon, thus, to this end, with this object.

Note: While beginning writers often fail to provide enough transitions, some writers pad sentences with unnecessary transitions. Beware transition overkill!

Parallel structures

When a sentence pattern or other grammatical structure is deliberately repeated, we say the writing is parallel. Parallelism suggests similarity of meaning among the repeated elements and thus helps tie them together. In paragraph B, the last three sentences have parallel structures; they are tied together by the repetition of the words "their" and "still" and by the parallel structure of the form, "Their x's are still y."

Old/new information

English is a language with subject-verb-object word order. English is most readable when sentences begin with a subject that refers back to some "old information" in the previous sentence and end with a predicate that provides some "new information."

In paragraph B above, the second sentence begins with a phrase that refers back to the previous sentence: "Basically, mummification" refers back to "mummifying" at the end of the previous sentence. The third sentence begins with the phrase "this process," which refers to mummification in the previous two sentences. Subsequent sentences begin with some "old" information and end with "new" information.