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Coherence
Coherence is the relation of each part
(sentence, paragraph, section) to each other part in order to
provide clear progression of one thought to the next. In other
words, a piece of writing needs careful organization of all its
parts so that one idea leads logically to the next. Then your
readers will be able to easily follow one sentence to another
sentence or one paragraph to another paragraph.
Coherence is sometimes confused with another structural word,
unity. Unity means oneness; coherence means
stick-togetherness.
To help parts relate to one another,
writers use transitional expressions, repetition of key words, and
careful pronoun reference.
Transitional tags can be simple,
such as the conjunctions and, but, nor, for, yet, or, so,
or they can be more complex, such as the conjunctive adverbs and
transitional expressions however, moreover, nevertheless, and
on the other hand.
You might have learned that starting sentences with and and
but is incorrect, but some successful writers start their
sentences with them. The decision to use and or but at
the beginning of a sentence should depend on your preference or your
teacher’s preference.
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addition |
again, also,
and, and then, besides, equally important, finally, first,
further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last,
moreover, next, second, still, too |
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comparison |
also, in the
same way, likewise, similarly |
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concession |
granted,
naturally, of course |
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contrast |
although, and
yet, at the same time, but at the same time, despite that, even
so, even though, for all that, however, in contrast, in spite
of, instead, nevertheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on
the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet |
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emphasis |
certainly,
indeed, in fact, of course |
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example
or
illustration |
after all, as an
illustration, even, for example, for instance, in conclusion,
indeed, in fact, in other words, in short, it is true, of
course, namely, specifically, that is, to illustrate, thus,
truly |
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summary |
all in all,
altogether, as has been said, 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 |
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time |
after a while,
afterward, again, also, and then, as long as, at last, at
length, at that time, before, besides, earlier, eventually,
finally, formerly, further, furthermore, in addition, in the
first place, in the past, last, lately, meanwhile, moreover,
next, now, presently, second, shortly, simultaneously, since, so
far, soon, still, subsequently, then, thereafter, too, until,
until now, when |
Some people fear that repetition will make their writing
sound redundant, but repetition is actually a useful type of
transition if it is not overdone. Simply reword your writing a
little, and the ideas in your sentences and paragraphs will be much
more connected.
Because pronouns refer to nouns that are written earlier in
text, they are an easy way of creating coherence in your writing. Be
careful, however, that you do not begin a sentence with just the
word “this” or “it” because your reader might not know what “this”
or “it” refers to.
Parallelism is repetition of phrases, clauses and whole
sentences. It is also the continuity of parts of speech. |
