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Coherence: Logical Order and Transitions
The quality of coherence in writing is having all of your sentences and ideas logically related and connected to each other.
It is accomplished by having your sentences in logical order as well as by showing the relationships of each
sentence to each other. If you are reading an essay and you find it confusing, and it doesn't seem to make much
sense or is hard to follow, the writer is most likely having a problem with "coherence."
The first quality of coherence, logical order, is accomplished in several ways: having a clear thesis statement for
the whole essay, having clear topic sentences for each paragraph, placing paragraphs in appropriate order, having
the appropriate examples that support the topic sentence in the right paragraphs.
You will be organizing your ideas so the ones that support each other follow each other and are placed together.
The appropriate order of your essay is determined by various factors and you can arrange
your sentences and ideas and their examples in a variety of ways, including: chronological order (by time - good for narration),
space order (by location - good for description), emphatic order (from least important point to most important), problem-solution order,
from specific to general, or from general to specific. In addition, the type of essay
(rhetorical mode) that you are writing will affect the way you organize your ideas.
It will help you to see the organization of your essay if you make an outline.
An outline made before you write the essay will help you to write it; an outline made based on the essay you've written
after you've written it will help you see the organizational structure and make any needed corrections or modifications
to the order of your ideas and examples.
The second quality of coherence is now to show the relationships between these organized ideas.
You show relationships between sentences by using transitions.
Transitions are the "glue" between your sentences that help your sentences to "cohere" or stick together.
By explicity stating the relationship of each sentence (addition? contrast? example?) to the ones surrounding it,
your reader clearly understands the points you are making, how each sentence relates to the next as well
as to the essay as a whole (your thesis statement), and your writing make sense to your reader. Otherwise, your reader
will be lost when attempting to understand your writing.
There are several ways to show transition - through transitional phrases and expressions,
through pronouns referring back to a key word, through repeating key words and synonyms of key words,
and through parallel sentence structure.
Examples of each are below:
Transitional phrases and expressions:
Addition: and, also, then, too, next, first, second, third, finally, last, further, moreover, besides
Comparison: similarly, likewise, in like manner, in the same way
Contrast: but, yet, or, however, still, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the other hand, on the contrary, conversely, at the same time, even so, for all that, notwithstanding, otherwise
Example: for example, for instance, thus, to illustrate, specifically, namely
Summary: to summarize, in brief, on the whole, in sum, finally, hence, in conclusion
Result: so, for hence, therefore, consequently, thus, as a result, then, accordingly
Place or Time: here, there, near, opposite to, adjacent to, in the distance, meanwhile, at length, soon, in the meantime, afterward,later, now, then, in the past, at length, immediately, eventually, concurrently
Concession: of course, granted, to be sure, certainly
Repeating key words and synonyms of key words:
I was sick and tired of January, and sick and tired of February following January year after year like famine and pestilence following war.
I was sick and tired of football, and sick and tired of football being followed by ice hockey and basteball as pestilentiallyas February followed January.
I was especially sick and tired of people interrupting my grouch with commands to smile and cheer up.
I was sick and tired of everything except being sick and tired of it all, which I enjoyed immensely.
-Russell Baker, "Confessions of a Three-Day Grouch"**
Pronouns referring back to a key word:
Parallel sentence structure:
When you're three years old and stick mashed potatoes up your nose, that's expected.
When you're six and make your bed but it looks like you're still in it, you deserve some credit for trying.
When you're nine and prepare the family meal but the casserole looks worse than the kitchen, you should be applauded for your effort.
But somewhere along the line, some responsible adult should say, "you're too old for this nonsense."
-Dan Kiley, The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up**
Another excellent example of parallel sentence structure is Martin Luther King's famous speech, "I Have a Dream." I have included it here at this link in its entirety because parallel sentence structure is throughout the speech.
**All starred examples come from Hodges, John C. and Mary Whitten. The Harbrace College Handbook. 10th ed. San Diego: HBJ, 1986.
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