Chapter 5: Cohesion

Chapter 6: Sentence RhythmYay! Let’s learn grammar. Woot! Grammar is my most

favorite thing.

A quote on COHESION:

◦“The big parts of a story should stick together,

but the small parts need some stickum as well. When the big parts fit, we call that good

feeling coherence; when sentences connect, we call it cohesion.”

Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

Ch. 5: Cohesion◦Cohesion – the connection of sentences to one another, to the flow of a text, and the the ways in which a paragraph of separate sentences becomes a unified whole

◦Cohesion has to do with how we look at reader expectation (imagining yourself in your reader’s shoes)

Cohesion:◦3 important features of cohesion in writing:1. repetition – key words and phrases that keep the reader on course

2. the known-new contract – a sentence will have both known (old) info as well as new info (known info precedes the new)

3. parallelism – the repetition of structures of the same form for purposes of clarity and emphasis

Reader Expectation:◦If a teacher writes “awk” or “WC” in the margins of your essay, there is something strange about the way you have stated the info (it is awkward).

◦While this can seem subjective at times, your teacher is trying to make you aware of the fact that your sentence structure/word choices could improve

A Word About Topic Sentences:◦An effective one nearly always suggests the direction the paragraph will take, calling up a response in the reader (“prove it!” or “tell me more!”)

After the Topic Sentence:◦The next sentence should meet a reader’s expectation of what the rest of the paragraph should be about. It should give some sort of subtopic to follow up with the topic sentence/transition to the supporting details

◦After that, the writer should give supporting details/ examples/ and analysis to prove the topic sentence

Repetition:◦If your teacher has ever written “rep” in the margins of your paper, you have said something that sounds repetitive

◦How can you tell the difference between the good kind of repetition that enhances cohesion and the kind that calls negative attention to itself?

Unnecessary repetition is called redundancy (this should be avoided)

The Known-New Contract:◦This term describes the most common order for information in sentences

◦Generally the sentence starts with the known info coming first (subject position) and the new information (the reason for the sentence) in the predicate position (where the main emphasis naturally occurs)

◦See page 90 for details

Practice with Cohesion

DIRECTIONS:◦Combine the sentences in each set into two clear and concise sentences.

◦Eliminate any needless repetition.◦As you do so, add a transitional word or phrase to the beginning of the second sentence to show how it relates to the first.

◦Many combinations are possible.

InsteadRetirement should be a reward for a lifetime of work.

It is widely viewed as a sort of punishment.

It is punishment for growing old.

Therefore◦In recent years viruses have been shown to cause cancer in chickens.

◦Viruses have been shown to cause cancer in mice, rats, and even in some primates.

◦Viruses might cause cancer in humans.◦This is a reasonable hypothesis.

In fact◦We do not seek solitude.◦If we find ourselves alone for once, we flick a switch.

◦We invite the whole world in.◦The world comes in through the television screen.

Try #1 & 2 on page 93 exercise 15:

◦Anticipate the reader expectation and improve the cohesion in the sentence

2 days ‘til Turkey Break!

GRAMMAR TIME! You need your notebook. We’ll cover:

Eliminating vague pronouns Tricky verbs

The Role of Pronouns:

◦Possessive pronouns signal a link between new and known information

See page 94 for examples of this in writing

Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) take the place of a noun phrase and provide a strong cohesive tie

- Ex.- That plan sounds good to me.

Exercise 16,pg. 97Revise to eliminate vague pronouns

Troublesome Verbs

Tricky Verbs: Lie and Lay

1. Lie (to fib) – a regular verb: lie, lied, have lied, lying2. Lay (to put in place) – a regular verb

which MUST take a direct objectlay, laid, have laid, laying

3. Lie (to rest in place) – an irregular verb; transitive verb, no DO will follow

lie, lay, lain, have lain, lying

Parallelism:◦The repetition of whole structures, such as

phrases and clauses

◦Parallelism becomes an especially strong cohesive device when a structure echoes a structure from a previous sentence or paragraph:

“Its eastern border is the deep, navigable Willamette River . . .

Its western border is the steep West Hill . . .”

Quick AP Side-note:

Anaphora is a popular term for the AP test. It is the repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.

◦Ex.- "I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid to live. I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to succeed.” (is done for emphasis)

Antithesis:◦The introduction of contrasting, or dissimilar,

ideas:

Ex. – “We know the brain’s enormous flexibility permits us to be aggressive or peaceful, dominant or submissive, spiteful or generous.”

Turn to pg. 101…let’s look at some strong examples of repetition through parallelism.

Chapter 6: Sentence Rhythm

◦Intonation pattern – the rhythm of sentences(when read aloud, certain syllables are stressed)

◦The “It-Cleft” enables the writer to shift the emphasis to any unit in the sentence, forcing the reader to focus on the structure following “it was”

◦Ex.- It was Barbara who wrecked her motorcycle.

The “What-Cleft” uses a “what clause” in the subject position:◦Ex.- What Barbara wrecked was her motorcycle.

◦The what-cleft can also shift the original verb phrase into subject position: Ex.- What reduced the visibility to zero was the

thick fog.

The There-Transformation:

◦Another method of changing word order to shift the stress

◦Ex.- Original: A stranger is standing on the porch. New: There is a stranger standing on the porch.

Conjunctive Adverb and Transitional Phrases:

◦These create cohesion with an adverbial or transitional emphasis between sentences (this was examined in ch. 4) Ex.- One of the most obvious differences, of

course, is vocabulary. Ex.- You might choose this order if, for example,

you want to put the main emphasis

Correlative Conjunctions:◦Either-or◦Neither-nor◦Both-and◦Not only-but also

◦(discussed already in ch. 4)

◦These not only can change the focus and rhythm pattern of the sentence, but also change the expectation of readers.

Other Practice:◦Lay vs. Lie (review your notes from our last

discussion of this)

◦See handout for more practice

The Role of Passive Voice:◦The “passive transformation,” as the passive

voice is called, inverts the active word order, with the original direct object shifted to the subject position. Ex.- The proposition in the topic sentence is

followed by supporting details suggested by the topic and expected by the reader.

Sometimes this is appropriate to use in writing, but it tends to make info sound more vague, so try to avoid it when you are writing an analysis piece.