By Melinda Wilson
When writing instructors refer to paragraph coherence, they are essentially talking about logic or “train of thought.” In the early stages of writing, the quantity and complexity of our ideas on a subject may overwhelm us, and, in an effort to preserve these ideas before they evaporate, we write them down as quickly as they occur to us. What results is a paragraph that reads like a list of ideas rather than a cohesive paragraph. Although the connections between ideas may be obvious to the writer, the correlations and relationships between the ideas must be clearly outlined for the reader.
In order to establish a logical progression of ideas as opposed to a list of ideas, we must think of every sentence as a transition to the subsequent sentence. It’s easy to identify transitional moments between paragraphs, but we often overlook transitions on a sentence level. Here’s what we should be talking about when we talk about paragraph coherence:
Coordinating and Correlative Conjunctions –Our coordinating conjunctions are our FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Within a sentence, these words help to establish relationships between parallel components of the sentence. Correlative conjunctions also indicate relationships within a sentence. Take either/or and neither/nor, for instance. These conjunctions reflect parallel choices.
Organization –The arrangement of sentences in a paragraph also lends itself to coherence or incoherence. We must present a rationale for our ideas, so it is critical that we organize our thoughts in a way that demonstrates a logical progression. Remember, every sentence is a transition or a bridge to the one that follows.
Flow –When writing “flows,” it moves smoothly from one sentence to the next. It’s not choppy, disjointed or redundant. It pivots from one idea to the next without confusion or interruption. Sentence variety is critical in achieving what writers call “flow.” Several consecutive sentences that utilize the same grammatical structure will produce a sense of repetition or monotony in the writing. Monotony interrupts flow. Instead, diversify sentence patterns. Use compound sentences, complex sentences and simple sentences.
Published May 22, 2015
