Creating Coherence
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
You will hear the word coherence frequently in this course, and it is even one of the 7Cs of communication. For some people, it can be one of the most challenging components to implement. However, coherent writing is critical for transmitting messages that make sense to others. In this section we will explore coherence in more detail. We will discuss what coherence actually entails, how you can evaluate texts for coherence, and what to do to improve the coherence of your writing.
Check Your Understanding
❓ Read the two versions of the same paragraph below and answer the questions in the Padlet.
Version 1
The northern United States and Canada are places where herons live and breed. Spending the winter here has its advantages. Great Blue Herons live and breed in most of the northern United States. It’s an advantage for herons to avoid the dangers of migration. Herons head south when the cold weather arrives. The earliest herons to arrive on the breeding grounds have an advantage. The winters are relatively mild in Cape Cod.
Version 2
Great Blue Herons live and breed just about anywhere in the northern United States and most of Canada. When the cold weather arrives, the herons head south. A few come to Cape Cod where the winters usually aren’t too bad. Most of these herons are either inexperienced young birds or lost adult males too stubborn to ask for directions south. Spending the winter here has its advantages, and I’m not talking about the off-season parking in Provincetown. Herons are able to avoid the dangers of migration, plus they can be one of the earliest to arrive on the breeding grounds.
Source: The Sense of Style (2015) by Steven Pinker
Methods for Building Coherence
📖 Read this article on ways to improve the coherence of your writing.
Above all else, logically ordering the sentences in a paragraph and the paragraphs in your text will build coherence that carries the reader through your writing more easily. When trying to assess if your sentences or paragraphs are logically ordered, ask yourself these questions:
- How does this sentence or paragraph relate to the previous one?
- How does this sentence or paragraph relate to the main topic and purpose of this piece of writing?
- How am I making these relationships explicit in my writing?
Check Your Understanding
Check Your Understanding
❓ Read the paragraph below, and use the tips presented in this section to rewrite it for increased coherence. Post your rewritten paragraph in the padlet below.