Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021
Make paragraphs coherent
Writing paragraphs
A process for writing
When sentences and paragraphs flow from one to another, logically and clearly, without noticeable bumps, gaps, or shifts, they are said to be coherent. Coherence can be improved by strengthening the ties between old information and new. A number of techniques for strengthening those ties are detailed in this section.
Linking ideas clearly
Readers expect to learn a paragraph’s main point in a topic sentence early in the paragraph. Then, as they move into the body of the paragraph, they expect to encounter specific details, facts, or examples that support the topic sentence — either directly or indirectly.
If a sentence does not support the topic sentence directly, readers expect it to support another sentence in the paragraph and therefore to support the topic sentence indirectly. The following paragraph begins with a topic sentence. The highlighted sentences are direct supports, and the rest of the sentences are indirect supports.
There are several things that students can do to stay involved socially while attending school remotely. First, they can use technology to support their studies outside of the classroom. Instead of meeting in the library for a study session, students can meet over video. Class members can use chat software or social media groups to discuss the week’s lecture, ask questions, or organize group work. Second, students can move their extracurriculars online alongside their classes. Clubs can meet virtually and complete club activities over video, or students can simply stay in touch with friends or dorm neighbors while unable to see them in person. Finally, students can stay informed on what is happening at their schools. Many schools and colleges have blogs, social media pages, or online newsletters. Such platforms deliver school updates, inform students of virtual activities or events that they can attend, and — through pictures, videos, and more — provide a piece of campus life, however small.
— Margaret Smith, student
Repeating key words
Repetition of key words is an important technique for gaining coherence. To prevent repetitions from becoming dull, you can use variations of a key word (hike, hiker, hiking), pronouns referring to the word (gamblers . . . they), and synonyms (run, sprint, race, dash).
In the following paragraph describing plots among indentured servants in the seventeenth century, historian Richard Hofstadter binds sentences together by repeating the key word plots and echoing it with a variety of synonyms.
Plots hatched by several servants to run away together occurred mostly in the plantation colonies, and the few recorded servant uprisings were entirely limited to those colonies. Virginia had been forced from its very earliest years to take stringent steps against mutinous plots, and severe punishments for such behavior were recorded. Most servant plots occurred in the seventeenth century: a contemplated uprising was nipped in the bud in York County in 1661; apparently led by some left-wing offshoots of the Great Rebellion, servants plotted an insurrection in Gloucester County in 1663, and four leaders were condemned and executed; some discontented servants apparently joined Bacon’s Rebellion in the 1670’s.
— Richard Hofstadter, America at 1750
Using parallel structures
Parallel structures are frequently used within sentences to underscore the similarity of ideas (see section 9). They may also be used to bind together a series of sentences expressing similar information. In the following passage describing folk beliefs, anthropologist Margaret Mead presents similar information in parallel grammatical form.
Actually, almost every day, even in the most sophisticated home, something is likely to happen that evokes the memory of some old folk belief. The salt spills. A knife falls to the floor. Your nose tickles. Then perhaps, with a slightly embarrassed smile, the person who spilled the salt tosses a pinch over his left shoulder. Or someone recites the old rhyme, “Knife falls, gentleman calls.” Or as you rub your nose you think, That means a letter. I wonder who’s writing?
— Margaret Mead, “New Superstitions for Old”
Providing transitions
Transitions are bridges between what has been read and what is about to be read. They help readers move from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph.
Sentence-level transitions
Certain words and phrases signal connections between (or within) sentences. Frequently used transitions are included in the chart on page 27.
In the following paragraph about social psychology research, the authors use transitions to guide readers from one idea to the next.
Social psychologists conduct research because many of the things we think we know to be true turn out to be false, or more nuanced than we originally thought, when subjected to investigation. For example, it seems reasonable that people who are threatened with punishment for doing something forbidden, illegal, self-defeating, or fattening might eventually stop, and the more severe the punishment, the more likely they will be to comply. After all, they would now associate the activity with fear or pain. But when tested empirically, this assumption turns out to be dead wrong.
— Elliot and Joshua Aronson, The Social Animal
ACADEMIC WRITING Choose transitions carefully and vary them appropriately. Each transition has a different meaning (see the chart on the next page). If you do not use a transition with an appropriate meaning, you might confuse your readers.
Paragraph-level transitions
Paragraph-level transitions usually link the first sentence of a new paragraph with the first sentence of the previous paragraph. In other words, the topic sentences signal global connections.
Look for opportunities to echo the subject of a previous paragraph (as summed up in its topic sentence) in the topic sentence of the next one. In his essay “Little Green Lies,” Jonathan H. Adler uses this paragraph-level transition strategy to link topic sentences.
Consider aseptic packaging, the synthetic packaging for the “juice boxes” so many children bring to school with their lunch. One criticism of aseptic packaging is that it is nearly impossible to recycle, yet on almost every other count, aseptic packaging is environmentally preferable to the packaging alternatives. Not only do aseptic containers not require refrigeration to keep their contents from spoiling, but their manufacture requires less than one-10th the energy of making glass bottles.
What is true for juice boxes is also true for other forms of synthetic packaging. The use of polystyrene, which is commonly (and mistakenly) referred to as “Styrofoam,” can reduce food waste dramatically due to its insulating properties. (Thanks to these properties, polystyrene cups are much preferred over paper for that morning cup of coffee.) Polystyrene also requires significantly fewer resources to produce than its paper counterpart.
— Jonathan H. Adler, “Little Green Lies”
COMMON TRANSITIONS
✵ TO SHOW ADDITION and, also, besides, further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, next, too, first, second
✵ TO GIVE EXAMPLES for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, to illustrate
✵ TO COMPARE also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
✵ TO CONTRAST although, but, even though, however, in contrast, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet
✵ TO SUMMARIZE OR CONCLUDE in conclusion, in short, in summary, therefore, to sum up
✵ TO SHOW TIME after, as, before, during, finally, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, then, when, while
✵ TO SHOW PLACE OR DIRECTION above, below, beyond, close, nearby, opposite, to the left
✵ TO INDICATE LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP as a result, because, consequently, for this reason, if, since, so, therefore, thus
Maintaining consistency
Coherence suffers whenever a draft shifts confusingly from one point of view to another or from one verb tense to another. (See section 13.) In addition, coherence can suffer when new information is introduced with the subject of each sentence. As a rule, a sentence’s subject should echo a subject or an object in the previous sentence.