Coherence

COHERENCE Cohesion
COHESION
- refers to the overall sense or logical flow - refers to the ties and connections which exist
of a text, making it easy for the reader or within texts that link different parts of sentences or
listener to understand and follow. larger units of discourse.

Coherence Principle There are two types of Cohesion:

• Logical Organization- ideas are presented 1. Lexical Cohesion
clearly and orderly, making the progression 2. Grammatical Cohesion
of thoughts easy to follow. This can involve
1. Lexical Cohesion- involves the use of vocabulary
using structures like chronological order,
to create links between different parts of a text. This
cause-and-effect, or problem-solution.
includes:

EXAMPLE: In a historical essay, the events

Repetition: Repeating the same word or phrase to
are described in the order they occurred,
create a link.
starting with the causes of World War I, EXAMPLE: “It was a cold day, a very cold day
followed by the major events of the war, indeed.”
and concluding with the consequences. Synonymy: Using synonyms or near-synonyms to
create cohesion.
• Consistency- the text maintains a EXAMPLE: “The thief was caught by the police.
consistent focus on the main theme or The criminal was taken to jail.”
argument throughout, without deviating or Antonymy: Using opposites to create a contrastive
introducing unrelated points. link between ideas.
EXAMPLE: “The night was cold, but the day was
EXAMPLE: In a research paper discussing the warm.
impact of social media on youth, the paper Collocation: Using words that are commonly found
consistently focuses on social media and its together or that naturally associate with each other.
effects, avoiding tangential discussions EXAMPLE: “She gave a great performance. The
about unrelated digital technologies. show was a success.”
Hyponymy: Using a more specific term (hyponym)
• Clear Connections- relationships between after a general term (hypernym) has been
ideas are made explicit through transitions mentioned, or vice versa.
EXAMPLE: “They have many pets: dogs, cats, and
and logical reasoning, helping the reader
birds.”
understand how one point leads to another.

2. Grammatical Cohesion- involves the use of

EXAMPLE: In a paragraph about the benefits
grammatical elements to link different parts of a
of exercise, a sentence might state, "Regular
text. This includes:
physical activity reduces stress levels. As a
result, people who exercise frequently Reference: Using pronouns, determiners, or other
report lower rates of anxiety and words to refer back to something previously
depression." This clear transition shows the mentioned in the text.
cause-and-effect relationship between EXAMPLE: “John went to the store. He bought
exercise and mental health benefits. some milk.” (The pronoun “he” refers back to “John.”)
EXAMPLE: “The dog barked loudly. It woke
everyone up.” (The pronoun “it” refers back to “the
dog,” creating cohesion between the sentences by
linking the subject of the second sentence to the
subject of the first.)
 COHESION
Substitution: Replacing a word or phrase with
COHERENCE
another to avoid repetition.
EXAMPLE: “I need a pen. Do you have one?”
(“One” substitutes for “pen.”)
VS. COHESION
EXAMPLE: “The committee decided to Cohesion deals with the connections
approve the proposal. They will announce their between individual sentences and phrases
decision tomorrow.” (“They” substitutes for “the through linguistic means (like pronouns,
committee,” linking the sentences without conjunctions, etc.). Coherence is broader
repeating the noun.)
and concerns the overall organization, logic,
and clarity of ideas within a text.
Ellipsis: Omitting parts of a sentence when the
meaning can be inferred from the context.
EXAMPLE: “Do you want tea or coffee?” —
“Coffee, please.” (The verb “want” is omitted in
the response but understood.)

FOREGROUNDING
EXAMPLE: “Jack likes running, and Jill does
too.” (“Does too” implies “likes running” from the
first part of the sentence. This ellipsis avoids
redundancy by not repeating the entire phrase.) Foregrounding refers to the use of language
that draws attention to itself, creating a
Conjunction: Using conjunctions to link clauses heightened awareness in the reader.
or sentences, showing the relationship between
them.
Concepts:
EXAMPLE: “I was tired, so I went to bed
• Deviation- occurs when language deviates
early.” (“So” indicates a cause-and-effect
from the norm or the expected conventions
relationship.)
of language use.
EXAMPLE: “She was excited about the trip,
EXAMPLE: Those equiptment were too heavy
because she had been planning it for months.”
(The conjunction “because” links the excitement to carry.
(cause) with the reason (planning the trip),
showing the relationship between the two • Parallelism- involves the repetition of
clauses.) structures, sounds or meanings within the
text, making it more memorable and impactful.
EXAMPLE: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Parallelism: Using the same grammatical
structure in multiple parts of a sentence to
create symmetry and connection.
EXAMPLE: “The company values honesty,
integrity, and transparency.” (The parallel
structure of the nouns (“honesty,” “integrity,”
“transparency”) ties them together,
emphasizing their equal importance and
creating a cohesive sentence structure.)

These cohesive devices are crucial for

making your writing clear, coherent, and
easy to follow. Use them to ensure your
ideas are well-connected and your text
flows smoothly from one part to the next.
.
 CATEGORIZATION
OF FOREGROUNDING
Foregrounding by Deviation: Foregrounding by Parallelism:

A. External Deviation: When the text deviates A. Phonological Parallelism

from linguistic norms external to the work, Phonological parallelism involves the repetition
exists outside the text itself, such as the of sounds, such as rhyme, alliteration,
grammar of the standard language. This type of assonance, or consonance.
deviation is noticeable because it breaks the
rules of the language as a whole. EXAMPLE
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
EXAMPLE: "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each
anyone lived in a pretty how town by e.e. purple curtain"
cummings
"anyone lived in a pretty how town B. Grammatical Parallelism
(with up so floating many bells down) Grammatical parallelism involves repeating
spring summer autumn winter similar grammatical structures, such as using
he sang his didn't he danced his did. the same sentence structure, clause, or phrase
Women and men(both little and small) multiple times.
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same EXAMPLE:
sun moon stars rain" I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman
"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
B. Internal Deviation: Internal deviation occurs Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it
when a text sets up its own norms or patterns should be blithe and strong,
(within a specific poem, novel, or narrative) and The carpenter singing his as he measures his
then deviates from them for effect. This plank or beam,
deviation is only noticeable because it breaks The mason singing his as he makes ready for
the rules established earlier within the same work, or leaves off work,
text. The boatman singing what belongs to him in
his boat, the deckhand singing on the
EXAMPLE: steamboat deck..."
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
"But as she [Clarissa] composed herself to drive Without parallelism, Whitman’s lines might look
back into London, her life, to be lived, and like this:
Clarissa had drawn it out, with a long, thin "The carpenter singing as he measures his
thread of pure white, she felt like an old tree plank or beam, the mason sings as he makes
about to be felled. What was the matter? ready for work, and the boatman, he is singing
Nothing. How delightful to see the old friends what belongs to him."
again! She took out her purse and threw a
shilling into the Serpentine, the toll for crossing, C. Semantic Parallelism
as if in some other world. But the sound of Big Semantic parallelism involves the repetition of
Ben striking the half-hour struck out between similar meanings, ideas, or themes within a text.
them with extraordinary vigor, as if a young
man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were EXAMPLE:
swinging dumb-bells this way and that." The Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
"A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to
plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted"
 FORMS OF
FOREGROUNDING
1. Lexical Foregrounding • Syntactic Parallelism: Repeating sentence
structures or patterns.
• Lexical Deviation: Using unusual or rare words,
neologisms, or archaic language. EXAMPLE:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
EXAMPLE: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age
"riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of of fo
shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious olishness..."
vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and
Environs." 3. Phonological Foregrounding

• Lexical Parallelism: Repetition of the same word or • Phonological Deviation: Playing with sounds,
phrase to emphasize a theme or idea. like using unexpected rhyme schemes or
alliteration.
EXAMPLE:
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech EXAMPLE:
The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins
" I have a dream that one day on the red hills of "I caught this morning morning’s minion, king- /
Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn
former slave owners will be able to sit down Falcon..."
together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of • Phonological Parallelism: Repetition of sounds
Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of (e.g., alliteration, assonance, consonance).
injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will
be transformed into an oasis of freedom and EXAMPLE:
justice. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel
I have a dream that my four little children will one Taylor Coleridge
day live in a nation where they will not be judged "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
by the color of their skin but by the content of The furrow followed free;"
their character. I have a dream today."
4. Semantic Foregrounding
2. Syntactic Foregrounding
• Semantic Deviation: Creating unusual meanings
• Syntactic Deviation: Altering standard word order through metaphors, similes, or paradoxes.
or breaking syntactic rules.
EXAMPLE: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
EXAMPLE: A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily (Act 1, Scene 2)
Dickinson "I must be cruel, only to be kind."
" A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides - • Semantic Parallelism: Repeating similar
You may have met him? Did you not meanings or concepts to reinforce a particular
His notice instant is -" message or theme.

— Standard syntax might have the line structured EXAMPLE: Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg
as: "A narrow fellow occasionally rides in the grass. Address:
Did you not meet him? His notice is instant." "...that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth."