ENGL000 Study Guide

Unit 3: Coherence

3a. Choose a logical approach to organizing ideas

  • Why is it important to put ideas in an order that is logical and easy to follow?
  • What two major organization patterns might you use for ideas in a paragraph or essay?
  • What will determine the order you put your ideas in?

The goal of all good writing is to make the reader's job easy. Coherence means organizing and connecting your ideas, which is key to readers following what you are saying.

Part of this means putting ideas together in an order that is logical and easy to follow. Two common organizational patterns include chronological order, which means in order of time, and emphatic order, which means in order of importance (or "emphasis", the root word of "emphatic"), specifically from least to most important. There is no single right way to organize ideas in a paragraph or essay, and chronological and emphatic orders are just common approaches. Ultimately, as the author, you will get to decide what order makes the most sense to you based on the nature of the topic.

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3b. Explain the importance of showing the relationships between ideas

  • Why is it important to show the relationships between ideas?
  • What is a common way you might go about connecting ideas?

A paragraph or essay is more than just a pile of sentences put together. A key part of an effectively written paragraph or essay is how ideas are connected to one another to create a smooth and easy experience for readers. A common way to do this is to use connective words and phrases called transitions. These transitions demonstrate relationships between ideas. Like mortar holding together bricks to create a solid wall, transitions hold together different ideas and examples in a piece of writing to express a key point.

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3c. Apply the use of transitional words and phrases to indicate relationships between ideas

  • What are the seven types of relationships that transitions can show?
  • When trying to decide what transition word or phrase you want to use, what should you consider first?

There are seven different types of transitions. These include:

  1. Addition words (showing a relationship between one idea and something else you want to say about it)
  2. Time words (showing a relationship between ideas/events happening at different points in time)
  3. Space words (showing a relationship between ideas/items in a physical space)
  4. Change of direction words (showing a relationship between ideas that are in opposition or conflict with one another)
  5. Illustration words (showing the relationship between a general idea and a specific supporting detail)
  6. Cause/effect words (showing a relationship between an idea which is a cause and an idea which is an effect)
  7. Conclusion words (showing a relationship between an idea that is the last one or final point in a piece of writing and the writing that comes before it)

Before choosing a transition word or phrase, consider what kind of relationship you are trying to illustrate.

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3d. Explain the use of content transitions as another way to connect ideas

  • How does a content transition work?
  • Why are content transitions useful?

A content transition is a sentence that refers to what was just said to connect that information with what is about to be said. For example, to transition from talking about easy work to great coworkers, instead of saying, "Second of all, I work with really great people", you could say, "Even better than the easy work, the people I work with are great". Content transitions are particularly useful in longer essays because they can help prevent the repetition of common transitions (like "second", "in addition", and "also") by giving you a greater variety of ways to connect ideas. 

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Unit 3 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • chronological order
  • content transition
  • emphatic order
  • transition