Essay Unity and Coherence

1. Essay Unity and Coherence LUO Yuqing BUPT-SH

2. UnderstandingEssay Unity • An essay expresses a complete idea (presented by the thesis statement). • All the paragraphs in an essay support and develop the thesis (although from different angle). • All the sentences in each paragraph are closely connected in meaning (to support the topic sentence of the paragraph). • No irrelevant thoughts or facts.

3. Analogy • Unity of a country • Unity of a political party • Unity of marriage • Unity of personal goals

4. Exercise: Pick out the irrelevant sentences in the following article How to Con a Teacher 1)Enter college, and you’ll soon be reminded of the truth of an old saying: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” 2)That person behind the teacher’s desk holds your future in his or her ink-stained hands. 3)So your first important assignment in college has nothing to do with required readings, examinations, or even the hazards of registration. 4)It is, instead, how to con a teacher.

5. 5)The first step in conning a teacher is to use body language. 6)You may be able to convince your instructor you are special without even saying a word. 7)When you enter the classroom, be sure to sit in the front row. 8)That way, the instructor can't possibly miss you. 9)Then, as your teacher lectures, take notes frantically. 10)The teacher will be flattered that you think so much of his or her words that you want to write them all down.

6. 11)Using a felt-tip pen is superior to a pen or pencil; it will help you write faster and prevent aching wrists. 12)While you are writing, be sure to smile at the teacher's jokes and nod violently in agreement with every major point. 13)Most important of all, as class continues, sit with your body pitched forward and your eyes wide open, fixed firmly, as if hypnotized, on your teacher's face. 14)Make your whole body suggest that you are watching a star. The number of the irrelevant sentence:____

7. 15)Once you have mastered body language, it is time to move on to the second phase of teacher conning: class participation. 16)Everyone knows that the student who is most eager to learn is the one who responds to the questions that are asked and even comes up with a few more. 17)Therefore, be sure to be responsive. 18)Questions such as "How does this affect the future of the United States?" or "Don't you think that someday all of this will be done by computer?" can be used in any class without prior knowledge of the subject matter. 19)Many students, especially in large classes, get lost in the crowd and never do anything to make themselves stand out. 20)Another good participation technique is to wait until the instructor has said something that sounds profound and then ask him or her to repeat it slowly so you can get it down word for word in your notes. 21)No teacher can resist this kind of flattery. The number of the irrelevant sentence:____

8. 22)However, the most advanced form of teacher conning happens after class is over. 23)Don't be like the others who slap their notebooks closed, pick up their books, and rush out the door before the echoes of the final bell have died away. 24)Did you ever notice how students begin to get restless about five minutes before class ends, even if there's no clock on the wall? 25)Instead, be reluctant to leave. 26)Approach the instructor's desk hesitantly, almost reverently. 27)Say that you want to find out more about the topic. 28)is there any extra reading you can do? 29)Even better, inquire if the instructor has written anything on the topic—and whether you could borrow it. 30)Finally, compliment your teacher by saying that this is the most interesting course you've ever taken. 31)Nothing beats the personal approach for making a teacher think you care. The number of the irrelevant sentence:____

9. 32)Body language, questions, after-class discussions – these are the secrets of teacher conning every college student should know. 33)These kinds of things go on in high school, too, and they’re just as effective on that level. 34)Once you master these methods, you won’t have to worry about a thing – until the final exam. • The number of the irrelevant sentence:____

10. Understanding Essay Coherence • Cohere: co + here 粘合，团结，一致，协调 • Coherence: clear and reasonable connection between parts. • Coherent: adj. • Cohesion: n. the power to unite

11. Coherence in an essay means each part of the essay connects and follows in a natural or sensible way. In this way, readers will be able to move from one part to the next smoothly and clearly. The principal way of achieving coherence is to have a clearly stated topic sentence that ties the related parts of the paragraph together. Then the writer should decide how to organize the paragraph… When present facts, you may go from the least important one to the most important one, or vice versa.

12. Sample paragraph The first thing I noticed of the ailing local economy was the gradual increase in the number of cars parked at the secondhand clothing store near my house. Instead of two or three cars on the usual Saturday morning, there were now six or eight. Not long after, the shoe manufacturing plant laid off half its twenty employees, including my next-door neighbor. A week later, my father, who operated a hardware store, made his decision to sell out and move the family to the South.

13. Analogy • Coherent symphony • Coherent argument • Coherent thinker • Coherence between a movie and its continuation

14. Common methods to achieve coherence • Essay organization: time order, space order, process, climactic order, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, division and classification, definition, etc . • Parallel structure: After her first husband died of alcoholism, Carry devoted herself to eliminating consumption of alcohol in the U.S. Standing nearly six feet tall and weighing nearly two hundred pounds, she intimidated any drinker. Wielding rocks and hatchets, she destroyed dozens of bars. In the course of a ten-year struggle, she terrorized thousands of Americans but inspired thousands more. Though her campaign ultimately failed, she lives on as a symbol of powerful conviction and unequaled zeal.

15. Transitions: transitional sentence, phrase, and words. • Pronoun and reference words. • e.g. The match girl was out there for the whole day. She hadn’t sold one single match. • e.g. To be or not to be. That’s the question.

16. Repetition and synonym • e.g. The kidnapper took the poor boy with him and got on the plane before the police caught him. He didn’t know that the police had become good at trapping criminals who had hostages with them. • Rhetorical devices: parallel, balanced sentence, etc.