Writing Coherent Paragraphs

Paragraph coherence is achieved by focusing on one subject and making sure each
sentence leads logically and gracefully into the next. Using transitional words and
phrases also helps, but these have to be used correctly. Each paragraph also should lead
into the next so that the whole essay holds together and supports the thesis.

Websites to consult: Read through the information on paragraphs and paragraph

coherence on the following sites.

Discussion of paragraphs and transitions from the Purdue OWL:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/

Description, by analogy, of a coherent paragraph from Dartmouth:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/write.shtml

Chapter on coherence from David Kies’ online textbook at College of DuPage:

http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp1/coherent.htm

Exercise on F. Scott Walters’s Webpage from U of I:

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cohere.html

Now use your knowledge to identify problems in the following paragraphs and
suggest what might make them better.

1. [Student response to reading Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa.]

Generally I do not like to read about someones farm. It was extremely tedious to read.
How much can someone right about their farm. How could anyone find this interesting?
This was boring. Maybe because of the generational gap of this essay to me. It was
written in a time when things were different. People were interested in the unknown parts
of the world. It was well organized. The author immediately told the reader exactly where
the farm was. She set the setting as it were so that the reader would know where it was.
Then she went on to tell of its description. This I think is a good way of presentation on
her part. The language that was used made it an easy read. There were no long words
used that would have made it harder to read.

2. [Student response to two essays on fathers]. Both stories are a little different. The
father in “Little Gorilla” had no physical contact with his son. Whereas in “Arm
Wrestling with My Father” that’s all his son ever had: a “strong hug” (130) or a “warm
hug” (293). Fathers are always viewed differently than mothers, but both are usually
looked up to by the child. Do children’s books really have an effect on the way children
look at their parents? The author of “Not All Men Are Sly Foxes” states that the fathers
are usually the character that is mentioned the least and mothers are mentioned the most.