RW071117

Coherence,
Cohesion, & Unity
 How do you write a good
paragraph?
• You need good organization:
– topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding
sentence
• You also need four characteristics:
– coherence
– cohesion
– Unity
– mechanics
• Coherence in writing Coherence
means that all the ideas in
a paragraph flow
smoothly from one
sentence to the next
sentence.
• With coherence, the
reader has an easy time
understanding the ideas
that you wish to express.
 Look at the bold words
• My hometown is famous for several amazing natural
features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is
very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which
is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long
branches that can move gracefully in the wind.  In autumn
the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like
golden snow.  Second, on the other side of the town is
Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. 
Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous,
because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can
be used as stairs. 
There are no trees around this hill, so it
stands clearly against the sky and can be seen
from many miles away.  The third amazing
feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands
two hundred feet tall and is probably about
six hundred years old.  These three
landmarks are truly amazing and make my
hometown a famous place.
 Coherence
• Narrative Paragraphs & Chronological Ordering
– narrative paragraphs  tell a story
– events must be ordered according to time
• Descriptive Paragraphs & Spatial Ordering
– descriptive paragraphs  tell what something looks
like physically
– describe from…
• top to bottom
• left to right
• front to back
 Coherence
• Expository Paragraphs & Logical Ordering
– expository paragraphs  explain something
– supporting sentences follow a logical
pattern
 Cohesion
• All the supporting sentences connect to each
other and to the topic sentence.
• Use COHESIVE DEVICES:
– connectors
• and, but, so, when, in addition, before
– definite articles
• the; a, an
– personal pronouns
• he, she, they;
– demonstrative pronouns
• this, that, these, those;
 Unity

• Paragraph unity means that one paragraph is about ONLY

ONE main topic. 
• That is, all the sentences -- the topic, supporting
sentences, the detail sentences, and (sometimes) the
concluding sentence -- are all telling the reader about ONE
main topic.
• If your paragraph contains a sentence or some sentences
that are NOT related to the main topic, then we say that
the paragraph "lacks unity," or that the sentence is "off-
topic."
 Proper Mechanics

Proper Mechanics - refers to the

conventions of writing which
includes capitalizations,
punctuations, spelling, numerals,
abbreviations, acronyms, and
contraction.
Vocabulary Words

revitalize vastly
exploits desiccated
superbly conspiracy
expatriates hapless
vanquished bedeviled
 Epic Review Shows How the Revolution
Assassinated ‘Heneral Luna’

• (1) By focusing on arguably the most rugged-

and therefore the most dynamic-figure of the
Philippine was against the American invaders,
Jerrold Tarog’s “Heneral Luna” revives the
historical action movie and in effect,
revitalizes two dormant genres-the action
film and more important, the historical film.
“El Vibora” which is actually a film
adaptation of the tagalog “komiks” novel
mythologizing the life and exploits the
Filipino General Artemio Ricarte, whom
Luna succeeded as commanding general
of the Philippine Army, was a hit in the
early 1970’s, which, extending from
1960’s, perhaps constituted the golden
era for Philippine action movies.
“Heneral Luna” is hardly an all-out
action movie like “El VIbora,” but its
battle scenes are well choreographed
and engagingly photographed. The
advances on film technology have been
fully exploited by Tarog, an all-around
filmmaker, in the service of the historical
action movie.
Antonio Luna John Arcilla
Financed by a group led by businessman
Fernando Ortigas, “Heneral Luna” is
superbly made; the camera works are
among the most impressive of late in the
Philippine movie. The production design
and art direction are top-notch.
(6) The opening scene has Luna boasting that his
master painter brother Juan who else, had helped
him designed the uniform of the nascent Philippine
Army; and the movie later makes references to Juan
Luna’s “Le Parisienne,” in telling the life of Filipino
expatriates and Propaganda Movement in Europe,
and of course, in a very stark fashion toward the
end, to “Spoliarium,” in which the assassinated
bodies of the general and his aide, were herded
like the vanquished gladiators in the famous mural
that now graces the National Museum. And of
course, the all-star cast is first-rate, with John
Arcilla in the career-redefining role of “El Heneral”.
A tragic hero in the most literal sense of
the term because of his brilliance, hubris
and tragic flaw (his arrogance and
inflexibility), Antonio Luna appears the
hapless victim of the shallow personality
orientation of much of Philippine and
government..
Perhaps even worse, he’s the victim of the
damaged culture of the Filipinos-their lack of
discipline, their incapacity to rise beyond
filial, feudal, regional, parochial interests,
their emotionalism and extreme sensitivity
that make them harbor deadly grudges for
the pettiest criticism or slightest slight, and
the historic unprofessionalism and
opportunism of their military and police
officer corps.
Above all, Luna was the victim of the ultra-
nationalism that had bedeviled our study of
Philippine history and made us apes and parrots of
the Anglo- Americans yarn of “ la leyenda negra.”
Luna was a reformist who did not believe in the
Philippine revolution or at least like Rizal, believed
the Filipinos ware not yet prepared for
independence from Spain, and like Rizal much later,
sided with Spain in the war with North America, and
eventually with the Filipino revolutionaries in the
defense against the invasion.
It has been repeated no end that
Luna’s is again one tired proof that
the revolution devours its own
children. This is not true, the
revolution did not devour Luna: El
Heneral was assassinated by the
revolution.
 I does not wanted to do the
acitivity that are teacher
telled us to do.

I don’t want to do the activity

that our teacher told us to do.
 May Classmates are talks while
the teacher discussed the leisons.

My classmates are talking while

the teacher is discussing the
lesson.
I sawed preti customes of
dancers last week end in
the shoppe.
I saw pretty costumes of
dancers last weekend at
the shop.
Transition signals are connecting
words or phrases that strengthen
the internal cohesion of your
writing. Transition signals act like
bridges between parts of your
writing.
Transition words are used in a
sentence to connect two ideas.
They join clauses or sentences
together to show a difference or
a connection.
Directions: Read each sentence and choose the correct verb in
parenthesis.

Example A: John (is, are) going to the mall after school today.
Answer: is
1. The players (are, is) going to the pizza restaurant after
today’s game.
2. Jane (were, was) going to go with the team but she had
chores to do.
3. Stephen (is, are) one of the best players on the team.
4. The coach (was, were) very excited that the team won the
tournament.
5. They (is, are) one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
6. My best friend (were, was) there when I arrived.
7. Where (do, does) your parents live?
8. Alex (has, have) two older brothers who play
baseball as well.
9. Each teammate (have, has) a trophy to take home
now.
10. Making the pizza (are, is) a lot of work.
11. The team (have, has) only one last season left.
12. Derek (was, is) one of the smartest players on the
team.
13. The coach (agrees, agree) that I should practice
more in the off-season.
14. How (does, do) you feel about coming off the
bench next year.
These words can be used to show time, make a comparison or
contrast, demonstrate a cause and effect, make a conclusion, show
sequence, or demonstrate similarity. Some common transition words
include

however therefore thus furthermore

meanwhile moreover surprisingly
finally subsequently consequently
hence accordingly
Example 1
We arrived late at the movie; indeed, we
missed the first thirty minutes.

Indeed is a transition word. It clarifies

how late we arrived at the movie.
Example 2
We left early to go to the movie;
however, we still missed the first thirty
minutes.

Indeed is a transition word. It clarifies

how late we arrived at the movie.
As you may have noticed, the underlined transition word in each of the
above examples is followed by a comma. Remember to use a comma to
separate the transition word from the rest of the sentence.
Exercises 1
Directions: Fill in each of the
blanks with an appropriate
transition word from the list
below.
 first nevertheless otherwise
therefore meanwhile however

1. Stephanie cooked the carrots and washed the

lettuce. __________, her brother prepared the
broccoli.
2. Jane wanted to drive Tanya and Michael to the
mall; __________, she only had two seats in her car.
3. Rodger was a chocolate fanatic, and he ate two
servings of dessert every night. __________, he
began to grow incredibly overweight.
 first nevertheless otherwise
therefore meanwhile however
4. Julia was almost ready to perform the
experiment. __________, she would need to
run tests on the control group.
5. Mother said I needed to finish all of my
chores. __________, I would not be able to go
to the movies with my friends.
6. Katy’s mother, father, and brother are all
vegetarians; __________, Katy eats meat
every day.