Transcript Finding Your Focus: The Writing Process

Essay Unity and
Coherence
LUO Yuqing
BUPT-SH
Understanding Essay 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.
Analogy
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Unity of a country
Unity of a political party
Unity of marriage
Unity of personal goals
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 inkstained 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)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.
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:____
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:____
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:____
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:____
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
• 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.
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.
Analogy
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Coherent symphony
Coherent argument
Coherent thinker
Coherence between a movie and its
continuation
Common methods to achieve coherence
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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 tenyear 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.
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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.
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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.
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Rhetorical devices: parallel, balanced
sentence, etc.