Connecting ideas:

Unity and coherence

Introduction
Why do we use sentence connectors:

Sentence Connectors

To express ourselves in increasingly complex ways .

To improve our writing style is to use sentence connectors .

To express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences .

To add sophistication to our writing style.

Common transition words

To Give Examples:

for example, specifically, for instance, thus, to illustrate, namely

To Give Additional Information:

also, further, in addition, moreover, and

To Show How Things Are Related in Space:

above, below, here, there, opposite

To Show How Things Are Related in Time:

after, before, meanwhile, in the past, later

To Show Contrast:

but, however, in contrast, on the other hand, even so

To Show Comparison:

similarly, also, in the same way, likewise, in the same manner

To Show Results:

thus, therefore, as a result, consequently, to this end

To Show Summary:

in summary, hence, in conclusion, finally, all in all

 as soon as, finally, by the time, meanwhile,
until, the moment, first, then, as
____________, the taxi which was to take us to the

airport was late. ____________, it broke down on the

way. ____________ we got to the airport, all the other

passengers had checked in. ____________ that we

arrived we rushed to the check-in area to get rid of our suitcases.

____________, the other passengers had

boarded the plane. ____________ we were trying to

find the departure lounge we heard the final call for

the last remaining passengers. We began running and

didn’t stop ____________ we reached the gate.

____________ we arrived, we made ourselves known to

the ground staff but they told us we were too late and

we panicked. ____________, after some negotiations,

we were permitted to board the plane.

therefore, also, however, previously, as, for example, instead

Reading research has gained specific importance by the 1960s with the arrival of

cognitive psychology. ____________, researchers were experiencing difficulties in

explaining the mental event of reading as they merely focussed on behaviouristic

aspects rather than examining the process itself (Eskey, 2005). ____________, there

were no crucial attempts to build an explicit model of reading until the 1960s. Eskey

points out that for behaviouristic researchers it was almost impossible to understand

the process of reading as they were occupied in behaviours of learners such as in

spoken and written languages. ____________ one of the first proponents of

behaviourism, Watson (1924-1925, p. 6) highlights that “[t]he behavio[u]rist asks: Why

don’t we make what we can observe the real field of psychology?”

____________, the skill of reading would only enable researchers to investigate the eye

movements of the readers in a behaviouristic aspect which would doubtlessly result in

failure in explaining the complex mental process of reading. ____________, in 1879 the

French ophthalmologist Javal verified the first depiction of the eye movements in the

reading process. His study on eye movements is known to be the first investigation

into reading. He revealed that while reading, eyes do not move uninterrupted in the

search of the graphic stimuli; ____________, eyes have a tendency of quickly jumping
and also making pauses at particular parts of the text. The impact of eye movements

can ____________ be observed in Waldman (1958) where he examines the physical

factors related with eyes such as hyperopia, myopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism and

blames them for the lack of reading comprehension along with tired eyes.

moreover / apart from / in addition to / however / all things considered / on the other hand / the main
disadvantage of
Many people dream of having a large space in which to create their ideal garden. ________________
rewarding a large garden can be, it is worth considering the disadvantages. _______________________ a
large garden is the hard work it requires. _______________, this is a year round job which means taking a
holiday can be problematic.

________________ spending time, you will inevitably spend money on your garden, the amount
depends on the type of plants you grow, however do not forget the cost of fertilisers and sprays.

________________, having a large space gives you the opportunity to have a range of flowers and
vegetables. ________________ plants, you are able to create features such as ponds, fountains or even a
patio.

__________________, owning a large garden can be either a dream or a nightmare. If you are
successful, it is well worth the effort and expense.

finally / when / at first / then / immediately / by the time

Put the events in chronological order. Then, use the linking words from the box to join the sentences.

1.He reached her. She was beginning to drown.

2.He managed to pull her back to the shore and save her.

3.He saw that she was in trouble. He dived in to save her.

4.Fred was sunbathing on the beach. He saw a woman waving at him.

5.He thought she was just being friendly.

Use Topic Sentences

State the central idea of each paragraph explicitly in a topic sentence.

Expand on the Topic Sentences

The body of a paragraph develops and demonstrates what your topic sentences state.
Some common patterns:
Explain more fully what you mean, giving definitions or indicating distinctions.

Offer details, examples, or relevant quotations (with your comments).

Follow through a logical sequence, showing the

connections among your ideas in a recognizable pattern

such as cause and effect or comparison and contrast.

Show Connections

Be sure your intended logic is clear.

Often the simplest words do the most to pull together ideas.

Pronouns such as it and they and this keep the focus

on the ideas announced at the beginning of the

paragraph, as long as they are clearly linked to specific

nouns.

Deliberate repetition of key words also helps.

Choose Appropriate Paragraph Length

A series of long paragraphs can make prose dense and unpleasant to read.

Break a long paragraph at a logical place and create new topic sentences to make the shift
clear.

Also look for paragraphs only two or three sentences long.

They make academic writing seem disjointed or skimpy.

Try combining a few short paragraphs into one, using a single topic sentence to hold them
together.
Paragraph Unity

Refers to whether or not the text is on topic.

Paragraph unity: one paragraph is about ONLY ONE main topic.

A paragraph is unified when all of its sentences work towards the same end.

Each phrase and sentence should illustrate, clarify, explain, support

and/or address the idea that the topic sentence puts forward.

An essay is unified when all of the paragraphs illustrate, clarify,

explain, support and/or address the idea expressed in the essay's

thesis statement.

There may be more than one idea in a paragraph or an essay, but all

are focused on one overall theme.

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."

Unified or NOT
The United States is currently experiencing an

unprecedented energy boom. Much of the upswing in

American energy production is due to the reason of

the exploration of oil and natural gas in formations made

up of shale rock. Previously, these deposits had been

unobtainable, but as a result of technological developments

such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, these

previously untapped reserves are contributing to a massive

upswing in the production of domestic oil and gas. One

study by the Energy Information Administration predicts

that by 2016, the United States will be pumping ten million

barrels of oil a day, an amount that would equal the oil

output of Saudi Arabia, the long-time world leader in the

production of oil.
Unified or NOT?
1.Hurston’s revolutionary work resulted in scathing

criticism, especially from some of the intellectual leaders

of the Harlem Renaissance. Two of the movement’s

rulers, authors Langston Hughes and Richard Wright, saw

Hurston’s work as a harmful caricature of African American

life and even accused Hurston of creating new stereotypes

that were no better than the old. Yet, others praised her

ability to seamlessly include idiomatic speech and lauded

her efforts to capture “authentic” culture. While Hurston

viewed her work as a tribute to a rich and sophisticated culture,

her detractors saw it as a mockery, lampooning African Americans

in the worst possible way.

2.What has been made clear from researchers'

data, and what comprises the key issue in studying

amphibians, is the aforementioned number of threatened

species. Amphibians play important roles in ecosystems,

human health, and commerce. They have 10 stuck around

for the past 350 millions years, surviving many changes

that caused other organisms to become extinct. The

deterioration of this historically resilient group highlights

the importance of the recent studies on threatened

amphibians.

3. Professional chemists at CWB seek out projects that

can provide help directly to populations in need. Their A) These kits include a hand-held device that allows
users to identify arsenic concentrations in the
work in Bangladesh involves removing toxins, from water; arsenic is then removed using a filtration system.
the drinking water, primarily through water purification.
B) Another important area of education is vaccines;
CWB staff members create and give arsenic testing kits to people living in Bangladesh have access to
Bangladeshi locals and work with interpreters to vaccines but often do not receive them.

disseminate information and instructions. (1) CWB also

provides education about medicine, vaccines, and environmental

sustainability.
Kept / Deleted?

In addition to corporate posts in some of the world’s most 8

famous hotels and cruise ships, DeMane has also shared

her knowledge in the education field: for instance, she

created an International Baking and Pastry program at the

Florida Culinary Institute while serving as its Department

Chair. Even more rigorous are the hurdles that pastry

chefs must surmount to achieve CMPC status. Only eleven

people in the United States currently hold this title. In

order to be considered, they must endure an eight-day

long practical exam that showcases their culinary skills;

the prize affords membership in an elite cadre of pastry

professionals and bestows valuable name recognition

and clout in the culinary world. Climbing to the top of the

dessert world is an arduous task, but those who achieve

high levels of success receive considerable recognition.

This career path is not for everyone as it requires incredible

precision under immense pressure, but CEFs and CMPCs

often thrive under these conditions. By working to achieve

the most prestigious titles in pastry, these chefs have the

ability to make changes in their field.

Find off-topic sentences

1.After building the Super Soaker, Johnson invested

significant time and energy researching solar cells.

Johnson’s physics and engineering skills were critical
to his toy design. Traditional water guns are held in one
hand and require just a trigger pull to eject the water from
a small cavity. Johnson’s invention, by contrast, calls for
more muscle, requiring two hands to operate an air pump
before discharging, and stores water in a larger container.
The pump action on the Super Soaker allows the user to
compress the water and store more energy, resulting in a
mighty cascade of water.
2.Lucrative salaries are a draw for many prospective
hotel managers. Shan Kanagasingham was born in Malaysia,
speaks several languages, and studied at a university in
Switzerland before working at the Ritz-Carlton in Maui,
Hawaii, and the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong.
Her most recent job at The Surrey in New York City,
offered Kanagasingham the opportunity, to help upgrade
and gain more recognition for the hotel.

In order to inspire patriotism and meet the country’s

economic needs during World War II was why the
United States government launched a massive, targeted
propaganda campaign. It worked with advertising agencies
to create images specifically aimed at women to get them
to fill industrial jobs recently vacated by men. These efforts
led to the creation of one of the most famous and enduring
icons in American history—an icon who would have
an incalculable influence on American labor and society.
The propaganda posters featured images of a coverall
clad, muscular woman named Rosie the Riveter. Dirty
yet wearing makeup, brawny yet feminine, female
factory workers were symbolized by Rosie. She represented Added or Deleted?
women’s wartime work and sacrifice in an exaggerated
Propaganda also featured women
form for inspiration. (1) Posters and literature stressed the doing their part by conserving food items, planting
idea that if women became “Rosies” and worked, the war household gardens, and buying war bonds.

would end sooner.

Paragraph Coherence
. A paragraph is coherent when it flows smoothly in a clear
direction and when all the sentences are logically arranged.
. Ways to undermine paragraph coherence:
. Using too many short, choppy sentences.
. Organizing your sentences in an illogical sequence.
. Using weak transitions that fail to suit your purposes, or
not using transitions at all.
Coherent or not?
Canadian software companies face several tough challenges
in the new millennium because of "brain drain," the weak
Canadian dollar, and the monopoly held by their American
counterparts. However, the Canadian dollar continues its
downward spiral even today. "Brain drain" is a bad thing.
Our greatest resources are leaving. Microsoft is squeezing
out its competitors. In comparison, if the "brain drain"
continues, Canadian companies will find it difficult to
produce innovative software. The weak dollar will hurt us.
It will help the Americans.

Coherent or not?
Canadian software companies face several tough challenges in the
new millennium because of "brain drain," the weak Canadian
dollar, and the monopoly held by American corporations. "Brain
drain" is a catchy new term for the practice of American
companies enticing brilliant Canadian doctors, scientists,
researchers, programmers, and business people to cross over the
border into the United States. The U.S. firms lure the Canadian
talent with the strong American dollar and the competitive
research and business edge that many such companies have as a
result of industry monopolies. Simply put, Canadian companies
are being soundly beaten because they find themselves on a
playing field that is no longer level.

Pronouns as connectors
. Make sure that you use pronouns effectively.
. Make sure that these pronouns refer to the nouns explicitly.

. Sample: Find out what the underlined pronoun ‘they’ refers to?
. Hedge’s second proposal to reading teachers for the
promotion of extensive reading is ‘the reading syndicate’
where a group of readers introduce the books they are
reading which are different from the books that their
class-mates read.
Consider the following paragraph:
Major and minor connectors
. 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.

Consider bold words.

. How do they help guide the reader?
. First, Second, and The third amazing feature.
. They are major connectors.
. Help organize the main parts of a paragraph.
. This paragraph has three main parts:
. a part about the Wheaton River,
. a part about Wheaton Hill, and
. a part about the Big Old Tree.
. This paragraph has 3 main points: major connectors indicate them.
. Use such major connectors to provide coherence in a paragraph.

Minor Connectors
. What about the other words in bold, such as those
appearing in the phrases "these trees" and "this hill"?
. They are minor connectors.
. They provide coherence to a paragraph by connecting
sentences within each of the main parts of the paragraph.
. When you write about your main points, you can use them
to link your details to each main point.
Identify the main points
Each of the US manned space exploration projects had specific major
goals. The Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human
beings could survive and function in outer space. The Mercury project
tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold
one person. The Gemini project was intended to find out whether two
people could work in the weightless environment of space. Gemini
astronauts took "spacewalks." They floated outside their spacecraft in a
spacesuit, connected to it by a tether. Gemini astronauts tried out new
flying skills. Some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close
together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini
flights, astronauts physically linked two spacecraft together. Linking, or
"space docking," was a major goal of the Gemini program. The Apollo
project, with three astronauts, was intended to test spacecraft and skills
so that people could actually fly to the Moon and land on it. Performing
scientific experiments on the lunar surface and collecting rocks for
study on Earth were goals.

Major connectors
. The major ones:
. For example: introduces the first supporting point (the Mercury program).
. As another example: begins the second main point (the Gemini program), and
. Finally: introduces the third and last main point (the Apollo moon program).