Coherence - Academic Mode

Definition of coherence
Coherence is a Latin word that means "stick together." In a composition, coherence is a literary technique that refers to the logical connections that listeners or readers perceive in an oral or written text, that is, it is a written or spoken piece that is not only consistent and logical, but also unified and unified. It makes sense when read or listened to as a whole The structure of a coherent paragraph can be from general to particular and from particular to general or any other format

Types of coherence
Local level Coherent text
In this type of text, coherence it occurs in small portions of a passage or text
Global level
Coherent text In this type of text, coherence occurs within the entire text of a story or essay, rather than in its few parts. White)
“Scientific agriculture, however strong in principle, often seems strangely oblivious to and is unaware of the vital and exhausting task of making a living from agriculture. in him as they study his bulletins, just as a poor man feels in a rich man an incomprehension of his own problems. Today's farmer knows, for example, that manure loses part of its value when exposed to the weather ... But he also knows that to produce hay he needs a stable climate, a better climate than is normally obtained in June ”.

This is a global level A coherent passage of text in which White has beautifully unified the sentences to make it a whole. He began the passage with a general topic, scientific agriculture, but moved it to a specific text on farmers and their functions.

Example # 2: A Tale of Two Cities (by Charles Dickens)
“The wine was red and had stained the floor of the alley in the Paris suburb of Saint Antoine, where it was spilled. He had also stained many hands and many faces. and many bare feet, and many wooden clogs. The hands of the man who cut the wood left red marks on the blocks; and the forehead of the woman who was nursing her baby was stained with the stain from the old rag which he re-rolled around her head. The ones who had been greedy with barrel rods ... scrawled on a wall with a finger dipped in muddy wine-you read-BLOOD. ”

Taken from the novel A Tale of Two Cities, this passage emphasizes the idea of staining and scribbling the word“ blood, ”which brings coherence to the lines. appearance of Wood-Sawyer, a man who later scares Lucie, thus achieves coherence.

Example 3: Animal Farm (by George Orwell)
“Well, comrades, what is our life like? Let's be honest: our lives are miserable, arduous and short. We are born, we are justly given So much nourishment to keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are able are forced to work to the last atom of our strength ...

“No animal in England knows the importance of happiness or leisure after being human. An animal's life is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth. "

Through the old major's speech, Orwell begins the passage on the miserable nature of farm animal life and then inspires. The entire paragraph is an example of coherent language.

Example 4: Unpopular Essays (by Bertrand Russell)
" That Word "philosophy" is one whose meaning is no means fixed. Like the word "religion", it makes sense when it is used to describe certain eating habits of historical cultures and another when they are used to denote a study or mindset that is considered desirable today. Philosophy, as practiced in the universities of the western democratic world, is, at least in its intention, part of the pursuit of knowledge that aims at the same kind of detachment that is sought in science ... ”

See how brilliant Russell is Connected ideas of philosophy and politics by moving from a general to a specific subject, connecting sentences and creating coherence .

Function
Coherence links the sentences of a work together. This can be done with paragraphs, making sure each statement logically connects to the one preceding it, making the text easier for readers to understand and follow. In addition, ordering thoughts in a sequence helps the reader to move from one point to the next. Since all sentences relate to the topic, thoughts and ideas flow smoothly.