Writing with Cohesion: Repeating Key Nouns What is cohesion? Repeating key nouns Review A Review B The implied hierarchy here doesn’t make sense. There isn’t a section called cohesion that breaks down into Cohesion and then something else. I suspect it should be What is Cohesion? Repeating key nouns This actually makes me concerned about the menu styles of the rest of the AB presentations

What is cohesion? Writing has cohesion if its parts stick together to form a unified whole. its ideas are connected in a way that makes sense. If writing is cohesive, the reader can easily follow the writer’s thoughts and understand his or her message.

Repeating key nouns One way that writers achieve cohesion is by repeating key nouns. Notice the repetition of the key noun jewels in this description from The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. There was such a mass of jewels as one had never dreamed could be together, jewels red as the inner flesh of watermelons.

Repeating key nouns The same strategy can unite whole paragraphs. Here is how Buck repeats the key noun anger to describe the main character’s state of mind: Now the anger that arose in Wang Lung’s heart was an anger he had not known in all his life before, although as things had prospered with him and as men came to call him rich he . . . had grown full of small sudden angers, and he was proud even in the town. But this anger now was the anger of one man against another man who steals away the loved woman.

Repeating key nouns Notice how using synonyms instead of repeating the key noun makes the paragraph less unified. Now the anger that arose in Wang Lung’s heart was a rage that he had not known in all his life before, although as things had prospered with him and as men came to call him rich he . . . had grown full of small hatreds, and he was proud even in the town. But his ire now was the fury of one man against another man who steals away the loved woman. Now the anger that arose in Wang Lung’s heart was an anger that he had not known in all his life before, although as things had prospered with him and as men came to call him rich he . . . had grown full of small angers, and he was proud even in the town. But his anger now was the anger of one man against another man who steals away the loved woman.

Repeating key nouns Synonyms A synonym is a word that has the same general meaning as another word. Synonyms fury anger hatred rage You can look up synonyms for a word in a thesaurus or use the thesaurus tool on a computer.

Repeating key nouns The second sentence contains a synonym for the highlighted word in the first sentence. Identify the synonym, and change the second sentence so that the key noun is repeated. 1. Marcia joyfully opened her presents. Each gift seemed more exciting than the last. 2. My little brother was terrified by the movie. He was so scared, in fact, that he hid his face behind a pillow. 3. Henley is reading a new book. It’s the most exciting story ever written about King Arthur.

Repeating key nouns The second sentence contains a synonym for the highlighted word in the first sentence. Identify the synonym, and change the second sentence so that the key noun is repeated. 1. Marcia joyfully opened her presents. Each present seemed more exciting than the last.

Repeating key nouns The second sentence contains a synonym for the highlighted word in the first sentence. Identify the synonym, and change the second sentence so that the key noun is repeated. 2. My little brother was terrified by the movie. He was so terrified, in fact, that he hid his face behind a pillow.

Repeating key nouns The second sentence contains a synonym for the highlighted word in the first sentence. Identify the synonym, and change the second sentence so that the key noun is repeated. 3. Henley is reading a new book. It’s the most exciting book ever written about King Arthur.

Repeating key nouns On Your Own For each sentence, write a second sentence that repeats a key noun from the first. Malik kept his most prized possessions in a special box. To reach the other side of the canyon, travelers must cross a rope bridge. 3. Through two years of drought, the townspeople had lived with hunger day by day. [End of Section]

Repeating key nouns Possible Answers For each sentence, write a second sentence that repeats a key noun from the first. Malik kept his most prized possessions in a special box. Taking the box from its hiding place, he looked over his treasures. 2. To reach the other side of the canyon, travelers must cross a rope bridge. Those who do not trust the bridge must take the long way around. 3. Through two years of drought, the townspeople had lived with hunger day by day. Finally, welcome rains came to erase that hunger permanently.

Review A For each sentence, write a second sentence that repeats a key noun from the first. 1. A rusted car took up most of the front lawn. 2. Flowering pear trees line both sides of the sidewalk. 3. We chose red and white as the main colors for the decorations. 4. Hard as it is to believe in this age of jet airliners, people once crossed the Atlantic by ship.

Review A For each sentence, write a second sentence that repeats a key noun from the first. [possible answers] 1. A rusted car took up most of the front lawn. Weeds had grown up around the car years ago. 2. Flowering pear trees line both sides of the sidewalk. Every spring these trees are among the first in bloom. 3. We chose red and white as the main colors for the decorations. These colors were the most appropriate for Valentine’s Day. 4. Hard as it is to believe in this age of jet airliners, people once crossed the Atlantic by ship. Even the fastest ship took more than a week to cross the ocean.

Review B Using the following passage from The Good Earth as a model, write three sentences that tell about a person’s relationship to something or someone that he or she loves. But still one thing remained to him and it was his love for his land. He had gone away from it and he had set up his house in a town and he was rich. But his roots were in his land, and although he had forgot it for many months together, when spring came each year he must go out on to his land.

Review B Using the following passage from The Good Earth as a model, write three sentences that tell about a person’s relationship to something or someone that he or she loves. Even though he had moved when he was only six, Scott had vivid memories of his first house in Nashville. The house itself was simple—nothing big or fancy. Still, the happiness that his family experienced in that house had made it seem like a castle. [possible answer]

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