1. Lions, Rhinos and Moose: Stories from Africa and Canada

2. Welcome back to English Composition 2

3. 3 Agenda: Examine and practice cohesion in writingExamine and practice cohesion in writing –Introduce topic and stress Examine coherence in writingExamine coherence in writing Writing WorkshopWriting Workshop

4. Cohesion Cohesion refers to the sense of sentence-by-sentence flow by which we move easily through a passage.Cohesion refers to the sense of sentence-by-sentence flow by which we move easily through a passage. ©Suzanne Ryan 4

5. Understanding Cohesion and Coherence Read the following passages aloud. Which one is more clearly stated?Read the following passages aloud. Which one is more clearly stated? The Gateway Arch at the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis is the world’s tallest monument. Eero Saarinen designed the stainless steel structure that commemorates the Westward Movement.The Gateway Arch at the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis is the world’s tallest monument. Eero Saarinen designed the stainless steel structure that commemorates the Westward Movement. At the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis stands the Gateway Arch, the world’s tallest monument. This stainless steel structure, designed by Eero Saarinen, commemorates the Westward MovementAt the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis stands the Gateway Arch, the world’s tallest monument. This stainless steel structure, designed by Eero Saarinen, commemorates the Westward Movement. What makes the second seem to “flow” more easily?

6. Two Principles for Revision 1.Begin sentences with information that is familiar to your readers, usually information you’ve just given them. 2.End sentences with information that is new to your readers. This is called “The Known-New Contract.” Information moves from familiar to unfamiliar.This is called “The Known-New Contract.” Information moves from familiar to unfamiliar.

7. An Example How might you fix the following sentences so that they are more coherent?How might you fix the following sentences so that they are more coherent? Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates a black hole. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways.Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates a black hole. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways.

8. Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. A black hole is created by the collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble. So much matter compressed into so small a volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways.Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. A black hole is created by the collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble. So much matter compressed into so small a volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways. An Example

9. The Gateway Arch at the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis is the world’s tallest monument. Eero Saarinen designed the stainless steel structure that commemorates the Westward Movement.The Gateway Arch at the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis is the world’s tallest monument. Eero Saarinen designed the stainless steel structure that commemorates the Westward Movement. At the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis stands the Gateway Arch, the world’s tallest monument. This stainless steel structure, designed by Eero Saarinen, commemorates the Westward MovementAt the edge of the Mississippi River in St. Louis stands the Gateway Arch, the world’s tallest monument. This stainless steel structure, designed by Eero Saarinen, commemorates the Westward Movement. ©Suzanne Ryan 9

10. What’s the Difference? In the 2 nd paragraph, each sentence connects easily to the sentence that precedes it and the sentence that follows. The 2 nd paragraph has cohesion.The 2 nd paragraph has cohesion. ©Suzanne Ryan 10

11. The First Principle of Cohesion: Old First Begin your sentences with information familiar to your readers. –This can be information you’ve recently introduced within the text. –This can be brought to the text with the general knowledge of the audience. ©Suzanne Ryan 11

12. The Second Principle of Cohesion: New Last End your sentences with information your readers cannot anticipate ©Suzanne Ryan 12

13. The Principle of Cohesion as a Law of Cognition The principle of old-before-new is built into our perception of time and story. The principle forms the conceptual basis of the introduction or background sections of an essay. ©Suzanne Ryan 13

14. What Cohesion Means for Your Sentence Beginnings Don’t begin a sentence with a bit of new information Don’t begin a sentence with a bit of technical information Use your openings to refer back to previous material or gently introduce a new topic ©Suzanne Ryan 14

15. What Cohesion Means for Your Sentence Endings Don’t end a sentence with old information Put the new, technical, and difficult information at the end of the sentence Clearly signal when the end of a sentence begins ©Suzanne Ryan 15

16. “But then my point will be lost!” Ending sentences with new and important information is counter-intuitive. We want to put the new information first, to “highlight” it. But if readers don’t understand its importance, placing it first will not help. Besides, we remember what’s last anyway. ©Suzanne Ryan 16

17. What Readers Remember from Sentences First―the sentence ending Second―the sentence beginning Last―the sentence middle ©Suzanne Ryan 17

18. Topic and Stress The beginning of your sentence is its topic: it’s what the sentence is about. The end of the sentence is its stress: it’s what the sentence delivers. ©Suzanne Ryan 18

19. Topic and Stress in a Sentence Topic (the “beginning”) Stress (the “ending”) Old, familiar, simple information linking back to previous sentences New, complex, unfamiliar information linking forward ©Suzanne Ryan 19

20. Let’s add Cohesion/Coherence ©Suzanne Ryan 20

21. Cohesion: In-class Activity For practice, look at the first three sentences of a paragraph you’ve written for your About the Staff assignment Check to see if your sentences start with old information and end with new ©Suzanne Ryan 21

22. Cohesion: In-class Activity If the paragraph you chose does not show cohesion, please rewrite it now If the paragraph you chose does show cohesion, see if you can find one that doesn’t and rewrite it ©Suzanne Ryan 22

23. Questions? ©Suzanne Ryan 23

24. Coherence Coherence refers to the overall sense of unity in a passage ©Suzanne Ryan 24

25. Cohesion without Coherence As a reminder, please promptly return the lecture notes you borrowed. Slide the notes under my door if I am not there. I may become agitated if you are late, much like my Uncle Chester after several egg nogs on Christmas Eve. Most Christmases I liked to stay up and open my stockings after midnight. Staying up late was exciting and would be repeated a week later at New Year’s. So would Uncle Chester’s disgraceful behavior. ©Suzanne Ryan 25

26. Cohesion Vs. Coherence The previous example is cohesive –Each sentence connects with the next and the previous –Sentences begin with familiar information –Sentences end with new information But the previous example is incoherent –The paragraph has no sense of focus –Each sentence shifts topic from the previous ©Suzanne Ryan 26

27. Coherence is Established in Two Ways Readers identify the topics of individual sentences clearly Topics of sentences come in a connected set (usually a paragraph) ©Suzanne Ryan 27

28. “Sometimes I will stay up in my room for a day trying to get two sentences that will flow, that will seem as if they were always there.” - Maya Angelou American Poet & Autobiographer I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ©Suzanne Ryan 28

29. Ernest Hemingway rewrote the last page of A Farewell to Arms 39 times. ©Suzanne Ryan 29

30. Summary of Key Points Cohesion: Connect sentences by moving from old to new Coherence: Create thematic continuity in passages ©Suzanne Ryan 30

31. “Nobody should suppose that good writing―the kind that says what it means while being pleasant to read―has ever been easy.” - Jacques Barzun a French-born American historian of ideas and culture who lives in San Antonio From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present ©Suzanne Ryan 31

32. Finally: It’s an uphill battle (if at first you don’t succeed…..)

34. Questions? ©Suzanne Ryan 34

35. Writing Workshop Get with a new partner and swap outlines for review, share constructive comments Spend 5 minutes Look for –unnecessary material? Remove it. –missing material? Add it – It is much less painful and more time-efficient to make such decisions early, during the outline phase, rather than after you've already done a lot of writing which has to be thrown away.

36. Writing Workshop Freewrite about one section of your outline for 5 minutes.

37. Keeping going Brainstorm, Question, Mind-map, Freewrite/Loop about each section of your outline Share writing early and often with your group and me Deal with procrastination. Keep lists of tasks, broken in to small manageable pieces, including writing tasks (a few pages at a time). Identify a time and location where you can write with good focus and few distractions, and take advantage of it daily.

38. 38 Wrap-up Examined and practiced cohesion in writingExamined and practiced cohesion in writing –Introduced topic and stress Examined coherence in writingExamined coherence in writing Outlines are due Friday, 11/30Outlines are due Friday, 11/30 No late submissionsNo late submissions Typed in Times New Roman 12, Word, double-spacedTyped in Times New Roman 12, Word, double-spaced Hardcopy with your nameHardcopy with your name List of your reviewers from class (at least 3 names)List of your reviewers from class (at least 3 names) Include your outline worksheetInclude your outline worksheet

39. Thank you for participating! ©Suzanne Ryan 39