Mehr Fall 2005

Paragraphs: Clarity, Cohesion, and Coherence

Paragraphs make promises. As we start reading a paragraph, we develop a certain
expectation of what topic is going to be addressed or proven. We then expect the
subsequent sentences to deliver on that promise.

When we talk about clarity, we mean that what we are reading is clear and
understandable. However, in order for an entire passage to seem clear, readers need
more than individually clear sentences. They need the passage to be both cohesive
and coherent.

The First Principle of Cohesion: Old-to-New

A paragraph is cohesive when all of the sentences “go together” in a logical sequence.
We feel one sentence is cohesive with the next when we see at the beginning of a
second sentence information that appeared toward the end of the previous one. That’s
what creates our experience of “flow.” For example:

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 little volume changes the fabric of space around it in
puzzling ways.

In other words you should:

1. Begin sentences with information familiar to your readers. That information
can either come from a sentence or two before (as in the above), or it can be
general information that your reader brings to the subject.
2. End sentences with information the reader cannot anticipate. Whatever is
familiar and simple is easier to understand than what is new and complicated,
and readers always prefer to read what is easy before they read what is hard.

Coherence: A Sense of the Whole

It’s easy to confuse these words, because they sound so much alike:

• Think of cohesion as the experience of seeing pairs of sentences fit neatly

together, the way two Lego pieces do.
• Think of coherence as the experience of recognizing what all of the sentences in
a piece of writing add up to, the way lots of Lego pieces add up to a building,
bridge, or boat.

Adapted from “Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace” by Joseph Williams
Mehr Fall 2005

The sentences in a paragraph can fit together cohesively, but still not add up to a larger,
coherent whole. In prose, that larger whole usually consists of some point or claim
along with all of the other sentences that support it.

Consider the incoherence of the following passage:

Sayner, Wisconsin is the snowmobile capital of the world. The buzzing of

snowmobile engines fills the air, and their tank like tracks crisscross the snow.
The snow reminds me of Mom’s mashed potatoes, covered with furrows I would
draw with my fork. Her mashed potatoes usually make me sick, that’s why I play
with them. I like to make a hole in the middle of the potatoes and fill it with
melted butter. This behavior has been the subject of long chats between me and
my analyst.

When a passage is coherent, the subject of each sentence accumulates with the next,
creating a chain of related words.

For example:

Readers look for the topics of sentences to tell them what a whole passage is
“about.” If they feel that its sequence of topics focuses on a limited set of related
topics, then they will feel they are moving through that passage from a
cumulatively coherent pint of view. But if topics seem to shift randomly, then
readers have to begin each sentence from no coherent pint of view, and when that
happens, readers feel dislocated, disoriented, and the passage seems out of focus.

The subjects in that passage focus on just two concepts: topics and readers, and so we
interpret it as being more focused and coherent.

Faked Coherence:

Avoid “faking” coherence with a lot of conjunctions (thus, therefore, however, etc.).
There is a time and a place for conjunctions, but you shouldn’t rely on them to keep
your prose moving.

Experienced writers are careful not to overuse words like and, also, moreover, another
—words that say simply “Here’s one more thing.” You need words like but or however
when you contradict or qualify something you just said, and you can use therefore or
consequently to finish a line of reasoning. But avoid using words like those dozens of
times on the same page. Your readers don’t need them if your logic is sound.

Adapted from “Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace” by Joseph Williams