Chapter 05: Cohesion Across Sentences

Chapter 05: Cohesion Across Sentences

Cohesion (“sticking tightly together”) is the property that makes a text a text, not a jumble of unrelated sentences. Cohesion turns sentences into paragraphs.

In cohesive writing, sentences typically begin with content that has appeared in the preceding sentence and end with content that is new. There are three principal ways of writing sentences that move from old to new:

1.

The subject of each sentence is the same.

 

From his home base in the town of Bolton, Arkwright traveled the region offering to buy women’s hair. He, [OLD] of course, cut it for them first and then used the human hair to make wigs, which were highly fashionable at the time. He [OLD] experimented with different dyes and soon invented a chemical process that could create the hair colors his customers wanted.

2.

In each two-sentence pair, information included in the predicate of the 1st sentence becomes the subject of the 2nd sentence. In other words, something towards the end of Sentence 1 becomes the beginning of Sentence 2.
 

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 produced a government dedicated to the protection of private property. The new political system [OLD] fostered confidence [NEW] that owners could improve their land without interference from the state. This confidence [OLD] gave them the sense that such investments would remain secure. [NEW]

3.

In paragraphs, a list of details follows a topic sentence.

 

Accompanying these cultural developments were profoundly important changes in the nature of society. [TOPIC SENTENCE] In 1750, most people still lived in the country and worked in agriculture and cottage industries; [DETAIL] a century later the majority congregated in urban centers, having left farming to just 20% of the population. [DETAIL]  In 1750, family members tended to work together in household units; [DETAIL] in 1850, they were employed separately, with most working members laboring in a different shop, firm, factory, or residence. [DETAIL]  In 1750, women and children seldom worked outside the home, except in the case of domestic servants or apprentices who worked in someone else's home. [DETAIL] One hundred years later, women and children were routinely employed in mills, mines, and the mansions of the rich. [DETAIL]  

Special case: using passive voice to create cohesion

Textbooks often advise students to avoid the passive voice. However, the passive voice is a powerful cohesive device because it swaps subject for predicate:

The Combination Acts outlawed trade unions [ACTIVE]

Trade unions were outlawed by the Combination Acts. [PASSIVE]

Taken out of context, sentences written in the active voice often sound better to our ears. Taken in context, however, active-voice sentences can sometimes sound worse, depending upon the sentences that immediately precede and follow them. Active-voice sentences may sound worse when they begin with new information and end with old:

Cotton was most efficiently grown on large plantations in the Deep South. These plantations [OLD] were staffed by Africans forced into bondage. [NEW]

Cotton was most efficiently grown on large plantations in the Deep South. Africans forced into bondage [NEW] staffed these plantations. [OLD]

The rule for choosing between active and passive voice:

Consider using the passive voice when placing new information before old.

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