Reading & Writing Skills – Week 2 Notes

Lesson Overview

  • Week 2 focuses on the unity of a written text, viewed as connected discourse.
  • Core goal: help writers/readers ensure that every idea in a passage relates to one central idea and flows logically.
  • Skill set covered:
    • Cohesion (micro-level connections)
    • Coherence (macro-level logic)
    • Cohesive devices (linking words/phrases)
    • Parallelism (balanced grammatical structures)

Lesson Objectives (Stated in Slides)

  • By the end of the lesson, students should:
    • Know what makes a text a connected discourse.
    • Distinguish between an isolated sentence and a connected discourse using parallelism as an analytical tool.

Key Terms & Definitions

  • Text
    • A group of sentences woven together to make one point.
    • From Latin texere = “to weave.”
  • Discourse
    • An extended utterance (speech, discussion, conversation).
    • From Latin discursus = “conversation speech.”
  • Connected Discourse
    • A text in which all ideas are related and express a single main idea.
  • Cohesion
    • The “ties and connections” that physically link sentences/clauses.
  • Coherence
    • The logical sense that makes the whole passage “hang together.”
  • Parallelism
    • Closely related sentence elements structured with similar grammatical forms to enhance readability.

Text vs. Discourse (Contrast Slide)

  • Text: made up of sentences; primary property = grammatical cohesion.
  • Discourse: made up of utterances; primary property = coherence.

Unity in Text ➜ Connected Discourse

  • Unity = one main idea.
  • All sentences should support, explain, or elaborate that idea.
  • Gaps (“missing links”) break unity and clarity.

Detecting & Fixing “Missing Links” (Examples)

  • Example 1
    • Original: “It was almost noon. The students rushed to the canteen.”
    • Coherent version: “It was almost noon. Their stomachs were grumbling loudly, so the students rushed to the canteen.”
  • Example 2
    • Original: “The sun was shining brightly. Shane decided to stay indoors.”
    • Coherent version: “The sun was shining brightly. However, Shane had a lot of homework, so she decided to stay indoors.”
  • Strategy: supply the logical connector/ reason/ contrast that readers quietly expect.

Cohesion in Detail

  • Two principal reference types:
    • Anaphoric reference (look back):
    • “I went out with Jo on Sunday. She looked awful.”
    • “She” ⇢ refers to previously-mentioned “Jo.”
    • Cataphoric reference (look forward):
    • “When he arrived, John noticed that the door was open.”
    • Pronoun precedes the explicit noun.

Cohesive Devices (Linking Words & Phrases)

  • Show relationships such as addition, contrast, cause-effect, sequence, emphasis.
  • Sample list (memorize clusters):
    • Addition – again, also, furthermore, moreover, in fact, indeed, besides, what is more, in addition to
    • Contrast – but, however, nevertheless, still, whereas, while, of course
    • Timing/sequence – and then, naturally
    • Equivalence/comparison – equally

Coherence: Macro-Level Logic

  • A coherent text “fits together well.”
  • Must be logical, complete, fully supported.
  • Weak vs. Strong example from slides:
    • Weak: random tense shifts, missing details (“The shirt were polyester”).
    • Strong: consistent tense, clear transitions, added explanation of embarrassment, ends with contrasting new job.
  • Checklist for coherence:
    • Clear thesis/central idea.
    • Ordered support (chronological, cause–effect, compare–contrast, etc.).
    • Explicit transitions.

Parallelism

  • Definition: parts of a sentence match in grammatical form.
  • Benefits: clarity, rhythm, reader ease.
  • Slide practice:
    • Pair 1
    • a) “She aspires to finish college, and becoming an accountant would be another goal.” (NOT parallel)
    • b) “She aspires to finish college and become an accountant.” (PARALLEL)
    • Pair 2
    • a) “I enjoy neither playing video games or exercise.” (NOT parallel)
    • b) “I enjoy neither playing video games nor doing exercise.” (PARALLEL)
  • Quick rule: when ideas are equal, express them with the same part of speech and structure.

Devices for Analyzing a Text as Connected Discourse (Cheat Sheet)

  1. Cohesion – pronouns, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions, lexical ties.
  2. Cohesive Devices – specific linking words/phrases.
  3. Coherence – overall logic, organization, unity.
  4. Parallelism – grammatical symmetry.

Practical / Real-World Relevance

  • Academic writing (essays, research articles): demands both cohesion & coherence for publishability.
  • Journalism: coherence ensures readers grasp the news quickly; cohesive devices guide them through timelines.
  • Professional emails/reports: parallel bullet points make instructions clear and scannable.
  • Everyday conversation/social media: anaphoric & cataphoric references keep messages concise.

Ethical / Philosophical Note

  • Slide references 2 Timothy 3:16–17 ("All scripture is God-breathed … equipped for every good work").
    • Illustrates that coherent, cohesive, and parallel language has been valued for millennia in religious, moral, and educational contexts.

Numerical / Textual References Captured

  • Biblical citation: 2 Timothy 3:16−172\ Timothy\ 3{:}16{-}17
  • Page cues (1–34) simply mark slide order; no quantitative data/statistics provided.

Quick Reference & Writing Tips

  • After drafting a paragraph, test cohesion:
    • Replace every pronoun with its noun; does it still make sense? If not, antecedent missing.
  • Test coherence:
    • Summarize each sentence in one word; do the list of words show a logical progression to your thesis?
  • Edit for parallelism:
    • Underline verbs/phrases in lists; ensure uniform tense and structure.
  • Typical revision sequence: Unity ➜ Coherence ➜ Cohesion ➜ Parallelism.

Memory Hooks / Mnemonics

  • “U-C-C-P” = Unity, Coherence, Cohesion, Parallelism.
  • “ARC” for reference types: Anaphoric (Back), Reference, Cataphoric (Forward).

Self-Check Questions

  • Can you rewrite a two-sentence fragment into a coherent mini-paragraph by adding one linking idea?
  • Can you spot pronouns without clear antecedents in your own work?
  • Are your bulleted lists grammatically parallel?

Closing Thought

  • A well-woven text (texere) is like sturdy cloth; every thread (word, sentence) must cross the others in predictable patterns, or the fabric—your meaning—falls apart.