Unity in Text: Cohesion, Coherence & Parallelism

Lesson Objectives

• Identify unity in written text as connected discourse.

• Distinguish between a connected discourse and isolated sentences using \text{parallelism}.

Key Terms

• Text:

  • Sequence of sentences woven together to express one central idea.

  • Derived from Latin "texere" = "to weave".

• Discourse:

  • Extended spoken/written expression (talk, speech, article, etc.).

  • Latin "discursus" = "conversation".

Text vs. Discourse

• Text: Sentences linked by grammatical cohesion.

• Discourse: Utterances linked by logical coherence.

Unity in a Text

• A text is a connected discourse: every part relates to and supports one main idea.

Cohesion

• "Ties and connections" linking parts of a text.

• Types of reference:

  • Anaphoric: refers back. Example: Jo was late. \text{She} apologized.

  • Cataphoric: refers forward. Example: When \text{he} arrived, John noticed the door was open.

Cohesive Devices

• Signal relationships (addition, contrast, cause, time, etc.).

• Common words/phrases: and, also, furthermore, however, whereas, in fact, besides, meanwhile, therefore.

Coherence

• Logical flow; ideas fit together smoothly.

• Characteristics:

  • Clear progression of thought.

  • Adequate supporting details.

Parallelism

• Matching grammatical forms for related ideas.

• Enhances clarity and readability.

• Correct examples:

  • \text{She aspires to finish college and become an accountant.}

  • \text{I enjoy neither playing video games nor doing exercise.}

Quick Recall

• Unity = \text{Cohesion} (surface ties) + \text{Coherence} (logical sense).

• Use cohesive devices to guide readers; use parallelism to keep structures balanced.