Coherent paragraphsUnity: All sentences relate to the topic.

Coherence: Each sentence also relates to thesentences before it.
Ways to give a paragraph coherence● Transition signals

Logical orderConsistent tense ● Repeat key words

Unity• THINK about your topic.
• PLAN only ideas that support the topic.
• WRITE.

• REVISE. Remove or replace sentences
not supporting the topic.

Coherence: Logical order• Order by time: Good for events, things that
happened or things that happen.
• Narratives or processes• First thing first, second thing second, etc.
• Transition signals related to time or relative order.

Order by time
You can make pie if you follow threesteps. First, make the crust. Combine 150
grams of flour with 100 grams of butter
and 30cc water. Be careful not to stir too
much. Next, choose the filling and put it in
the crust. Apples, strawberries, or rhubarb
are all tasty fillings. Finally, bake the pie in
the oven at 170⁰ for 40 minutes. You willknow it is done when the crust is goldenbrown.

Order by time
You can make pie if you follow threesteps. First, make the crust. Combine 150
grams of flour with 100 grams of butter
and 30cc water. Be careful not to stir toomuch. Next, choose the filling and put it in
the crust. Apples, strawberries, or rhubarb
are all tasty fillings. Finally, bake the pie in
the oven at 170⁰ for 40 minutes. You willknow it is done when the crust is goldenbrown.

Coherence: Logical order• Order by similar ideas: groups of things thatare similar• There may be many ways to divide the ideas.

• It doesn’t matter which group is first. You decide.
• Write all your ideas about one group first, then allabout another group.

• Use transition signals when you change groups.

Similar ideas
There are many adjustments I must make as aThai girl living in the U.S. First of all, I must get
used to a new kind of food. I am learning to eat
hamburgers because they are not expensive andare easy to buy. In addition, I am learning tomeet new friends. I meet not only Americans but
also other international students. For example,
two of my friends are from Pakistan. Anotherkind of adjustment is the weather. Some days
America is just as hot as Thailand. But on otherdays it is cold and very strange for me.

Similar ideas
There are many adjustments I must make as aThai girl living in the U.S. First of all, I must get
used to a new kind of food. I am learning to eat
hamburgers because they are not expensive andare easy to buy. In addition, I am learning tomeet new friends. I meet not only Americans but
also other international students. For example,
two of my friends are from Pakistan. Anotherkind of adjustment is the weather. Some days
America is just as hot as Thailand. But on otherdays it is cold and very strange for me.

Coherence: Logical order• Order of importance: for when one idea ismore important than the others• Usually the most important idea is last.

• Occasionally the most important idea is first.
• Use transition signals such as “most important” or“more significantly”.

• You can also include “most important” type words
in the topic sentence.

Order of importanceGold is prized not only for its beauty but,
more importantly, for its utility. First ofall, gold is beautiful. Therefore, it is suitablefor jewelry, coins, and ornaments. Goldnever needs to be polished and will remain
beautiful forever. More important than its
beauty is the usefulness of gold for scienceand industry. Gold is used for hundreds ofindustrial applications, from earphones tosuper computers. In conclusion, gold is notjust beautiful but useful in many ways.

Order of importanceGold is prized not only for its beauty but,
more importantly, for its utility. First ofall, gold is beautiful. Therefore, it is suitablefor jewelry, coins, and ornaments. Goldnever needs to be polished and will remain
beautiful forever. More important than its
beauty is the usefulness of gold for scienceand industry. Gold is used for hundreds ofindustrial applications, from earphones tosuper computers. In conclusion, gold is notjust beautiful but useful in many ways.

Coherence: Transition signals• Add words or phrases that mark changes
between important ideas.
• Indicate similarities, differences, examples,reasons, conclusions, etc.
• Some transition signals work best with particular
topics or logical order.
• “Most importantly,” “The next day,” etc.

Coherence: Transition signals• (Next week’s lecture will be about usingtransition signals.)Coherence: Consistent tense• If you are writing about something that
happened in the past, usually you will use pasttense (過去形).
• General processes or description often use
present tense (現在形).
• Whatever tense you choose, be consistent.
Every time you write about the same time, use
the same tense.

Coherence: Consistent tense• Every time you write about the same time, use thesame tense.
•••

On Friday, I go to English class. I write for 15minutes.

Last Friday, I went to English class. I wrote for 15minutes.

By the time you come to English class, you shouldhave finished your homework.

Different tense, because
it’s a different time

Coherence: Consistent tense
English class (starts / started) the same way
every week. First, Dr. Nilep (calls / called) theroll. While he (does / did) that, we (take / took) aplastic card. Then Dr. Nilep (tells / told) us tofind a group. With our group, we (discuss /discussed) our textbook exercises. After that, we(write / wrote) for 15 minutes. Then Dr. Nilep(lectures / lectured) about writing.

Either present tense or past tense is OK. But
whichever you choose, be consistent. If you chose“starts”, then choose all present tense. If you chose“started”, then all the verbs should be past tense.

Coherence: Repeat key words• Key words – words that name ideas related toyour topic – should be repeated.
• How often to repeat the key words is up to you.
There is no exact number.
• If it is possible for the reader to become
confused, repeat the key word instead of using
a pronoun or leaving it out.

Coherence: Repeat key words
Soccer brings people together in many
ways. It is played in almost every
country, so people all over the world know
about it. When strangers meet, they can talkabout it or play it together. The World
Cup is a tournament watched by people
all over the world.
Then, people
can see the teams from othercountries and learn about them. In
this way, it helps people see more of theworld and understand other people.

Coherence: Repeat key words
Soccer brings people together in many
ways. Soccer is played in almost every
country, so people all over the world know
about it. When strangers meet, they can talkabout soccer or play it together. The World
Cup is a soccer tournament watched bypeople all over the world. During the World
Cup people can see soccer teams from othercountries and learn about those countries. In
this way, soccer helps people see more of theworld and understand other people.

Unity and coherence

Make your paragraph unified. Make sure all of
the sentences relate to the topic sentence.
Make your paragraph coherent. Show how eachsentence relates to the other sentences.
Use a logical order.



Add transition signals.

Use consistent verb tense.

Repeat key words.