Writing PromptWriting Prompt

Take the next five minutes and write about the following:

What would you like your life to be like five years from now in the year 2018? What steps are you taking to make this happen?

CoherenceCoherence

Coherence in writing is the clear relationship between one sentence and the next. Each sentence should lead to the next sentence.

Coherence is achieved through the logical ordering of the sentences within the paragraphs and through the creation of smooth transitions between the sentences and paragraphs.

CoherenceCoherence

Ask yourself…

1.Does this point unmistakably follow from the previous idea?

2. Is this point really clear?

3. Should the ideas be ordered in a different way?

Old New Contract

An effective way to create coherence in your writing is to follow something called the old/new contract. This “contract” asks that as a writer you begin your sentences with something old—something that links to what was previously stated—and then to end with something new.

Adapted from the following book:Ramage, John, John Bean, June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New York: Longman, 2003. Print.

Old New Contract

How do you connect old ideas to new ideas? 1. Repeat a key word2. Use a pronoun to substitute for a key word

3. Summarize or restate an earlier concept.

Old New ContractWhich sentence follows the old/new contract? Remember, this means that old information is followed by new information.

1.College students have many responsibilities. These responsibilities include attending class, completing assignments, and maintaining a high GPA, all of which are characteristics of successful students.

2. College students have many responsibilities. Attending class, completing assignments, and maintaining a high GPA are characteristics of successful students.

Old New ContractWhich sentence follows the old/new contract? Remember, this means that old information is followed by new information.

1.College students have many responsibilities. These responsibilities include attending class, completing assignments, and maintaining a high GPA, all of which are characteristics of successful students.

2. College students have many responsibilities. Attending class, completing assignments, and maintaining a high GPA are characteristics of successful students.

Old New Contract

Exercise: Compare the two sample paragraphs. 1.Which paragraph is easier to understand?2.Which paragraph follows the old/new contract?3.Underline the key words, pronouns, or restatements of earlier concepts in the paragraph that follows the old/new contract.

Old New ContractOld/New Contract: Version Two

Another principle for writing coherent essays is the old/new contract. The old/new contract asks writers to begin sentences with something old—something that links to what has gone on before—and then end sentences with new information that advances their argument. This principle creates an effect called coherence, which is closely related to unity. Whereas unity refers to the clear relationship between the body of a paragraph and its topic sentence and between the parts and the whole, coherence refers to the clear relationship between one sentence and the next, between part and part.

Adapted from the following book:Ramage, John, John Bean, June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New York: Longman, 2003. Print.

Old/New Contract: Version oneOld/New Contract: Version one

An often-overlooked dimension of being good fathers is play. From their children’s birth through adolescence, fathers tend to emphasize play more than caretaking. This may be troubling to egalitarian feminists, and it would indeed be wise for most fathers to spend more time caretaking. Although caretaking is important, the father’s style of play seems to have unusual significance as well. It is likely to be both physically stimulating and exciting. Being physically stimulating and exciting involves teamwork that requires the competitive testing of physical and mental skills with older children. This form of play frequently resembles an apprenticeship or teaching relationship: Come on, let me show you how. Adapted from the following book:

Ramage, John, John Bean, June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. New York: Longman, 2003. Print.

Checklist for Structural Checklist for Structural RevisionRevision

__ Are there clear introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs?

__Does the introduction provide enough background for the reader?

__Is there a clear thesis statement?__Is the essay unified? Do the topic

sentences support the thesis statement? Do the detail sentences support the topic sentence?

__Is the essay coherent? Do the sentences in the paragraph follow the old/new contract?

Revising your FreewriteRevising your Freewrite

Now that you’ve had practice with revision for unity and coherence, take a look at your free write and make sure that your sentences are coherent, that they follow the old/new contract!

Sources Sources

Fawcett, Susan and Alvin Sandberg. Grassroots with Readings. New

York: Houghton Mifflin 1998. Print.

Neman, Beth. Teaching Students to Write. New York: Oxford Press,

1980. Print.

Ramage, John, John Bean, June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to

Writing. New York: Longman, 2003. Print.