Composition for College Students

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1922. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Coherence.--The first source of coherence is appropriate sequence. If parts of a composition are to cohere, they must fit together; this they cannot do unless they have been properly selected with that purpose in view. Coherence, therefore, is closely related to unity; extraneous or alien matter is an impediment to both. After material has passed the test of unity, its organization into a coherent whole is primarily an affair of arrangement. But ideas must not only be set down in that sequence which leads the reader from one thought to the next along the easiest and clearest path. They must also be so expressed that passage from one to another shall be accomplished not only with the least possible difficulty, but also, if feasible, with satisfaction or enjoyment. Like stones in a wall, thoughts of appropriate material advantageously arranged must be shaped to fit with nicety and precision. Each must be adapted both to that which precedes and that which follows. As a consequence of such adjustments, few units within connected discourse, even in respect to substance, have precisely the form they would possess if they were developed independently, as will be shown in the chapter on the paragraph. The truth of this becomes at once apparent when an effort is made to select quotable passages from closely coherent discourse. In addition to clear and logical sequence, coherence may require express indications of the relationship between ideas. These indications are introductory, transitional, or concluding expressions, varying in length from the single word or phrase to the sentence, the paragraph, and the whole chapter. These are necessary for several reasons. It is not always possible to arrange ideas in a simple sequence. One train of thought or series of events has ...