Coherence within Paragraphs

Paragraphs are like little stories all their own. A paragraph is just big enough to have a nuanced flavor, purpose, and personality, which means quite a bit goes into making one. A critical aspect of this is being sure that your paragraph makes sense. Considering a paragraph's moving parts, writing one can present a writer with unique problems.

Meaning of Coherence Within Paragraphs

There are two parts to "coherence within paragraphs."

"Within" means that this discussion pertains to coherence inside a single paragraph more so than between paragraphs.

Paragraphs are vital parts of prose, a form of writing defined by the use of sentences and paragraphs. Stories, as well as essays, are considered prose.

Importance of Coherent Paragraphs in Writing

Coherence within paragraphs is important regardless of the genre or situation. If a paragraph isn't coherent, someone can't understand its purpose.

The focus here is on essays, though. Essay paragraphs need strong coherence because all your paragraphs link together to support your thesis. Imagine it like a chain, with your paragraphs as links in the chain. If you break one link, then your essay as a whole won't connect.

Fig. 1 - Make your chain of ideas strong.

If your paragraph isn't coherent, it breaks that link in the chain. In an essay, you ultimately want someone to understand and agree with your purpose.

Writing a Coherent Paragraph

It's important to understand the big picture of creating a coherent paragraph.

1. Keep Your Thesis in Mind

Remember the chain from earlier? Well, you are the one hand-linking that chain, which means you can't lose sight of where it began.

Your essay begins with your thesis, and each paragraph links back to that thesis. So when writing your paragraph, double-check, "Does this paragraph support my thesis? Is this paragraph off-track? Does this paragraph make sense?"

A coherent paragraph is one your reader understands. If your reader doesn't understand how your paragraph links back to where it started, you have a problem.

2. Keep the Total Length of Your Paragraph in Mind

Before you ever get to writing your paragraph, know the minimum and maximum length of that paragraph.

At a minimum, when writing an essay, a paragraph should be three sentences. A small paragraph like this would contain a brief argument, some evidence, or act as a significant transition.

At maximum, when writing an essay, a paragraph should be half a page double-spaced. This is not a hard and fast rule, as it is certainly possible to write long, cohesive paragraphs. However, if your paragraph is any bigger than half a page, it might go off-track. Readers could start to lose track of your arguments.

3. Keep Your Outline in Mind

You know you need to link your paragraph back to the thesis. However, you also need to consider the previous paragraph and the next paragraph. Achieve this by referring to your outline. Ensure that your paragraph is doing its job alongside the other paragraphs, or else you will break that "chain" of links.

Steps to Writing a Coherent Paragraph

Keep in mind there are infinite ways to create a paragraph, and some paragraphs differ drastically. A paragraph in a story is immensely different from a paragraph in your essay, and even paragraphs in your essay will differ. For instance, your body paragraphs will be structurally different from your introductory and concluding paragraphs. Even body paragraphs will vary based on need. That said, the following steps will help you craft a coherent body paragraph for your essay, which you can then use as a reference point for other kinds of paragraphs.

Step One: Argument

Start your body paragraph with your argument.

Usually, your claim is your thesis statement, which you will have written in your introduction. Here's a sample claim.

To back up this claim, you would provide arguments. The following arguments are from a fictional story.

These arguments would each take up a paragraph (or so) of your essay. They directly support your claim and help to prove that your perspective is accurate.

You want to start your paragraph with the argument because it is the next logical step for your reader. You may need to use a transition to help guide your reader into your argument.

Fig. 2 - An argument connects your claim to your evidence.

Step Two: Evidence

Your paragraph has led off with its argument. However, an argument needs evidence the way a claim needs arguments. The second step to creating a coherent paragraph is to link your evidence to your argument.

Say this is your paragraph's argument.

You would then include some evidence to support this. Here are two pieces of sample evidence.

As you link your evidence to your arguments, you should keep two words in your head: clear and logical. To be "clear," you should be brief and use easy-to-understand words. To be "logical," explain how all the parts of your arguments link together. At the end of your paragraph, you might reinforce your argument by tying it back to the thesis.

Step Three: Complete the Thought

You complete your paragraph when you complete your thought. This usually happens once you have linked your evidence to your arguments.

Step three is reading over your paragraph and editing it. Editing is a fantastic tool for creating coherence within paragraphs because you can read your logic at full speed. It takes much longer to write a paragraph than to read it, so it's good to be sure that your logic isn't too slow or too fast based on a person's reading speed.

Checking for mistakes is like checking for cracks in your chain link before moving on. If your last link is cracked, you only dig yourself a hole by moving on to the next link. One faulty link can destroy the coherence of your essay.

Remember, you want your paragraphs to sound natural, so check for that when checking for coherency within paragraphs.

One integral part of completing your thought is to use transitions to link your sentences and ideas together. Transitions are a major element of coherence between sentences, and you should come prepared to use them. Here's how you might link your argument to your first piece of evidence using the transition "for instance."

Coherence in Paragraph Example

Here is an example of a coherent paragraph. This is how your final product might look after completing all the steps necessary to make a great paragraph!

This example begins with a transition (in pink) from another paragraph and the argument (in blue).

Next, the writer links two pieces of evidence to the argument. To achieve coherence, the writer keeps the reader on track with transitions like "too" and "although."

Finally, the writer reminds the reader of the thesis.

This isn't strictly necessary, but it helps to emphasize the claim. Overall, this paragraph achieves coherence because it naturally and logically carries through the writer's claim.