1. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's1 Consider these eight questions as you revise the document for coherence: Have you left out anything in turning your outline into a draft? Have you included all the elements your readers expect to see? Is the organization logical? Is the evidence sufficient and appropriate?

2. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's2 Consider these eight questions as you revise the document for coherence (cont.): Is the reasoning valid and persuasive? Do you come across as reliable, honest, and helpful? Are all the elements presented consistently? Is the emphasis appropriate throughout the document?

3. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's3 Follow these four guidelines while revising headings: Avoid long noun strings. Be informative. Use a grammatical form appropriate to your audience. Avoid back-to-back headings.

4. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's4 Turning paragraphs into lists presents four advantages: It forces you to look at the big picture. It forces you to examine the sequence. It forces you to create a clear lead-in. It forces you to tighten and clarify your prose.

5. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's5 Study documents from other cultures to answer four questions: How does the writer make information accessible? How does the writer show the relationship among units? How does the writer communicate the organization of the document? How does the writer make transitions from one subject to another?

6. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's6 There are two kinds of paragraphs: A body paragraph, the basic unit for communicating information, is a group of sentences (or sometimes a single sentence) that is complete and self-sufficient and that contributes to a larger discussion. A transitional paragraph helps readers move from one major point to another.

7. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's7 Most paragraphs contain two elements: the topic sentence, which summarizes or forecasts the main point of the paragraph the support, which makes the topic sentence clear and convincing

8. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's8 Avoid burying bad news in paragraphs The most emphatic location is the topic sentence. The second most emphatic location is the end of the paragraph. The least emphatic location is the middle of the paragraph.

9. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's9 Supporting information usually fulfills one of five roles: It defines a key term or idea included in the topic sentence. It provides examples or illustrations of the situation described in the topic sentence. It identifies causes: factors that led to the situation. It defines effects: implications of the situation. It supports the claim made in the topic sentence.

10. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's10 Follow these three guidelines for dividing long paragraphs: Break the discussion at a logical place. Make the topic sentence a separate paragraph and break up the support. Use a list.

11. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's11 Use these three techniques to emphasize coherence: Use transitional words and phrases. Repeat key words. Use demonstrative pronouns followed by nouns.

12. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's12 Use transitional words and phrases

13. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's13 Use three techniques to create a coherent design: Use headers and footers to enhance coherence. Use typefaces to enhance coherence. Use the styles feature to make the design of different elements consistent.

14. Chapter 9. Writing Coherent Documents © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin's14 Headers and footers are coherence devices