Revision and Re Writing for Cohesion

Unified Paragraphs and Contradictory Evidence

A disconnected draft can be revised to create a unified, coherent paragraph by ensuring that ideas flow logically and that the topic sentence is supported by the evidence that follows. Disconnected paragraphs often include tangential thoughts that divert the reader from the main idea of the paragraph. These thoughts disrupt the flow of the writing and subtract from the central point. Revision allows one to remove or correct such writing by extracting extraneous words, sentences or ideas that do not belong because they lack relevance or supporting power.

Paragraphs should follow one upon the other so that the writing represents a unified whole. If a new idea needs to be introduced, the writer should use transition words or phrases to prepare the reader for the new idea. It should not be suddenly introduced out of nowhere.

A paragraph, like a larger article as a whole, should be constructed with a main idea in mind, so that it has an introductory or topic sentence, body sentences that support the topic, and a concluding sentence that summarizes the main idea and prepares the reader for the next paragraph. A good way to flesh out arguments is to be aware of counter arguments, and to have a refutation ready. The point is to keep the writing ordered and logical so that there are no gaps in one’s thought.

The best way to prevent gaps from forming is to ask questions about each claim and about each supporting sentence: Is the claim logical? What is it based upon? Does the argument link to the conclusion? Are the supporting sentences relevant or do they relate more to another point that would be better situated elsewhere?

Every article has a thesis, and every paragraph should relate to the overall thesis. The paragraphs are themselves the support for the thesis. The paragraph structure should be a mini-essay in its own right. The best way to keep the article together so that it adheres to the thesis is to develop an outline that will guide the writing. The outline is what provides the roadmap for the writing. Without it, one can become lost in one’s own thoughts so that paragraphs become disconnected. By creating and referring to an outline throughout the writing and revision process, one is able to stick to the main points in a logical and coherent manner.

Sometimes, one will uncover evidence that contradicts other evidence. One should not avoid this when it happens or ignore it. Rather, one should acknowledge contradictory evidence, as it can help to deepen one’s understanding of the phenomenon under question (Creswell, 2013). It can show that clear cut answers are not necessarily going to emerge, and that many factors should be considered before drawing any conclusions. It is often the case that evidence is not conclusive, so in research writing one should be willing to accept that.

In my doctoral work thus far, I would define the term contradictory evidence as evidence that points to two opposite conclusions. For instance, if one set of evidence appears to support a claim but another piece of evidence appears to refute a claim, I would call that contradictory evidence. Contradictory evidence can actually be very helpful in judging the merits of a claim, in accepting or rejecting a hypothesis. One has to consider how the evidence was obtained, what the methodologies used suggest about the nature of the studies that produced the evidence (Choy, 2014); in other words, some critical thinking is required. But contradictory evidence can help one to limit the drawing of definitive conclusions.