Sentence Structure: Cohesion and Clarity

The principles of cohesion also apply to the structure of a sentence. In addition, sentences can be made clearer and easier to understand by avoiding abstractions and focusing on character-action. The following videos will explain some of these principles.

Most students have through their studies read many academic texts that they could not understand. The challenge when writing a thesis is not to replicate the unclear, overly academic texts you have read throughout your studies. If you can explain your complex research in a simple way, you show much better understanding and insight than when you attempt to sound scholarly. Think of your master thesis as a story instead on an encyclopedia with many unrelated facts. This principle also applies to every sentence you write, which needs a character performing some sort of action.

Character-Action

The clarity of sentences can be improved by focusing on character-action in your sentences. This means being clear about who is doing what.

Further resources

Sentence clarity

Sentence cohesion

Resource page for clarity and style

Character action