Is known-new the best cohesion lesson?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Rob Hudson wondered: <<... is "known-new" the way to teach cohesion  
in a paragraph? Or should I do something more natural that doesn't  
seem to rely so much on placement, which can feel forced?>>

Known/new is very effective for some things, but blindly following  
that structure is way too draconian an approach. The actual best  
approach depends entirely on the goal of the paragraph and on  
context. For example, if you're talking about something unknown, it's  
perfectly natural to say "here is something we didn't used to  
understand", followed by "here's what we speculate is actually  
happening".

(Of course, one could argue that the "this is what we didn't  
understand" could constitute "known". Fair enough.)

Known/new works very well when you're trying to teach something that  
requires readers to muster their intellectual tools before they try  
to build something new. Then, the "known" part reminds them of what  
they need to have available, and the text that follows shows them how  
to fit new knowledge into that existing framework.

----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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