This lesson is part of the free email course.
Lesson 3: How information flows
In this third lesson of Clarity in Academic Writing, we'll learn how to connect sentences together naturally.
How does information flow? From old (given) to new
You can link sentences together by paying attention to the readers' expectations. If you can structure your sentences according to what readers need, then you will not depend so heavily on linking words.
To create flow, we give readers what they expect when they expect it
When you give readers a structure they expect, they can stay focused on the content (instead of working to figure out the structure).
When you write sentences from old to new (or given to new), you connect each sentence to the one before it.
If you use this principle well, your readers will be able to read through your text quickly and easily.
If you don't, you will have logical gaps and the reader will have to work to figure out how the parts are related to each other. And you risk them not figuring it out.
Photo by Jacob Colvin
The given to new principle creates flow by connecting sentences together based on the way readers need to receive the information: starting with something familiar, then moving to something new.
The topic position and stress position
The old-to-new principle tells us where to place different kinds of information in a sentence.
Information can be divided into two types:
- information that is already familiar to the reader and
- information that is new to the reader
Sentences can also be divided into two parts:
- the topic position and
- the stress position
The first part of the sentence is called the topic position. Think of it as the subject. In the topic position, you can only place information that is already familiar to the reader. The topic position connects the reader to what you were saying just before.
The second part of the sentence is called the stress position. Think of it as everything that comes after the subject. In the stress position, you place information that is new to the reader. The stress position moves the argument forward.
So, the first part of the sentence looks back and the second part looks forward.
Different patterns
You can apply old to new using different patterns.
One common pattern reuses the new information at the end of each sentence as old information in the next sentence:
"Currently, HR is working on a project called OneHR. This project aims to implement a new global HR administration system and to replace the current Easy system. The new system will help HR to improve its service levels."
This pattern can be thought of as A→B. B→C. C→D, where each letter represents a new piece of information. It can also be called "topical progression" because you progress from topic to topic.
Here's another example of A→B. B→C. C→D:
"Their research is centered on the systems at play within cells that maintain a balance between oxidizing and anti-oxidizing molecules. These molecules are involved in so called redox reactions that involve the transfer of electrons from one agent to another. These reactions control certain cellular processes and also generate energy."
You can apply old to new using many kinds of patterns. You don't have to use only A→B. B→C. C→D.
For example, you can introduce more than one piece of new information in the stress position, then elaborate on each piece separately:
A→B and C. B→D. C→E.
Or you can introduce more than one piece of new information in the stress position, then focus on only one piece for the rest of the paragraph:
A→B, C, D. D→E and F. D→G.
Or you can even maintain the same focus in your topic position for the entire paragraph ("topical focus"):
A→B. A→C. A→D. A→E.
Maintaining the focus does not have to be wordy or redundant.
Essentially, old to new tells us to put information that is already familiar to the reader in the topic position.
Watch out
If you do not follow this principle and put new information in the topic position, that part of the text will not flow. At best, your reader will have to work extra hard; at worst, your will get lost.
Now you:
Can you start to notice what kind of information you put at the beginning of the sentence and what kind of information you put at the end?
We will look at this principle in more detail in the next two lessons.
Until tomorrow!
“Writers of the highest skill construct passages that focus attention on the characters they want readers to remember and divert attention from those they want them to overlook without their readers being aware of it.” (Williams, Style & Grace)