Cohesive Devices - Reference
How reference is used to render texts more cohesive and readable??
Reference
Reference items are probably the most frequent and?the easiest of cohesive devices to understand. They can be divided into three subgroups: personal?reference, demonstrative reference, and comparative?reference. Personal and demonstrative?reference items are simple pointers (references) to an earlier person or thing or place in the text. Comparative reference occurs when we look at two things and see how they are similar or different. Clearly, we cannot compare two (or more) items without making reference to them so comparatives are classified as reference cohesion.Personal Reference
The items we use for personal reference are personal and possessive pronouns. They are:
Personal Pronouns: I, you (s&p), he, she it, we, they; me, you(s&p)him, her, it, us, them.
Possessive Pronouns: my, your(s&p), his, her, its, our, their; mine, yours (s&p), his, hers, ours, theirs.
The most important ones in academic text are "it" and “they”. This is because academic text is written in an impersonal style and doesn’t often refer to particular people; it refers to facts, ideas, events, processes, procedures, arguments, theories, hypotheses, results, and so on. The other pronouns are found very frequently in fiction and conversation.
Mouse over the examples to see how these cohesive devices work. Mouse down to pause the animations.1. Ariston, the Greek slave, was busily painting.
He?stood in a little room with three smooth walls.
2. Ariston was rapidly laying on paint with?his?little brushes.?His?eyes glowed with Apollo’s own fire.
He?refers to?Ariston.?
He?and?Ariston?are the same person (Ariston stood in a little room with three smooth walls). It also refers to "the Greek slave" because "the Greek slave" is an appositive noun phrase which gives us more information about Ariston. Appositive noun phrases are common in academic texts (although this example is from a work of fiction).
his?in both sentences refers to?Ariston. "His" is a possessive pronoun so these pronouns refer to Ariston's brushes (he is a painter) and Ariston's eyes.
1. Examine the stem of a sunflower;?it?is tall and straight and grows upright in the air, bearing leaves which stand out from?it.
2. As we have just seen, young seedlings are supplied with stores of food, starch, and other things, which are packed in?their?cotyledons and are used up by?them?as they grow.
Both instances of "it" refer to the?stem?of the sunflower."their" means the?seedlings'; their cotyledons are the seedlings' cotyledons. "them" are also the?seedlings; as the seedlings grow, they use up the food stored in the cotyledons.
Demonstrative Reference
The items we use for demonstrative reference are?determiners?and adverbs. They are:
Determiners: the, this, that, these, those.
Adverbs: here, there, now, then.
The definite?article (the) is always?followed by a noun (or noun phrase). It is the noun or noun phrase which has meaning and refers to something else in the text. The only meaning?that the word?‘the” has is to?indicate that a?referent for the following noun can be found somewhere (in the text anaphorically, or sometimes cataphorically) or outside the text (exophorically).
The words?"this" and?"that" are used in text to indicate proximity (nearness or?farness) in space or time:?"this”?being closer and "that”?being more distant.?The words "these" and?“those”?do the same but indicate plurality.
The words "here" and "there"are used in text to indicate proximity in space :?“here”?being closer and?“there”?being more distant;?“now” and “then”?are used to indicate time - normally some point in time just referred to in the text.
Demonstrative Reference
Determiners: the, this, that, these, those.
Ariston, the Greek slave, was busily painting. He stood in a little room with three smooth walls.?
The?fourth side was open upon a court. A little fountain splashed there. Above stretched the brilliant sky of Italy. The August sun shone hotly down. It cut sharp shadows of?
the?columns on?the?cement floor.?
This?was the master’s room.?
The?artist was painting?the?walls. Two were already gay with pictures. They showed the mighty deeds of warlike Herakles. Here was Herakles strangling the lion, Herakles killing the hideous hydra, Herakles carrying the wild boar on his shoulders, Herakles training the mad horses. But now the boy was painting the best deed of all - Herakles saving Alcestis from death.The highlighted words are determiners - "
the" and "this". There are 5 highlighted instances of the word “
the” and one of the word “this".
The first example of "the" is part of the noun phrase "
The fourth side". Because of the word "the" in this noun phrase we know that this noun phrase has a referent either in the text or, exophorically, outside. The referent here is the?little room?in the previous sentence. "
The fourth side" means the fourth side of the little room.
The second example of "the" is in the noun phrase "the columns". There is no previous mention of columns but we can assume that the room mentioned before was supported on its open side by columns.
The third example of "the" is in the noun phrase "
the cement floor". Rooms have floors so we can also assume that the cement floor refers to the little room Ariston was painting.
The next highlighted example is the word "
This". This can only refer to the little room (with the one side open to the court with columns whose shadows were cast on the cement floor).
The fourth example of "the" is in the noun phrase "
The Artist". The only person so far mentioned in the text, Ariston, was painting in this room so it obviously refers to him. What was he painting"the?walls" - our last example of "the" as a demonstrative reference item - refering to the walls of the little room which we now know was the master's room.
All of this may seem tediously obvious but these instances of demonstrative reference tie the text together and indicate where the referents may be found. Note the second sentence. It tells us that he stood in "
a" little room. It has to be "a" and not "the" because there has been no previous mention of the room in the text. It's the first time it is mentioned.
There are other examples of the use of "the" in this text but most of them are not textual references; they are exophoric:?
the?brilliant sky of Italy,?
The?August sun,?
the?mighty deeds of warlike Herakles etc. We know what these items refer to but they do not reference anything in the text.Demonstrative Reference
Adverbs: here, there, now, then.
Ariston, the Greek slave, was busily painting. He stood in a little room with three smooth walls. The fourth side was open upon a court. A little fountain splashed?there. Above stretched the brilliant sky of Italy. The August sun shone hotly down. It cut sharp shadows of the columns on the cement floor. This was the master’s room. The artist was painting the walls. Two were already gay with pictures. They showed the mighty deeds of warlike Herakles.?
Here?was Herakles strangling the lion, Herakles killing the hideous hydra, Herakles carrying the wild boar on his shoulders, Herakles training the mad horses. But?now?the boy was painting the best deed of all - Herakles saving Alcestis from death.The highlighted words are adverbs -?there,?here, and?now."
there" points to the location of the fountain; the court. Where else woud you expect to find the fountain?"
Here" points to the pictures on the two walls already painted."now" is different. It simply tells us what the artist was doing at this point in the story. However, the previous word, "But", shows us a contrast, and the contrast is between the pictures already painted and the painting he is working on?now.Comparative Reference
The items we use for demonstrative reference are?adjectives?and adverbs. They are:
Adjectives of Identity(when the items refer to the exact same entity) : same, identical, equal.
Adjectives of Similarity: similar, suchlike, additional.Adjectives of Difference: other, different, else.Other Comparison Adjectives: more, better, worse: plus all comparative adjectives (e.g. greater, faster, higher, etc.)
Adverbs of Identity: identically.
Adverbs of?Similarity: similarly, likewise, so, such.Adverbs of?Difference: differently, otherwise.
Other Comparison Adverbs: so, more, less, equally
When we compare we compare at least two items so there must be a referential connection between them. This is how comparison is part of referential cohesion. ?In the?examples?below the first shows an adjective of identity (same) and one of similarity (similar). The second shows and adjective of difference (other). The?third shows an adjective in the comparative (smaller) and the fourth shows adverb of comparison.
1. The unusual thickness of the main root is due to the large quantities of food which the carrot stores. Just in the?
same?way radishes and many other plants have their main roots very thick and packed with food, while dahlias have their side roots thickened in a?similar?way.
2. At Mycenae were found seven hundred and one large round plates of gold, decorated with cuttlefish, flowers, butterflies, and?other?designs.
3. Pompeii had two theaters for plays and music, besides the amphitheater where the gladiators fought. The?
smaller?theater, unlike the others, had a roof. It seated fifteen hundred people. We think perhaps contests in music were held here.
4. The minerals absorbed in solution by the roots, as well as the carbonic acid gas absorbed from the air by the leaves, and the energy of light absorbed by the green colour are all?equally?necessary to the life of the plant, as all help in the building up of its food.It is important to understand the difference between "
same" and "similar" in these two sentences. "same" compares radishes and other plants with carrots. These plants are obviously different but the "sameness" lies in the way they store their food. Carrots and radishes both store their food in the main root. They are the same in this way. But dahlias are slightly different. In fact a difference is signalled by the word “while”. Dahlias store their food not in the main root but rather in the side roots. So they are "similar" in that they store their food in the roots, but not the same roots.The gold plates found at Mycenae were decorated with different designs. Some with cuttlefish, some with flowers, some with butterflies. But there were other designs too. The "other" in "other designs" is a difference adjective and creates a contrast with the designs already mentioned. If the other designs were in a similar category (maybe birds or animals) perhaps the writer would have used an adjective such as similar or suchlike.The "smaller" means the smaller of the two theaters which were used for plays and music. "smaller" is a pointer to the smaller of the two theaters mentioned in the previous sentence. It is pointed out as a difference because it had a further difference - that of having a roof.
There is also an example of demonstrative reference in the last sentence: "here" - meaning in this smaller theater.Three things are necessary for the life of a plant: minerals, carbonic acid (CO2), and light energy. The comparison here is between these three necessities. Is one more important than anotherNo they are “equally" important. And a reason is given; they all help in the building up of its food. The adverb, “equally", points to these three necessities and establishes their equivalence.
The examples used on this page were taken fromPlant Lifeby Marie Stokes, andBuried Citiesby Jennie Hall.