gen-define-discourse-and-cohesion-and-give-one-short-worked-exam-f2bd

Define discourse and cohesion and give one short worked example.

# Discourse and Cohesion ## Definitions **Discourse** refers to language beyond the sentence level—how sentences connect together to form coherent texts, conversations, or extended stretches of communication with meaning and purpose. **Cohesion** refers to the linguistic devices that link sentences together, creating grammatical and lexical connections that help a text "hang together" as a unified whole. ## Worked Example Consider these two versions: ### Version A (Low cohesion): *"I bought a car. The vehicle was expensive. It broke down. I was angry."* ### Version B (High cohesion): *"I bought a car, but **it** was expensive. Unfortunately, **the vehicle** broke down after just one week, which made me very angry."* **Cohesive devices in Version B:** - **Reference**: "it" and "the vehicle" refer back to "a car" - **Conjunctions**: "but" (contrast), "which" (relative clause) - **Lexical cohesion**: "car" → "vehicle" (synonym) - **Temporal markers**: "after just one week" (time reference) Version B creates smoother discourse by explicitly showing how ideas relate, while Version A consists of choppy, disconnected sentences despite describing the same events.