其實鋪陳的方式有很多種，但是在英文論文寫作上，所謂段落的「連貫性」(coherence）是具有典型的「直線發展」特徴。
我們在閱讀一篇好的文章時，如果「段落」中每一個所涉及的意念 (idea) 都是在明確的次序上相互關連著時，則這個段落自然就產生了連貫性。最理想的狀況是：前句産生後句而後句呼應前句，環繞著中心思想而進行，並且要常注意到思維文路的推移 (sense of movement)，這必須符合一般讀者的思考模式 (thought pattern)。
相反的，如果在你所寫的段落沒有好的架構，邏輯與思考模式難以捉模，或是主題貧弱又有一些重複的句子，那麼讀者可能會越讀越迷糊，甚至放棄讀下去。
那麼，要如何做到保持段落的連貫性呢？在這裡我們教大家兩個方法：
1. 把段落中所要描述的事件，依照主題之需做有系統的安排。舉例來說，可以依照重要性來安排，一般來說會把越重要的放在段落後面；也有人依照時序 (chronologically) 的方式安排；或是依照空間 (spatially)；或是推論 (deduction) 的過程，從一般的 (general) 概念逐漸往專一的 (specific) 概念發展；抑或是反過來用歸納 (induction) 的方式，從專一往一般的方向去發展。上述的方式，如果你仔細閱讀寫得好的論文，應該都會看到他們採用了上述的方式在撰寫。
2. 使用轉折訊號 (transition signal) 來串連段落中不同的 idea。請仔細閱讀以下的例子，看看作者如何使用 transition signal 來導引讀者，達到連貫性。
Projects requiring one to think through cultural blocks are among the most popular with our students, since the blocks are so difficult to overcome and yet so obvious once they have been overcome. We often ask our students to design puzzles, games, or situations for each other which require breaking through a cultural block in order to reach a solution. One project that sticks in my mind required that a dollar bill be removed from beneath a precariously balanced object without tipping over the object. This was extremely easy to do if the bill were torn in half. However, for varlous cultural reasons (it's illegal to deface money, one dosen't usually tear up things of value), no one thought of this particular solution, with the result that no one could remove the dollar, Another project required that one playing card out of a deck of 52 be destroyed. Once again no one thought of perpetrating such a crime (we are a society of cardplayer and most of us do not approve of incomplete decks of cards). Still a third I can remember was perhaps the most basic I have seen. The solution of the problem required that a number of objects be moved around a board in a prearranged sequence in order to reach the desired final configuration, It turned out to be impossible to follow the rule and solve the problem. The cultural block? Following rules! It was simple to attain the desired configuration if the rules were violated.
文章摘自 James L. Adams, Conceptual Blockbusting
討論 1：上述段落的主題是什麼？
討論 2：標示粗體的文字，是否具有 transitional signal 的意義？請試著說明為什麼？
作業 1：找一篇論文，取其中一個段落，試著分析作者是否有在該段落達到「連貫性」？而他又是使用哪一種技法呢？