THE textual cohesion is a factor that must always be taken into account when writing. Cohesive elements are important to ensure a good sequencing of events within a text and, consequently, also contribute to an efficient articulation of ideas. Therefore, when we value cohesion, we are collaborating with textual coherence and with the meanings that will be constructed by the reader, after all, it is for him that we write.
We are holders of enormous linguistic material that is always retrieved and activated when we interact verbally with someone. No word - a constituent part of our discourse - is used without there being some kind of intention in this choice, even though we do not observe this fact. Each word can explain what we really think, denouncing our beliefs, values and worldview.
Therefore, some precautions must be taken when writing. As an important part of the elements that constitute the idea of textual cohesion, there is a device called referencing. For this to happen, some strategies are used.
Let's look at the example below:
The children were playing after school, it was Friday and they were all gathered in the playground. They ran, descended slides, climbed the jungle gym, spun on the wheel and, despite the coming rain, they continued to enjoy themselves.
All they wanted to do was this: play until daylight, even if it was cloudy, allowed it. The little ones were too busy having fun and didn't realize what was coming: a torrential rain. Caught by surprise, they left the place of so much fun and ran to their homes in order to protect themselves.
The rain lasted for hours, heavy rain, it even seemed that the world would collapse that day, thus discarding any possibility of returning to the playground. To the general sadness of the children, the persistent rain took two days to decide to leave, which kept boys and girls trapped in their homes throughout the weekend.
Let's look at the referencing strategies here:
Introduction: at this moment, we can observe that an object appears in the text, such is the case of the word playground, which until then had not been mentioned. As it is an important term in the construction of the text, it is possible to observe that it is highlighted and, therefore, it will be an element that will appear at other times during the text.
resumption (maintenance): the object "children" is resumed so that it is not forgotten while reading the text, and this reactivation is built through a retrospective movement, that is, through an anaphora. The anaphora happens when we refer to a term expressed earlier in the text.
Defocusing: reading the example, we notice that another object is inserted, thus gaining the focus of the text. In this case, the “rain” element is highlighted, however, we can also observe that the other important elements have not disappeared from the text and will be resumed whenever necessary.
THE referencing it occurs, basically, through two movements, called retrospective and progressive movements, respectively anaphora and cataphora. Taking the same example as the object of analysis, let us now observe the anaphoras and cataphoras present in the text.
Anaphoras:
At kids they played after school, it was Friday and all they were gathered in the playground. They ran, descended slides, climbed the jungle gym, turned on the wheel and, despite the coming rain, they they continued to have fun.
The words all and they take up something that has already been mentioned, in this case, the word kids. This will also happen in the excerpt below:
Everything that they what they wanted to do was this: play until daylight, even if cloudy, allowed it. Little ones they were too busy having fun and didn't realize what was coming: a torrential downpour. taken by surprise, (they) left the place with so much fun and (they) they ran to their homes to protect themselves.
The words they, little ones and they (here ellipses, but constituent parts of the analysis) also make an anaphoric reference to the object kids.
Cataphors:
All they wanted to do was this: play until daylight, even if cloudy, allowed.
The little ones were too busy having fun and didn't notice what was to come: a torrential rain.
Note that the terms this and what are elements that refer to a subsequent term, respectively. play until daylight, even if cloudy, allowed and a torrential rain.
Inadvertently, we make use of these referencing elements in the oral modality, because when we talk to our family and friends, we haven't given much thought to the use of these very important factors for cohesion. textual. However, in the written modality, we must be careful to avoid unnecessary repetitions of terms and use the referencing device, understanding that the text can present sequential relations, but not necessarily linear.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
