The Art of Connection The Secret Life of Sentences

This new guide to the use of connectives will help writers improve the flow of their ideas and communicate more effectively.
The Art of Connection begins by exploring the social life of sentences: the skills of transition and connection. The author outlines the ways that connection and disconnection create thought-pathways in the process of composition. The educational psychology behind connection is also explained. The Art of Connection then examines the relationship between natural flow and communicative improvisation. This dimension of writing is contrasted with the conventions of rhetoric used by great writers and speech-makers.

Each chapter provides a critical outline of of the nine arts of connection: Location, Timing, Comparison, Contrast and Difference, the Supplement, Disputation, Sequence, Example and Illustration, and the Summary. Hundreds of practical examples of usage, drawn from the humanities and the sciences, from religion and the social sciences, from law, business and medicine are used to illustrate each of the key topics.
This book will be essential reading for students of EFL/ESOL/IELTS, for school or university students, and for creative or non-fiction writers working with the English language.
The Art of Connection: the Social Life of Sentences is your invaluable guide to more effective communication in written or spoken English.
Contents
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Social Sentence
1.2 The Use of Connection
1.3 Understanding the Psychology of Transition
1.4 Style, Oratory, Elegance
1.5 The flow of spontaneity and passion
1.6 Power, Rhetoric and Repetition
1.7 The Philosophy of Association
1.8 Beyond the Logic of Connection
1.9 Écriture féminine
1.10 Openings: the genesis of this book
2. The Art of Location
3. The Art of Timing
4. The Art of Comparison
5. The Art of Contrast and Difference
6. The Art of the Supplement
7. The Art of Disputation
8. The Art of the Sequence
9. The Art of Example and Illustration
10. The Art of the Summary
Further Reading
About the Author: Dr Ian McCormick served as a Professor at the University of Northampton until 2009. He holds degrees in English Language and Literature (University of St Andrews (M.A.) and a doctorate awarded by the University of Leeds (Ph.D).