Developing cohesion
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Using this to point backwards | page 3 of 6 |
Using this for initial reference
When new terms are introduced by a writer, this is typically used to define them:
The software comes with an intriguing implement called a Virtual Pick. This is a piece of plastic shaped roughly like a plectrum that connects to a PC's parallel port and contains a motion sensor. (Bank of English)
Minority-group members have confronted what has come to be called the glass ceiling. This refers to the barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified worker in a multiracial work environment. (Bank of English)
One principle that students can usefully be taught is that, when this is used to
refer back, it is very rare for this to be repeated 
. For subsequent mentions, it is normal:
Dramatic licence has been employed by Ron Shelton in his screen biography of an extraordinary man ("Cobb"), but this is Ty Cobb's history as he lived it. Cobb is probably the greatest baseball player of all time. But this is not a baseball film. It is a megalomaniac film, a monster film, a film about one of the nastiest pieces of work outside Hitler and Atilla the Hun ever to become a national hero.
This is particularly apparent in expressions that follow the pattern "This is more than x. It is y":
A newspaper serialisation has become a full-blown debate on press law and editorial freedom. This is more than irritating. It is, somehow, insulting.
(Bank of English)
Introduction
Using this for initial reference
