The Golden Thread

 Hello Fellow Writers,

As someone who teaches people about academic writing, I find myself spending a lot of time breaking things down and talking about the different ‘parts’ of a text. So, for a change, I thought that I’d talk about building things up; about something that is critically important for successful academic writing:

The Golden Thread.

When healthcare professionals talk about the ‘golden thread’, they are talking about an unbroken chain of documentation that starts with a patient’s intake assessment, follows their treatment plan, and continues through to their progress notes.

When writing lab consultants, supervisors, editors, or reviewers talk about the ‘golden thread’, they are talking about an unbroken chain of ideas that start in the introduction with the main theme or argument of a piece of writing, follows through the body, and continues into the conclusion of the text.

Although these are two different ways of interpreting the golden thread, they share a conceptual similarity; a golden thread is the thing that connects the parts of something together, making it whole.

The parts, and the whole. The parts that make up the whole. Or, the whole, that can be thought of in parts.

When we write, we often compartmentalise our thinking into the different parts of the text – the introduction, the literature review, the conclusion, or the methods – and this is helpful while we are developing our text because each of these parts does have its own specific structure and function. However, we must also think about the whole. Each of these parts are only parts, and it is only when all the parts are working together as a whole, that their true value can be realised. Similarly, if one part is broken, it compromises the whole and, what we do to one part, impacts the whole.

I’d like you to experience what I mean.

Hold your arm out in front of you and look at it. It is composed of three major parts: the upper arm, forearm, and hand. While each of these parts has its own specialised structure and function, the parts do not work alone. You cannot move your upper arm, without also moving your forearm and hand. Now, place your other hand on your bicep and move the hand of your extended arm from side to side, as if you are waving slowly. Can you feel the muscle in your upper arm moving? Of course you can, because even though there is a forearm in between your hand and your upper arm, all the parts are connected and work as a whole.

Just as much as what you do with your hand impacts your upper arm, so too does your introduction impact on your conclusion. And creating an engaging and compelling text that grabs the readers’ attention in the introduction and holds it all the way through to the conclusion requires a ‘golden thread’.

So, how can you ensure that the golden thread is evident from start to finish?

First and foremost, you must have a goal for each piece of writing. Ask yourself, what is the message I want to communicate to my reader? If you are writing a journal article or a thesis, you will have more control over your topic and so it may be easier to answer this question. If you are writing an essay with an assigned topic, you will need to think about how you will make this topic ‘your own’.

Let's look at an example of a first-year Health Science student essay topic: 

IHP and the ABC and D of dignity conserving care in healthcare

Reflecting on your future as a healthcare professional, discuss the value of being an Integrated Health Professional (IHP) who is knowledgeable, empathic, and reflective while also practicing the ABC and D of dignity conserving care.

Even though everyone had the same topic, it doesn’t mean there should have been 450 essays all saying the same thing. For instance, after doing the readings and thinking about the topic, one student may have decided that the value of being an IHP is that it enables HPs to champion social justice through their practice, while another student may have decided that the value of being an IHP is that it gives you the tools for working with culturally diverse patients. In other words, even if the topic is assigned, you need to think about what YOU want to say about the topic.

Once you have this idea or argument clear in your mind, you have found your golden thread. The next step is to communicate this idea or argument to your reader.

Along with providing context and highlighting the topics to be covered in the text, another function of the introduction is to tell the reader the message you are going to communicate, or, where you are leading them on this textual journey. Continuing with the essay example I gave above, notice how the golden thread of ‘social justice’ is woven into this introduction:

“Generalised inequality is one of the greatest challenges facing the South African healthcare system yet, due to the stark socio-economic disparities among patients, the answer is not a more equal health system, but rather a more socially just health system…through this discussion I will demonstrate that within the South African context, the true value of being a knowledgeable, empathetic, and reflective healthcare provider, is that it enables you to practice in a way that supports social justice.”

Now that your reader is aware of your message, as you move into the body of the text your next task is to ensure that your golden thread remains visible.

Although each paragraph you write will have its own specialised focus within the larger topic, it is your job, as the writer, to show the reader how it ties into the golden thread. There is no one correct way to do this and you will need to judge what works best as you are writing. For example, you might include it as part of your topic sentence:

“As social justice is more than equality, healthcare providers should not use a ‘one size fits all’ approach in their practice, but rather assess the needs of each individual patient, which requires empathy. Empathy is…”

Or, you might weave it in as part of the paragraph’s ‘take-home’ message:

“In other words, it is only through deep critical reflection that healthcare providers can evaluate their own practice against the values of a socially just approach. With this in mind….”  

The effect of this careful weaving of the golden thread into the body of your text, is that it is continually clear to the reader how each new topic and idea you introduce builds and develops your central argument or message.

Finally, when you reach the conclusion, it is time to bring the reader full circle by connecting back to the introduction, and ‘tying’ the two ends of the golden thread together.

“By exploring what it means to be an integrated healthcare professional in the South African context, it is clear that the value of being knowledgeable, empathetic, and reflective is that it enables healthcare providers to embody socially just practice…Therefore, while systemic change will take time and political will, individual healthcare providers still have it within their power to interrogate their own practice and champion a socially just approach to healthcare, one patient at a time.”

Identifying the golden thread for each piece of writing, is an important strategy for empowering yourself and taking ownership of your work. While, consciously using the golden thread to connect the parts of your text together, is important strategy for achieving a coherent, cohesive, and compelling text for your reader.

Until next time, happy writing my friends!

Natashia

P.S. Notice how I have used the cohesive device of repeating a key term or phrase (golden thread) to connect the different parts of my blog post together and keep my central theme visible to you as the reader.