From literature to linguistics: Introducing a “Cognitive Schema of Cohesion” using narrative

This study aims to introduce a noble cognitive schema of cohesion using some narratives in Azerbaijani Turkish, Persian, and English. The framework used in the current study is Dooley and Levinsohn’s (2001) model of functional-cognitive approach. The corpus of the study contains 15 stories. The results of the study show that narration can be imagined as a polygon. The polygon functions like a cognitive schema. According to the so-called cognitive schema, all sides of the polygon are fixed and can be used in any bedtime story. Of course, the narrator can increase or decrease the number of sentences of this kind but the point is that the more the narrator decreases or increases the sentences the less the coherence of the narration will be. This cognitive schema confirms why children’s bedtime stories are the easiest narratives while classic or detective narratives are among the most difficult ones to read and follow.