Always Check for Unity
Learn How Unity Works
Learn Two Ways to Improve Unity
Removing Irrelevant Information
Broadening The Central Idea
A piece of writing is unified if all of the details it contains relate to its central idea, also known as its main idea. As you learned earlier, you should express the central idea of a paragraph in a topic sentence. ALWAYS CHECK FOR UNITY You should always check your paragraph for unity after you have written your first draft. Then, each time you revise a paragraph, ask yourself whether all the facts, ideas, and opinions it contains relate directly to both the subject and the main point in the paragraph's central idea. NOTE: | It's always a good idea to express a central idea in a sentence, which for a paragraph is known as a topic sentence. |
How to Check for Unity - Identify your topic sentence. If your topic sentence is implied and not stated, write it out.
- Read all the other sentences in the paragraph. Do they contain information that does not relate to your topic sentence? If so, you have two choices:
- Revise or remove that sentence.
or - Revise the paragraph's topic sentence to make it more inclusive.
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The following paragraph is unified because all of the information it contains relates directly to the topic sentence (central idea), which is highlighted: Run-On (1)"Run-on," a common way to waste energy and water in America, is the habit of leaving machines and appliances running when they don't have to be. (2) Many people in this country routinely forget to turn off lights, televisions, and radios when they leave a room. (3) Some take half-hour showers day after day, when they know that a five-minute scrubbing will get them just as clean. (4) And too many of us leave the car running as we wait outside a store for a friend to finish shopping. (Michael Pulsinelle) LEARN HOW UNITY WORKS Here's how unity works in the paragraph entitled "Run-On": - The idea of wasting energy from sentence 1 appears in sentence 2 when the writer mentions that people forget "to turn off lights, televisions, and radios."
- Sentence 4 also makes reference to wasting energy. There the writer says "too many of us leave the car running as we wait outside a store."
- Wasting water pops up in sentence 3, where we learn about people who "take half- hour showers."
- The idea that run-on is a habit (sentence 1) is developed by "routinely" (sentence 2), "day after day" (sentence 3), and "too many of us" (sentence 4).
Back to Top LEARN TWO WAYS TO IMPROVE UNITY There are two ways you can correct problems with unity: - By removing irrelevant information, which that has nothing to do with your central idea.
- By broadening your central idea. Think of a topic sentence or thesis statement as an umbrella. The bigger the umbrella, the more you can get under it.
REMOVING IRRELEVANT INFORMATION The paragraph below lacks unity. As you read it, look for irrelevant information--—information that does not relate to the topic sentence (central idea), which is highlighted: (1) Internationalstudentsatourcollege are having problems adjustingto theUnitedStates. (2) They can't find part-time jobs to support themselves while they attend college because their visas do not permit them to work. (3) Finding part-time jobs isn't a problem for American students. (4) Many international students have left families behind and have no emotional support system to rely on. (5) All find English composition a challenging course. (6) None likes the food in the college cafeteria. (7) Native-born students feel the same way about the cafeteria.
In the paragraph you just read, sentences 2, 4, 5, and 6 are about international students, as called for in the topic sentence. But sentences 3 and 7 are about American students. To unify the paragraph, you can remove sentences 3 and 7: (1) International students at our college are having problems adjusting to the United States. (2) They can't find part-time jobs to support themselves while they attend college because their visas do not permit them to work. (4) Many have left their families behind and have no emotional support system to rely on. (5) All find English composition a challenging course. (6) None likes the food in the college cafeteria.
BROADENING THE CENTRAL IDEA Another way to correct problems of unity is to broaden your central idea. This approach works well if you have included information that suits your purpose but does not relate to the topic sentence. Let's take another look at the paragraph about international students: (1) International students at our college are having problems adjusting to the United States. (2) They can't find part-time jobs to support themselves while they attend college because their visas do not permit them to work. (3) Finding part-time jobs isn't a problem for American students. (4) Many international students have left families behind and have no emotional support system to rely on. (5) All find English composition a challenging course. (6) None likes the food in the college cafeteria. (7) Native-born students feel the same way about the cafeteria.
The paragraph you just read lacks unity because it contains information about American students, but its topic sentence mentions only international students. So, to correct the problem, you can rewrite the topic sentence to include American students as well: (1) Many problems facing international students at our college are different from those of American students, but many are the same. (2) For example, international students can't take part-time jobs to support themselves while they attend college because their visas do not permit them to work. (3) On the other hand, finding part-time jobs isn't a problem for American students. (4) In addition, many foreign students have left their families behind and, unlike native-born classmates, have no emotional support system to rely on. (5) However, both groups find English composition a challenging course. (6) And neither likes the food in the college cafeteria.
The purpose of this version is different from that of the earlier one. It discusses problems of both groups, not just of international students. | 