Definition:
The quality of oneness in a paragraph or essay that results when all the words and sentences contribute to a single main idea. See also:
Etymology:
From the Latin, "one"Observations:
- "[T]he essential quality of a paragraph should be unity. A paragraph is supposed to have a central idea, and everything in the paragraph relates to and develops that idea. The reader finds no surprises, and every sentence fits with the others. Moreover, the sentences follow each other in logical order so that one could not move the sentences around at random: each one needs to be in its particular place to advance the internal development of the paragraph."
(Maxine Hairston, Successful Writing. Norton, 1992) - Rules of Thumb for Writing Unified Paragraphs
- Be sure your paragraphs focus on one idea and state that idea in a topic sentence.
- Place your topic sentence effectively within your paragraph. Let the purpose of your paragraph and the nature of your evidence guide you.
- Let your paragraph's evidence--the selected details, the examples--illustrate or clarify the idea expressed in your topic sentence.
- Make sure you explain the relationship between your evidence and your idea so that it is clear to readers.
- Think about unity among paragraphs when writing essays. Be sure your paragraphs are related, that they fit together and clarify your essay's idea.
- "Unity is the shallowest, the cheapest deception of all composition. . . . Every piece of writing, it matters not what it is, has unity. Inexpert or bad writing most terribly so. But ability in an essay is multiplicity, infinite fracture, the intercrossing of opposed forces establishing any number of opposed centres of stillness."
(William Carlos Williams, "An Essay on Virginia," 1925)
Pronunciation: YOO-ni-tee
