Skill: Unity
Now that you have an outline or idea of what you want to write, you can begin writing your draft. While you write your draft you should make sure that all of your main ideas (the thesis for the essay as a whole and the topic sentences for the individual paragraphs) have support that is unified in helping the reader understand that main idea.
Unity is the idea that many parts combine together or are all connected to one idea. Writing has unity when the supporting sentences all work together to support the topic sentences and all the paragraphs work together to support the thesis statement. Paragraphs that lack unity are confusing to the reader because some ideas do not seem to belong.
Compare the examples below. The first paragraph has poor unity because there are sentences that do not support the topic sentence.
Example: Body Paragraph (Poor Unity)
Chopin was a musical prodigy. While many people are aware of the great pieces he wrote, not as many people are aware of how young he was when he began his musical career. Chopin published one of his first pieces at the age of seven and one year later performed in a public concert (Plantinga & Hendley, 2018). At an astonishingly young age, he truly showed great musical talent in both of these things. While it may be hard to imagine, his interest in music may have begun even earlier. "In infancy Chopin was always strangely moved when listening to his mother or eldest sister playing the piano" (Plantinga & Hendley, 2018, "Life," para. 1). Many children show some response to music in their infancy. This early sensitivity may have helped his early desire to create and perform. It is clear that he was musically gifted very early in life.
Example: Body Paragraph (Revised for Unity)
Chopin was a musical prodigy. While many people are aware of the great pieces he wrote, not as many people are aware of how young he was when he began his musical career. Chopin published one of his first pieces at the age of seven and one year later performed in a public concert (Plantinga & Hendley, 2018). At an astonishingly young age, he truly showed great musical talent in both of these things. While it may be hard to imagine, his interest in music may have begun even earlier. "In infancy Chopin was always strangely moved when listening to his mother or eldest sister playing the piano" (Plantinga & Hendley, 2018, "Life," para. 1). Many children show some response to music in their infancy. This early sensitivity may have helped his early desire to create and perform. It is clear that he was musically gifted very early in life.
When should I start a new paragraph?
1. When you begin a new idea or point. New ideas should always start
in new paragraphs. If you have an extended idea that spans multiple
paragraphs, each new point within that idea should have its own
paragraph.
2. To contrast information or ideas. Separate paragraphs can serve to
contrast sides in a debate, different points in an argument, or any other
difference.
3. When your readers need a pause. Breaks in paragraphs function as a
short "break" for your readers—adding these in will help your writing
more readable. You would create a break if the paragraph becomes
too long or the material is complex.
4. When you are ending your introduction or starting your
conclusion. Your introductory and concluding material should always
be in a new paragraph. Many introductions and conclusions have
multiple paragraphs depending on their content, length, and the
writer's purpose.
Unity In and Across the Parts of an Essay
You will need to have unity within paragraphs and between paragraphs. Having unity within paragraphs means that your supporting sentences in a particular paragraph all support the topic sentence of that paragraph. Having unity between paragraphs means that your paragraphs all support the thesis statement of the essay. Consider how you can draft your essays to have unity within and between paragraphs as you read about drafting the parts of a cause/effect essay below.
Introductions
As you write your introduction, think about the information your reader needs to understand your topic so they feel ready for the thesis when they read it. Read the following thesis. What information would help a reader understand the general topic so he is ready for the thesis?
TH: Positive urban development is the result of careful planning, wise investing, and a good understanding of the needs of the area.
The reader needs to know what the author means by “positive urban development” so that when they read the thesis, they will be ready to learn about the causes of this type of development. The introduction may start discussing how cities change generally and then introduce the idea of positive changes like growth, stability, and safety. Then the reader should feel prepared for this thesis.
The ideas in the background information are all connected to the topic of the thesis statement. They support the reader's understanding of the thesis statement. All of the background sentences should be unified with the main idea of the essay: the thesis statement. The introduction paragraph is unique; it has a hook, not a topic sentence. The main idea of the introduction is instead found in the thesis statement. That is the main idea the background information should connect to and prepare the reader to understand.
Body Paragraphs
As you write your body paragraphs, keep your focus on explaining how and why your topic sentences are true. It can be easy to get distracted when incorporating research into body paragraphs, but make sure everything you write supports the topic sentence.
If a detail doesn't obviously support the topic sentence of a body paragraph, add 1-2 sentences to explain how in your mind it does connect to and support the main idea OR delete it. If a whole body paragraph doesn't obviously support the thesis statement of the essay, revise the word choice, cohesive device choice, or source used to show how in your mind it does connect to and support the main idea OR delete the paragraph. If a sentence or paragraph doesn't support the main idea it will just confuse the reader.
Conclusion Paragraphs
As you write your conclusion paragraph, you should keep your focus on your restated thesis statement. It is the same idea as the thesis statement just in different words, so it is the same idea as the main idea of the whole essay. You maybe will summarize your essay which will focus on that main idea. Or, you may extend the essay in the conclusion to a broader community and the main idea's global impact, but your supporting sentences should still be about the main idea. Be careful not to lose that main idea at the very end. Even your concluding sentence should connect back to the restated thesis statement in some way.
Exercises
Exercise 1: Revise for unity.
Revise the paragraphs for unity.
- The vegetarian diet is one that eliminates animal meat from your diet. The benefits of a vegetarian diet include the low intake of saturated fats as well as the null contribution of cholesterol (King, 2014). In addition, with the vegetarian diet, we can include a greater amount of fiber, and even more, if we consume whole grains, which have been associated with a lower prevalence of some diseases (Taringa, 2015). On the other hand, the disadvantages that people who have a vegetarian diet have are a greater risk of suffering deficiencies of some micronutrients since the high consumption of fiber can prevent a correct absorption of minerals and also, some nutrients are scarce or none at all the vegetable kingdom.
- Stress has external causes which includes financial problems, life events, and work pressure. We spend lot of time at workplace. A survey published by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2012 found that as many as 70% of Americans reported suffering from workplace stress. In addition, according to APA, workplace stress costs 300 billion dollars annually to US companies. Second, financial worries, almost everyone has. These worries occur when we feel insecurity in financial circumstances. Kanner’s Hassles Scale found that “a feeling of not being able to pay bills and live comfortably, as well as the burden of supporting others financially to be a key strain in our everyday lives” (Kanner et al, 1981). Third, Holmes and Rahe (1967) developed a questionnaire called the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) for identifying major stressful life events. According to them, a death, divorce, or major personal injury are higher among other stressful life event causes.
Exercise 2: Write a body paragraph.
Use the quotes below to draft a timed paragraph about volcanoes. Use at least one paraphrase in your paragraph.
“Cinder cones are the simplest type of volcano. They are built from...congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet or so above their surroundings. Cinder cones are numerous in western North America as well as throughout other volcanic terrains of the world” (USGS, 2011, “Cinder Cones,” para. 1).
“Shield volcanoes...are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows....building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat, domical shape, with a profile much like that of a warrior’s shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of highly fluid lava flows...that spread widely over great distances, and then cool as thin, gently dipping sheets....the largest of the shield volcanoes (and also the world’s largest active volcano), projects 13,677 feet above sea level, its top is over 28,000 feet above the deep ocean floor” (USGS, 2011, “Shield Volcanoes,” para. 1).
Exercise 3: Write a body paragraph.
This body paragraph has a topic sentence, two paraphrases, and a concluding sentence. On a piece of paper, add commentary and explanation in order to develop the body paragraph.
DNA vs RNA
- DNA and RNA are structurally different.
- DNA is made up of a double-helix backbone, whereas RNA is made up of only a single strand (Eisen, 2017).
- Also, the nitrogenous bases are different. In DNA, the bases include A, T, C, and G; for RNA, the bases are A, C, G, and U (Eisen, 2017).
From these examples, we can see that DNA and RNA differ from each other structurally.
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