Critical Thinking Supplement – 3
Unity, Cohesion, Emphasis
Paragraphs – Unity, Cohesion, Emphasis
(taken from Tressler & Lewis’s Mastering Effective English)
In general, the division of a piece of writing into paragraphs should make it easier
for the reader to understand what he/she is reading (improves comprehension). A
paragraph is a group of sentences developing one topic (this lesson does not consider
dialogue, where each speech gets its own paragraph).
Paragraphs can vary greatly in length, as there is no “ideal” number of sentences
in a paragraph. The high-school English argumentative paragraph tends to have about 10
sentences, arranged according to the following structure:
•
Topic sentence;
•
Expansion and Clarification;
•
Ist reason & Evidence;
•
2nd reason & Evidence;
•
Conclusion
The topic sentence should make clear exactly what is being discussed – it’s a brief
statement of the subject of the paragraph. However, in narrative or descriptive
paragraphs, the topic sentence is often omitted. As you become more adept writers, you
can move the location of the topic sentence to the middle or the end of the paragraph
(clincher sentence), but beginning writers should form the habit of “expressing the main
idea of a paragraph of explanation or argument in the first sentence and using the topic
sentence as a foundation on which to build the paragraph.” Remember that a narrow
topic sentence is generally better than a broader one.
Unity – Unity means “oneness”, so a paragraph has unity of thought if it sticks to one
subject. If a paragraph is unified, it can be summed up in one sentence. This is called
unity of thought.
Coherence – Coherence means “hanging together” and requires both the proper
arrangement of ideas and the bridging of gaps between sentences with connectives that
show the exact relationship of part to part.
Arrangement: There are several standard ways to arrange a paragraph:
•
Temporally – time order – which is best for detailing how something happened;
•
Spatially – space order – which is best for describing a scene;
•
Logically – known to unknown; general to specific; past to present; least to most
important.
The sentence order should seem natural – nothing should be distracting.
Connectives: The progression of each sentence from the preceding sentence must be
logical, and it should also be clear and unmistakable. “Word bridges”, or transitional
words, join sentences and paragraphs and keep the reader’s mind in the path the writer
wants him/her to follow. Useful bridges include the following: this, that, these, those,
personal pronouns, repeated nouns (echo words) conjunctions, adverbs, and connective
phrases.
Other purposes and examples of transitions:
•
To add ideas: moreover, furthermore, also, likewise, similarly, again, in the same
way
•
To introduce statements opposing, negating, or limiting: but, nevertheless,
otherwise, on the other hand, conversely, however, still
•
To show time relation: then, now, presently, thereupon, thereafter, eventually,
meanwhile
•
To indicate order: next, to begin with, finally, in conclusion
•
To introduce illustrations: for instance, for example
•
To indicate consequence: hence, consequently, for this reason, accordingly, as a
result
•
To indicate repetition of an idea: that is to say, in fact, indeed, in other words
•
To compare: similarly, likewise
Emphasis – Make sure that significant matters stand out and unimportant details stay in
the background; usually we place important ideas at the beginning and the end because
first impressions are lasting and the end is the longest remembered. Chief devices of
emphasis include the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
a forceful introduction
an effective conclusion
purposeful repetition
examples and illustrations
comparison and contrast
climactic arrangement
good proportion