Paragraph Unity and Coherence

PARAGRAPH UNITY AND COHERENCE

Paragraphs should have both coherence and unity. A paragraph with unity develops a

single idea thoroughly and links it to the rest of the paper. Paragraph coherence is

achieved when sentences are ordered in a logical manner and when clear transitions link

sentences.

Paragraph unity:

• Develop a paragraph around a major idea.           Express this idea in the topic sentence.

• Make the relationship between the main idea     of the paragraph and the thesis of the paper     clear. Don’t assume that the reader will “get       it.” Spell it out for him/her.

• Support the main idea of the paragraph with       details.

• Create separate paragraphs for those details     that explore your topic from different                   perspectives.

• Eliminate sentences that do not support the       main idea. Alternately, you may revise the           main idea to include those sentences.

Look at the following examples from a paper that has the thesis: “Despite the amount of

foreign aid pouring in, social conditions in Zeeland remain bleak because the aid is used

for military purposes.”

Example 1 (without unity)

Robert Bee wrote, “The Zeeland massacre illustrates the need for greater control and

vigilance.” This is related to the thesis. Some 20,000 people disappeared from the villages. Financial mishandling can lead to great misfortune. Corruption in the government was exposed repeatedly to no avail. A police force, under orders to eliminate suspected terrorists, grabbed political dissidents and their families.

Example 2 (unified)

The pogrom of May 3, 1987 exemplifies how foreign aid funds were appropriated for repressive rather than social development purposes. On that day, some 20,000 people were abducted from villages in the countryside, charged as traitors and summarily executed. Then governor-for-life Zeely Zeelafsun had recently used $5 billion in aid to create a standing paramilitary police force. Without some restrictive control over the aid, human rights organizations were unable to prevent the buildup and unleashing of this disaster. Robert Bee, the director of the Development as Freedom Foundation wrote, “The Zeeland massacre illustrates the need for greater control and vigilance.”

In the first paragraph it is hard to tell what the topic sentence is, let alone how all the

sentences belong together. The reader is not informed who Robert Bee is. The words “related to” in the second sentence don’t give the reader any sense of what the relationship is. 

The second paragraph provides a tight topic sentence that links the main idea of the paragraph to the central argument of the paper. It eliminates details that do not fall under the topic and adds details that are relevant to the reader’s understanding of the events and their relation to foreign aid.

Paragraph coherence:

Decide on an order for your sentences that will best develop the paragraph’s main idea.

Your supporting sentences are raw materials. They will not make sense to a reader unless

they are put in order.

This order could be based on several factors:

• Chronological sequence. This is useful for           describing a sequence of events.

• Modified chronology. Sometimes a major             idea presented early in a paragraph can be         supplemented with necessary background         information

• Spatial position of different objects. This             method is useful for description.

• ‘Conversation’ between different experts. By          moving between a series of key positions, a      writer can establish a sense of dialogue and      develop a complex argument.

• Logical form of argument. Some form of              logical proof, like a syllogism, can serve as        the basis for order. 

Once you have put your sentences in order, express the connections between them with transitional words or phrases. Think of these as signposts to guide the reader through your paragraph. They should be clear.

Examples (transitions in bold):

 

1) Chronological sequence

     Topic sentence: Our journey was filled with       misfortune and luck.

       - After the car broke, we had to walk                     several miles.

       - Having eaten little for lunch, we were                   soon wearied.

       - While we wanted to continue toward                   town, we had to rest.

       - It was at that moment that a trucker                   offered us a ride.

 2) Expert Conversation

      Topic sentence: Karl Marx and Michel                  Foucault produced influential and                        superficially similar but ultimately                        conflicting understandings of the way that        power struggles determine truth.

       - Marx, writing in the mid-nineteenth                     century, asserted that truth was the                     product of conflicts between classes, or             groups of people positione differently in             historical economic power arrangements.

       - While agreeing with Marx’s recognition of           the way that power struggles and history           alter truth, Foucault was more skeptical             about Marx’s identification of classes as           the primary actors in the struggle.

       - Instead, Foucault suggested that an                   examination of the claims made about

         sexuality and appropriate punishments               revealed a complex give and take                         between various social groups and                     interests, all of which sought to establish

         dominance by controlling meaning.

       - Marxist critics of Foucault argue in                     response that removing the focus from

         class eliminates a broad view of social               conflict necessary to seeing how                         economic and political changes shape               our everyday understanding.