Unity and Coherence Unity means that a paragraph

Unity and Coherence � Unity means that a paragraph discusses one and only one main idea from the beginning to end. � Coherence in writing means that the sentences must hold together; that is, the movement from one sentence to the next must be logical and smooth. There must be no sudden jumps.

Two ways to achieve unity � Discuss only one idea in a paragraph � Always stay on the topic in your supporting sentence

Four ways to achive coherence (See page 22) � Repeat key nouns, or use the key noun substitutes (synonyms or expressions with the same meaning) � Use consistent pronouns � Use transition signals to link ideas (See page 27 for list of transition signals and conjunctive adverbs with their meaing and functions. See page 30 and 31 for practice � Arrange your ideas in logical order

Some common kinds of logical order � Chronological order by time – a sequence of events or steps in a process. (See the paragraph on page 33 for the example) � Logical division of ideas a topic is divided into parts, and each part is discussed separately. (See the paragraph about gold on page 3 for the example) � Comparison/contrast the similarities and/or differences between two or more items are discussed. (See the paragraph about synonyms on page 5 for the example)