What is Unity in a Paragraph?

Unity is one of the important elements in a good paragraph. Without unity, the main meaning of a paragraph cannot be conveyed to the reader. Then, what is unity? How to make paragraphs that have unity?

What is Unity?

You may have heard or read a rule in paragraph writing that says "There can only be one main idea in a paragraph." That's unity. Unity is a concept that regulates the flow of paragraphs with the rule that one paragraph can only contain one main idea. For example, if you want to convey how happy life is, then you just say that. Although related, other ideas that are not directly related to what you want to convey, should be conveyed in another paragraph.

Beginner writers usually make mistakes such as discussing more than one main idea in a paragraph. Meanwhile, the rule is clear that one paragraph only serves to convey and explain one main idea. We often find that our students divide paragraphs by simply placing the cursor at the end of a sentence and pressing enter. Often, they don't know that when they split a paragraph in two, they are separating the supporting details from the main idea being explained. Errors like this are caused by a lack of knowledge about unity.

How to keep unity in a paragraph?

To maintain the unity of a paragraph, we need to take care of two things. First, we must state our main idea in only one topical sentence. One main idea may be seen from several aspects (aspect is the way we think about something) but as much as possible we limit the topical sentence to only one aspect.

State clearly what your concern is although you can also write it down creatively. You can put this topical sentence at the beginning of the paragraph as usual, or at the end of the paragraph if you can be that creative.

Second, supporting details should directly explain the topical sentence. Do not explain things that you did not mention in the topic sentence of the paragraph. If you mention something, you need to explain it. That's why you should limit your topical sentences to certain aspects. The supporting sentences you need will depend on the breadth and depth of the main idea you are stating in the topical sentence. However, as many supporting sentences as needed, try not to try to mention or explain other aspects of the main idea or the main topic of the paragraph as much as possible.

Writing an essay requires patience. You have to be able to postpone a discussion, however interesting it is, until it comes to the line that it should be. Present your ideas systematically in paragraphs. Be patient with conveying ideas so that each paragraph only explains one main idea. The result of your patience is a systematic essay with easy-to-understand paragraph structure.