Ali Topan

Fedrata Erdinansyah
M.Syahrul Ramadhan
Riyadi Pratama

UNITY &
COHERENCE
Writing for Academic Purposes
UNITY
What is Unity??
An important element of a good paragraph is unity.
Unity means single idea. In other words, unity in
writing is the connection all ideas to a single topic.
For example, if your paragraph is about the advantages
of nuclear power, discuss only that. Don't discuss about
the disadvantages.

UNITY
Unity can be achieve by:
1. Discussing only one idea in a paragraph.
2. Always staying on the topic in your supporting sentences.

A paragraph has unity when all the sentences support a single idea.
The paragraph must have one controlling idea in the topic sentence.
Otherwise the paragraph loses focus.
The supporting sentences must support or explain the controlling idea
with examples, details, steps, or definitions. Otherwise, the paragraph will
not be about one single idea.
The concluding sentence should restate the idea in the topic sentence.
Otherwise the main idea might will not be clear.

UNITY
EXAMPLE: NO UNITY
The start of this paragraph is incorrect:

"Sunday is my favorite day, because I can watch football with my dad.

There are other sports on other days to watch on TV.“

The second sentence detours from the main topic: how

watching football with dad makes Sunday your favorite day

UNITY
 Don't include unrelated details
Sentences like these don't relate to the main idea in the topic
sentence:

"There are other sports on other days to watch on TV."

OR
"Some days my dad doesn't make it home from work until after I'm in bed.”

UNITY
EXAMPLE: UNITY
This is a better start to the paragraph:

"Sunday is my favorite day, because I can watch football with my dad.

He spends the whole day watching football on TV with me, since
he doesn't have to work that day."

The second sentence elaborates on the main topic. This is a

unified start.

UNITY
COHERENCE
What is Coherence??
Another element of a good paragraph is coherence. Coherence is related
to unity. Ideas that are arranged in a clear and logical way are coherent.
The purpose of coherence is to make the readers can easily understand
the main points.
For coherence in writing, 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. Each sentence should flow smoothly
into the next one.
There are 4 ways to achieve coherence:
1. Repeat key nouns.
2. Use consistent pronouns.
3. Use transition signals to link ideas.
4. Arrange your ideas in logical order.
COHERENCE
Cohesive Devices
1. Repetition of Key Nouns

The easiest way to achieve coherence is to repeat key nouns frequently in your paragraph. Read the
model paragraph about gold to see how it uses this technique to smooth the flow of sentences. The key
noun in this paragraph is gold.

You could see the noun gold seven times, the pronoun it twice, and the pronoun its three times. (The
word it in sentence 5 refers to coin, not gold, so you should not have circled it.)

There is no fixed rule about how often to repeat key nouns or when to substitute pronouns. You should
repeat a key noun instead of using a pronoun when the meaning is not clear. COHERENCE
2. Key Noun Subtitutes
If you do not wish to repeat a key noun again and again, you
can use synonyms or expressions with the same meaning.
For example, in sentence 8 of the paragraph about gold
before, the writer substituted the noun use as a synonym for
application in sentence 7, thereby smoothing the flow of
thought from one sentence to the next.

COHERENCE
3. Consistent Pronouns
When you use pronouns, make sure that you use the same
person and number throughout your paragraph. Don't change
from you to he or she (change of person) or from he to they
(change of number). Notice the changes the writer made for
consistency in the following example:

COHERENCE
4. Transition Signal
Transition signals, along with repeated
words and reference words, are one of
the main ways to achieve good
cohesion and coherence in your writing.
They are therefore a way to help ensure
that your ideas and sentences cohere or
'stick together'. Transition signals are
used to signal relationships between
ideas in your writing.
Transition signals give a paragraph
coherence because they guide your
reader from one idea to the next.

*Don't Overuse Transition Signals, Too many

can be distracting rather than helpful.
COHERENCE
5. Logical Order
Your choice of one kind of logical order over another will, of course,
depend on your topic and your purpose. You may even combine two or
more different logical orders in the same paragraph. The important point
to remember is to arrange your ideas in some kind of order that is logical
to a reader accustomed to the English way of writing.

Some common kinds of logical order in English are chronological order,

logical division of ideas, and comparison/contrast.
 Chronological order is order by time-a sequence of events or steps in
a process.
 In logical division of ideas, a topic is divided into parts, and each part
is discussed separately.
 In a comparison/contrast paragraph, the similarities and/or
differences between two or more items are discussed.
 REVIEW
These are the important points covered in this discussion.
1. Every good paragraph has both unity and coherence.
2. You achieve unity by:
 discussing only one idea in a paragraph.
 always staying on the topic in your supporting sentences.
3. You achieve coherence by:
 repeating key nouns.
 using consistent pronouns.
 using transition signals.
 arranging your ideas in some kind of logical order.
4. There are different types of transition signals. Each type is punctuated
differently.
~ END ~
THANK YOU