2.3 Paragraph Unity

Unity in the paragraph is essential to good writing. It calls for clear thinking and a definite plan of organization. To make sure your paragraphs are unified, you should begin each one (at least until you develop a good sense of unity) with a topic sentence that states the controlling idea. All your major supporting statements should go directly back to the controlling idea. All minor supports should further explain the major statements and the controlling idea at the same time. Applying the test word because properly and appropriately throughout the paragraph is one sure way of achieving unity. If the topic sentence should have a compound controlling idea, you must develop each part according to the principles of unity.

Study the three paragraphs that follow. All of them discuss the same topic. Which paragraph has unity and which two do not? Which paragraph discusses more than one topic? Which paragraph has irrelevant sentences?

Paragraph 1

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV-infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to100,000,by the end of 1995. In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV, and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Mothers can give the HIV, virus to their children during pregnancy and childbirth or when breast-feeding. The virus is also transmitted through blood and blood products. For example, drug users who share needles may become infected. The main method of transmission is, of course, unprotected sex, which accounts for 75 to 85percent of infections.

Paragraph 2

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV IV infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to 100,000, by the end of 1995. In the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Around the world, HIV infection rates are skyrocketing among sex workers.' In Nairobi, Kenya, 80 percent of sex workers are infected, and in Vietnam, the rate of infection climbed from 9 percent to 38 percent between1992 and 1995. These statistics illustrate with frightening clarity that HIV/AIDS is still a major health problem in most areas of the world.

Paragraph 3

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still growing explosively in most parts of the world. In Central and Eastern Europe, HIV is spreading rapidly in countries that had almost no cases a few years ago. In China, there were an estimated 10,000 HIV infected persons at the end of 1993, and this total grew ten-fold, to100,000, by the end of 1995. There is evidence that in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, HIV infection rates are declining, at least among males. This is a result of a combination of prevention methods. In the countries of sub Saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages on. In Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, 10 percent of the women visiting postnatal clinics in urban areas are infected with HIV, and in some areas, the rate is 40 percent. Although there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, new medicines are available that prolong the lives of people with HIV.