EXERCISE 11. WRITE THE CORRECT CONTRACTION FOR EACH WORD GROUP.

2. Topic of the second paragraph: details of the accident.

The following model composition shows one way of writing the two paragraphs.

Model Composition

The most stressful day that I remember is the day I fell from a ladder. It

was July 4, 2000. I was almost thirteen at the time.

My father, who was working in the attic over our garage, had just asked

me to hand him a piece of lumber. As I climbed up the ladder to give it to

him, the ladder swayed and I fell on my back against the concrete floor.

Immediately, I was in pain and shock. The breath had been knocked out of

me. As I was being rushed to the hospital, I kept thinking I might never be

able to walk again. To my relief, it turned out that there was no fracture, but

my back was sore for a couple of days.

Now write your two-paragraph composition.

Lesson 29 Unity in the

Paragraph

The key to effective paragraph writing is unity.

What is unity?

Unity comes from the Latin word unus, meaning “one.” Unity means

“oneness.”

A paragraph has unity if it deals with one main topic and all its sentences stick to that

topic—and contribute something to it.

Suppose the first paragraph about Lance Armstrong had been written this way:

From an early age, Lance Armstrong demonstrated superior athletic abil-

ity and a competitive streak. These qualities helped him win the Kids

Triathlon at age 13 and, at age 16, become a professional triathlete. The

cycling part of the triathlon became his focus, and he devoted his life to

professional cycling. In that sport he has excelled as national and world

champion, as Olympian, and as record-tying five-time winner of the Tour de

France. He also started the Lance Armstrong Foundation. He is surely one of

the all-time great cyclists.

Does the above paragraph have unity?

No. The sentence He also started the Lance Armstrong Foundation

does not deal with the same topic as that in the rest of the paragraph.

The paragraph speaks about Lance Armstrong’s athletic accomplish-

ments. This sentence spoils the unity of the paragraph and should be

removed.