Maintaining paragraph unity

This activity contains 5 questions. Select the topic sentence that best unifies the paragraph.

The paragraph below is missing a topic sentence. Read the paragraph and choose the
topic sentence that best unifies it.
Many people interpret the things they readsuch as books or magazine articleson a
personal level by taking meaning from the work and molding it into something that speaks
to them. Each reader responds to a text in his or her own ways, which are often hard to
describe to others. Still, some people attempt to discuss literature in groups so that they
may find other ideas, or come to a consensus on a particular idea presented in the text.
Literary interpretation is primarily a private affair.
Literary interpretation is primarily a social affair.

The paragraph below is missing a topic sentence. After reading the incomplete paragraphs,
choose the topic sentence that best unifies the paragraph, on technology and war.
The First World War had already demonstrated the devastating effects of technological
weaponry; so, with that in mind, America wanted to build "the bomb" before Germany could.
In fact, the two countries were unknowingly only a few years apart in their development of
atomic theory for military application. The atomic bomb, however, surpassed all
expectations in the measure of its destructive force, and once this radioactive Pandora's
Box had been opened, the last hope for world peace seemed to beparadoxically
through an insatiable need for a military based on technological superiority.
The atomic bomb was both a blessing and a curse.
When the world found itself in the middle of a second world war, technological power once
again translated into war-time advantage.

The paragraph below is missing a topic sentence. Read the paragraph and choose the
topic sentence that best unifies it.
Often, men from all across the country who were forced into battle had to redefine their
familial connections through new notions of manhood. Time and again men had to ask
themselves who their realbrothers were: the men fighting by their sides, or their relatives on
the enemy side?
Unlike the War of 1812, the American Civil War pitted citizens, friends, and brothers against
one another.
The military reality of the Civil War made many men leave behind their boyhood innocence.

Despite their differences, there is a "natural" connection between Bryant's morality and
Emerson's "reason."
For example, both Bryant and Emerson use natural images of the landscape to invoke
feelings of national pride.

The paragraph below is missing a topic sentence. Read the paragraph and choose the
topic sentence that best unifies it.
First he states his support for popular sovereignty, arguing that democratic laws are formed
by the people for the people. Consequently, these laws "generally tend to promote the
welfare of the greatest possible number" (238). He sees great advantage in the level of
involvement the citizens of democracy claim. However, he also describes a great flaw within
the structure of this kind of government: If the voice of the majority stands infallible and
unchecked, then the smaller voices of the minority will be drowned out.
Throughout history, humankind has always strived for true democracy, and Alexis De
Tocqueville writes about these struggles in his book Democracy in America.
In Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville both celebrates the institutions and pinpoints
the dangers of our political system.

Answer: b,b,b,a,b