A Dictionary of Cont..

of uniqzre that makes expressions of this lkind
“illogical” or improper, but these expressions are
used freely by outstanding writers and educators
today. One grammarian, commenting on the
much condemned quite unique points out that
the word here means “unparalleled” and that we
certainly do say quite unparalleled. He then says
of the word unique itself: “I don’t see anything
quite unique in it.” See also comparison of adjectives
and adverbs.
unique; singular; exceptional. Unique and singular
may be used as synonyms, but singular is
more often used in the sense of extraordinary,
remarkable (The child has a singular inability to
comprehend the simplest instruction). Exceptional
also may be used as a synonym for uniqcte
in its sense of forming an exception, or forming
an exceptional or unusual instance. However, it
is more often used, like singular, to mean simply
unusual or extraordinary.
United States. National or geographical names
that have plural forms are usually treated as
plurals, as in the Netherlands are in Europe, the
Hebrides are part of Scotland. But the United
States is usually treated as a singular in English.
We say the United States is in North America.
The plural construction these United States is
used, but it is felt to be poetic and it is avoided
before a verb. That is, we might say in these
United States we believe in elections but we
would not say these United States are having an
election. See America.
unities. The unities are the three principles of
dramatic plot construction: action, time and
place. The only really important unity is that of
action; that is, a logical connection between the
incidents of a play. Aristotle called attention to
the essential character of this unity when he defined
tragedy as “an imitation of an action that
is complete and whole.”
The principle of unity of time was an outgrowth
of Aristotle’s observation that “tragedy
endeavors, as far as possible, to confine itself to
a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to
exceed this limit.” It remained for sixteenth
century Italian critics to convert this description
into dogma. Once the rule was established it was
interpreted variously: some followed Aristotle in
judging a day to consist of a single revolution of
the sun, or twenty-four hours; others limited the
time to twelve hours (day, as distinguished from
night); a fastidious few felt that the hours represented
in the action should not exceed the
hours actually consumed in the theatrical presentation.
The principle of unity of place is not Aristotelian
at all, but is the innovation of Italian
Renaissance critics. Interpretations of what constituted
unity of place have been various: some
critics insist that the action of a whole play must
be played at a particular spot; others are content
if it is confined to a given locality, as a city.
Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist is an English play
which observes the unities. But good plays that
do so are rare. From Shakespeare on, play-
529 university
wrights in English have generally observed unity
of action, but unity of action only-though some
neoclassicals, such as Dryden and Congreve,
have observed the other unities as well.
Actually the unities have interested critics
more often than they have interested dramatists.
Today the playwright is most concerned with
unity of impression-which may or may not follow
from a unified action.
unity is one of the three basic principles of rhetorical
structure. The other two are coherence
and emphasis. Unity means the relation of all the
parts or elements of a work in such a way as to
produce a harmonious whole with a single general
effect.
A sentence, for example, becomes a sentence
by virtue of having unity, of completing a
thought.
Paragraphs lack unity if they include unrelated
materials. They are likely to have unity if
their material is appropriate to fulfilling a definite
segment of the writer’s larger purpose. A
good way for the beginner to test his paragraphs
for unity is for him to see whether or not the
whole point of the paragraph can be summarized
in a single sentence.
A piece of writing as a whole has unity if the
fundamental interest, the subject, permeates the
entire composition and makes it one thing. A
unified piece of writing is the fruit of clear, systematic
thinking.
university; college. In the United States a university
is an institution of learning of the highest
grade, having a college of liberal arts and a program
of graduate studies, together with several
professional schools, as of theology, law, medicine,
engineering, and authorized to confer degrees.
In England, the university is the whole
body of teachers and students pursuing, at a
particular place, the higher branches of learning.
In the United States college means an institution
of higher learning, especially one not divided,
like a university, into distinct schools and faculties,
and affording a general or liberal education
rather than technical or professional training
(The College of William and Mary is one of our
oldest institutions of higher learning); a constituent
unit of a university, furnishing courses
of instruction in the liberal arts and sciences,
usually leading to the degree of bachelor (Harvard
College is the undergraduate unit of Harvard
University); an institution for special or
professional instruction as in medicine, pharmacy,
agriculture, or music, often set up as a
part of a university (The College of Agriculture
was some distance from the main university
buildings). In England, a college is an endowed,
self-governing association of scholars incorporated
within a university (Pembroke College
was in Johnson’s affectionate phrase, “a nest of
singing birds”); a charitable foundation of the
collegiate type; or other educational corporations
which prepare students for the universities
(Eton College, Winchester College).
In idiomatic usage, university and college are