II. Rhetoric and paragraphing

Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing in a way that is likely to persuade or influence people (LDC). The rules of rhetoric are not universal, i.e. they differ from language to language, just like logic which is the basis of rhetoric. Both derive from the cultural peculiarities of each nation.

English logic and rhetoric, based on Anglo-European cultural pattern, are linear, which means that the flow of ideas occurs in a straight line from the opening sentence to the final one, with various discourse markers providing the necessary cohesion. For comparison, Arabic and Persian writers tend to construct the discourse in a parallel sequence with an emphasis on coordination – they use parallel constructions with such coordinators as ‘and’, ‘also’, ‘but’. Whereas in English, maturity of style is normally judged by the degree of subordination, rather than coordination.

Furthermore, a well-structured English paragraph¹ is never digressive: the rules of English rhetoric require that every sentence in a paragraph should relate directly to the central idea, while a Spanish writer will fill a paragraph with several digressions (from the main subject).

In English rhetoric a paragraph is an integral unit of thought containing one incident, one complete little part of the story. Every change of the subject or point of view is shown by a new paragraph.

As a rule, a paragraph is a group of sentences centered on one main idea. The length of a paragraph cannot be measured exactly. It depends on the length of the part of the story which is in it. Paragraphs of less than three sentences are very rare except in conclusions and conversations. When writing conversations most writers give each new speaker a new paragraph.

The paragraph is supposed to have a topic sentence, which calls the reader’s attention to the central idea of the paragraph. The topic sentence generally stands at the head of the paragraph. The other sentences in the paragraph are related to the main idea and are supposed to support it.

Types of Paragraphs

As has been previously mentioned, in many paragraphs (though not in all) it is possible to pick out one sentence which states briefly the main topic the paragraph is concerned with (the topic sentence), and everything else in the paragraph is an enlargement upon or a development of it. It may occur anywhere in the paragraph, but many English writers choose to place it at the beginning, and for those who are just learning the art, this is, perhaps, the best place for it, for it fixes the mind straightway on what you intend the paragraph to deal with.

A paragraph pattern that begins with a relatively general idea and develops the idea in specific details is called analytical.

It follows from the definition that analytical paragraphs center upon one particular object or one particular idea. Care should be taken not to damage paragraph integrity by either developing the idea beyond the implicit limits or failing to develop it fully. Here are the plan elements of a single analytical paragraph:

1. a relatively general beginning sentence that states a single central idea: the topic sentence;

2. a series of specific details that exemplify, clarify, illustrate, or otherwise amplify the single central idea: the developers;

3. a terminating passage, typically one-sentence long, which signals that the idea is finished: the terminator.

Some analytical paragraphs consist of a heading (a topic sentence) and a series of related developers that could have occurred in any sequence. Such a paragraph is called a list.

Paragraphs whose composition elements present their ideas part at a time, building them up piece by piece from the relatively specific to the relatively general are called synthetic.

So the difference between the analytical and synthetic paragraphs lies in the direction of movement. The analytical paragraph moves from the topic sentence and the synthetic paragraph moves towards it.

Thus, the paragraph is the graphic representation of a unit of disciplined thought and the movement, therefore, leads either from the conclusion to the evidence (analytical) or from the evidence to the conclusion (synthetic).