Paragraph vs. Scene Breaks

[mjwheelers]

HOMER A:
I am interested in learning more about the correlation or lack thereof between paragraph vs. scene breaks. I've observed by scanning the various models that typically paragraph breaks occur at the scene breaks with a few exceptions. The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck (Model 10) is a good example where the paragraph and scene breaks do not correlate.

I understand that scene breaks are triggered by a change in one of Theon's elements.

Are there some guidelines that trigger paragraph breaks? Is one type of break more subjective than the other?

When my daughter and I do scene analysis on the model or are discussing plans for the first draft of the writing project (combining scenes, deleting, etc.), we come up with different ideas and sometimes they are both different than the teacher's guide.

Thanks for your input.

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

This is a tough question.

You see, the paragraph is a fairly new concept that has been widely used since the invention of cheaper paper and easier printing options.

A paragraph in an essay is to convey ONE thought/argument. But a paragraph in a narrative usually resides wherever the author puts it, IF he or she put it in there to start with.

We cannot be sure in older literature that the author inserted the paragraph breaks. It may be the work of a more or less informed person at the publisher's.

In really, really old literature (like Greek and Roman Antiquity and past the Reformation) there were no paragraph breaks. (And in many cases little or no punctuation either).

So... when we (that is I) constructed the scene breaks you are provided with in your answer key, I was looking at the rules for scene breaks to determine where to put a break.

The reason those breaks don't correspond with the paragraph breaks in the text from Beatrice Potter's book is mostly because I did not see logical paragraph breaks in that book. They did not seem to me to jive with change of action, change of person, or change of place... BUT perhaps it is because more than anything, the Potter text was flowed around a series of pictures she had drawn. Perhaps there was no direct intent to divide it into paragraphs.

But more to the point ... when we discuss scene changes, we are not talking about an exact science. It is a judgment call AND an issue of preferences. Not everyone will divide a text in the same way. We are not looking for 'right answers' when we divide works into scenes, we are looking for 'reasoned' answers. The aim is to have the student find the divisions and articulate why he would put a break here or there.

So my solutions to the scene breaks are merely suggestions.

As for the relationship between scenes and paragraphs, ideally they may coincide, but not necessarily. You could have a long paragraph consisting of several scenes that all convey the "same though", or you may have a long scene that consists of several paragraph breaks. Ideally, they should have some overlap, but unless the same person creates both breaks, like as not they will not.

Does that help?

Lene

[mjwheelers]

Yes, Lene, both your information on the history of paragraphs breaks and the subjective nature in setting them as well as scene breaks helps put this in its proper perspective for me. I especially like the point you made about "right" answers VS. "reasoned" answers. I needed to be reminded of the overarching goals which are in line with a classical education, training the mind and focusing on the "tools of learning."

Sometimes I get so bogged down in the details I lose sight of the path.

Thank you,
Kim