Writing: Divisions of discourse

in-nuce.com divisions of discourse
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From A New English Grammar for Schools, by Thomas Harvey:

Divisions of discourse:

1. Depending on its form and purpose, discourse may be divided into prose and poetry.

a. Prose is discourse written in ordinary language.

 Its purpose is to be a clear and distinct statement of the author's meaning. 

b. Poetry is discourse written in metrical language.

Its aim is to please, by addressing the reader's imagination and the sensibilities.

2. The divisions of a prose work are chapters and paragraphs.

a. A chapter is the division of a book relating to one subject.

b. It is usually made up of many paragraphs.

Each paragraph is related to one part of the subject.

3. The divisions of a poem are usually stanzas.

a. A stanza a group of lines forming the division of a poem.

b. A stanza consists of a certain number of lines,

but it need not be about one division of the subject. Hence a stanza does not correspond to a paragraph

4. Paragraphs and classical stanzas are composed of sentences.

a. A sentence is an assemblage of words making complete sense.

b. Examples:

  • Birds fly. 
  • Man is mortal. 
  • The great throat of the chimney laughed. 
  • When the farmer came down in the morning, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the night.


1. Prove from one of your books that a chapter acts as a division of a subject, and that a paragraph acts as a subdivision of a chapter.
2. Select a short poem. Paraphrase it in prose, making several paragraphs. Insert this mark () in the poem at the places where the prose paragraphs occur.  

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