Understanding the Paragraph and Paragraphing - Iain McGee
Paragraph Genesis
Understanding the Paragraph and Paragraphing - Iain McGee
Iain McGee [+]
Majan University College
Iain McGee is an Associate Professor and Head of the Faculty of English Language Studies at Majan University College, Muscat, Oman. He completed his PhD from Cardiff University, UK, in 2006, and has published research in a number of areas within applied linguistics including collocation and the mental lexicon, lexical cohesion, data-driven learning and lexicography, teacher cognition, and paragraph analysis.
Description
This chapter provides an overview of historical paragraphing practices starting with early Greek usage, moving on to Latin paragraphing, and ending with paragraphing practice in various historical forms of English up to the end of the 19th century. The author provides a summary and critique of Lewis’ (1894) book A History of the English Paragraph , and suggest that his explanations for why paragraphing practice changed over hundreds of years are inadequate, arguing for a much wider set of considerations to be taken into account to interpret these changes.