ASVAB word knowledge

A paragraph typically consists of a unifying main point, thought, or idea accompanied by supporting details. The non-fiction paragraph usually begins with the general and moves towards the more specific so as to advance an argument or point of view. Each paragraph builds on what came before and lays the ground for what comes next. Paragraphs generally range three to seven sentences all combined in a single paragraphed statement. In prose fiction and literary writing paragraph structure is more abstract, depending on the writer's technique and the action of the narrative. Facts and parts of the narrative are ordered to achieve poignancy and support rhetorical devices. A paragraph in prose fiction can start with a single detail and enlarge the picture with successive details, for example; but it is just as common for the point of a prose paragraph to occur in the middle or the end. A paragraph can be as short as one word or run the length of multiple pages, and may consist of one or many sentences. When dialogue is being quoted in fiction, a new paragraph is used each time the person being quoted changes.

The general American practice is to indicate new paragraphs by indenting the first line (three to five spaces), with blank lines between paragraphs, while business writing uses blank lines and no indent. For educational papers indents and no blank lines are preferred. Most published books use a device to separate certain paragraphs further when there is a change of scene or time. This extra space, especially when co-occurring at a page break, may contain an asterisk, three asterisks, a special stylistic dingbat, or a special symbol known as an asterism.