2 Paragraphs
Paragraphs mark “thematic units” within a text, containing closely related material. Continuity of participants, time, place and theme is usually maintained within a paragraph or if there is a change of
time or place, this is usually an expected rather than an abrupt change, and so paragraph breaks correspond to places in the text where there is a discontinuity of some kind. The following subsection
illustrates how paragraphs are marked in one text, “Chicken.” Overall, perhaps the most pervasive markers of a new paragraph are points of departure PODs and sometimes the word mbe, which can be
translated as ‘so’. Section 2.2 then discusses the variety of points of departure used in Jita texts.
2.1 Paragraphs in “Chicken”
Paragraph 1 1–7 is the orientation section in which the major participants Chicken, Hare and their wives are introduced. The essential problem of the story is also laid out: Hare is stealing and eating
Chicken’s children. Paragraph 2 8–9 is the inciting episode. Chicken and his wife ask themselves what is happening to
their children. The break at paragraph 3 10–15 is clear, since we see the discourse marker mbe and the temporal POD rusiku rumwi ‘one day’. In this paragraph, Chicken discovers Hare has been eating
Chicken’s children. Paragraph 4 16–20 contains the next developmental episode, in which Chicken cries for his children. There is a combination of reported speech and action between Hare and Chicken.
Paragraph 5 21–29 shows major discontinuity with the preceding events. The first sentence begins with a temporal POD rusiku rumwi ‘one day’ and then a spatial POD mu-chaaro cheebhwe ‘in their land’.
The main clause of this sentence then introduces the major event, which sets the stage for the rest of the story: ‘there was a wedding’. In the remainder of the paragraph 23–29, Chicken and his wife plot about
how to deceive Hare.
Paragraph 6 30–33 is the first peak episode, with clear discontinuity of participant, time and action. This discontinuity is signaled by mbe, followed by a referential and a temporal POD. In this
paragraph, Chicken’s wife deceives Hare and kills him. In paragraph 7 34–37, the major discontinuity is of participant. Hare died in the previous
paragraph, and now Hare’s wife enters the picture again, signaled by a referential POD ‘Hare’s wife also’. Paragraph 8 38–41 begins with mbe. The primary discontinuity is of participant, and there is a
referential POD. This paragraph is the denouement of the text. Chicken sees that Hare and his wife are dead, so they mourn for their children while they eat the meat of Hare and his wife.
Paragraph 9 42–43 is the conclusion, in which the narrator speaks to the audience. This paragraph begins Mbe woori ‘So now’. It finishes with a teaching point “give everyone respect.”
2.2 Points of departure
