2. • Give examples of descending paragraphs.
• Provide various but interrelated definitions for
descending paragraphs.
• List steps on how to properly write descending
paragraphs.
3. • The automobile accident resulted in serious damage.
The passenger in the VW was hurled through the
windshield; her throat was slashed and she bled to
death before the paramedics arrived. The VW driver
had both his legs broken. The driver of the Mercedes
showed us his black and blue ribs from when his air
bag deployed. My sister, who was sleeping on the
back seat of the Mercedes, bumped her face and had
a swollen lip. The front of the VW bug was crushed,
and the Mercedes had scratches on its front bumper
and grill.
4. • It also known as the anticlimactic paragraph.
• It shows an abrupt shift from a serious or
noble tone to a less exalted one--often for comic
effect.
• It also refers to an unexpected twist in the plot, an
incident marked by a sudden diminishment of
intensity or significance.
• It is basically the anti-thesis of climactic paragraphs:
descending paragraphs fizzle out with details that are
so minor that basically seem irrelevant if not for their
connection to the main idea.
5. • As he hesitated over the after-dinner drink, she intervened to
say, 'Oh, let’s have sherry rather than brandy by all means.
When I sip sherry, it seems to me that I am transported from
the everyday scenes by which I may, at that moment, be
surrounded. The flavor, the aroma, bring to mind irresistibly--
for what reason I know not--a kind of faerie bit of nature: a
hilly field bathed in soft sunshine, a clump of trees in the
middle distance, a small brook curving across the scene,
nearly at my feet. This, together with the fancied drowsy
sound of insects and distant lowing of cattle, brings to my
mind a kind of warmth, peace, and serenity, a sort of
dovetailing of the world into a beautiful entirety. Brandy, on
the other hand, makes me fart.'"
(Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor, 1971)
6. • Begin with the sentence that you think brings the most
impact to potential readers.
• As you work through the sentences, remember the
flow of action. It should eventually diminish in effect.
• As you near the end of writing the paragraph, make
sure that you have made full use of your weakest
sentences and included the most minor of details.
• End the paragraph with the weakest sentence
possible.
7. • "He died, like so many young men of his generation,
he died before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you
took him, as you took so many bright flowering young
men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, at Hill 364. These young
men gave their lives. And so would Donny. Donny,
who loved bowling."
(The Big Lebowski, 1998)
