Paragraphing
Practice
Please
read through this passage looking for paragraph breaks that have been
missed. Use the paragraph symbol to
indicate where a new paragraph should begin.
Paragraphing is usually necessary if there is a shift in speaker,
perspective, topic, tone, place, or time
Weeks passed and I visited my father frequently because I truly missed him, his insight, and advice. Sure I could still get the advice from him, but it wasn't the same because it was the kind of advice you can only get from someone you live with. On one of my many visits to Dad's musty apartment, I learned something surprising. Dad was angry with me. Why me -1 hadn't done anything wrong? He should have been thankful because, other that his brother, I was the only one who visited him. He proceeded to tell me that, if I hadn't taken up the slack, Mom would have seen the error in her ways and would have taken him back. He wanted Mom to admit that she was dependent upon him. I just stared at the tattered, brown carpet that was pulling up at the seams and wondered, "Is he right? Would the most stubborn person I know take back the most egotistical person in the world?" There was no way in Hell. Once Mom makes up her mind, it doesn't change. Dad was trying to pawn off the blame on someone and I was chosen as the scapegoat. I had been coming down to his little apartment for weeks upon weeks, listening to him babble on about how he was going to win back Mom- I had silently listened and just thought that he was in denial, perfectly normal for a trauma of this size. How little did I know? The very person that would protect me with his life was now trying to psychologically damage me with an extreme guilt trip. I looked up from the frayed carpet and into his pale, blue eyes while saying, "You're wrong. Besides, who was going to help Mom?"