Final answer:
Discourse includes paragraph structure, cohesive ties, and genre conventions like story structure. These elements ensure clarity, unity, coherence, and adherence to specific types and purposes of writing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Discourse does indeed include elements such as paragraph structure, cohesive ties, and genre conventions such as story structure. Paragraphs in written discourse should reflect the paper's thesis and allow for a strong analysis, if applicable. They often include topic sentences and proceed logically to support the overarching thesis. Cohesive ties are the linguistic elements that help to give a text its sense of unity and coherence, connecting sentences and paragraphs through techniques such as transitional phrases and pronouns.
Genre conventions refer to the set of expectations readers have for a certain type of text, which includes structure, tone, paragraphing, and mechanics. For instance, story structure in narrative genres often follows a specific format like the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. By adhering to these conventions, writers can effectively communicate with their readers and fulfill specific writing purposes.