LINE-NUMBERED VS. PARAGRAPH-NUMBERED MATERIAL
Lynnette Taylor
Recently, there has been a fair amount of line-numbered and paragraph-numbered material needing transcription within my braille group. Each is handled differently.
Line-numbered paragraphs have the number placed in either cell 1 or cell 3, depending on whether the paragraph is blocked or indented. This is true whether the paragraph is numbered on the right or left side of the page in print. Likewise, every paragraph is numbered in braille whether numbered in print or not. The object of numbering paragraphs is so that the directions in exercises can send the student to the proper paragraph quickly. A typical question would be: In paragraph 10, how does the protagonist indicate his feelings?
Line-numbered poetry is straightforward. The objective is the same, to get the student or reader to the specific line quickly. In print, poetry is often numbered every fifth or tenth line and sometimes is numbered on the left side of the page. Follow print for the line numbers, but place them on the right margin. Using a numeric indicator, place the line number on the same braille line as the beginning of the print line. There must be two blank cells between the end of the text and the line number, and that adjusted margin remains for every line whether it has a line number or not. No text can be on lines 1 and 25 if print and braille page numbers are on those lines.
,/OPP+ BY ,WOODS #DGF
ON A ,SN[Y ,EV5+
BY ,ROB]T ,FRO/
,^: WOODS ^! >E ,I ?9K ,I "K4
,8 H\SE IS 9 ! VILLAGE1 ?\<2
,HE W N SEE ME /OPP+ "H
,TO WAT* 8 WOODS FILL UP ) SN[4
,MY LL HORSE M/ ?9K X QUE] #E
,TO /OP )\T A F>MH\SE NE<
,2T ! WOODS & FROZ5 LAKE
,! D>KE/ EV5+ ( ! YE>4
,HE GIVES 8 H>S BELLS A %AKE
,TO ASK IF "! IS "S MI/AKE4 #AJ
,! ONLY O!R S.D'S ! SWEEP
,( EASY W9D & D[NY FLAKE4
Line-numbered prose follows different guidelines because the natural line breaks of prose in print will not match the line breaks of braille prose. Each line must be numbered on the right margin whether it is numbered in print or not—and they are usually not in print. (Quite often, only every fifth line is numbered in print.) Only one new print line can appear on a braille line. Three blank cells are used to separate the individual lines, and this is noted in a transcriber’s note before the line-numbered prose
Sample transcriber’s note:
Three blank cells occurring within a braille line indicate the beginning of a new print line.
,S]5E AF 8 9N] /RU7LE1 ,M>T9 #ADE JO9$ ME 9 \R SITT+ ROOM4 ,WE #ADF WANT$ TO GET TO B$ E>LY1 B ,YOKI 2GAN CRY+ & ! TELEPH"O KEPT R++4 #ADG ,2T 9T]RUP;NS WE SAT TGR TALK+ AB ! PROSPECTS = ! SU3ESS ( ! #ADH PROTE/4 ,WE 7 BO? FILL$ ) D\BT4 ,ATTEMPT$ BOYCOTTS _H FAIL$ 9 #ADI ,MONTGOM]Y & O!R CITIES4 ,2C ( #AEJ *ANG+ "TS & TEMP]S1 ? "O SEEM$ TO H A BETT] *.E1 B X 0 / A SL5D] #AEA HOPE4
1 Begins with print line number 145. The three blank cells are not needed as this is the beginning of the paragraph.
2 The three cells occur just before the word “We.”
3 There is not a new print line, so there is not a line number.
4 The new print line begins with “kept.”
6 The new print line begins with “prospects.”
9 The new print line begins with “of.”
11 The new print line begins with “but.”
Notice that each braille line has at least six cells at the end, four of which are the line number and two of which are the cells separating the text from the line number. Braille lines without line numbers use all six cells so that the line numbers will be obvious to the braille reader.
Back to Skills Articles