ABSTRACT
The macrostructures that people obtain by applying macrorules on the semantic structures of textual sequences appear to be sequences of propositions. These sequences are ordered and must be linearly coherent. They may be organized in Macrofacts in which the various semantic roles of participants in global events can be specified. The conventional schemata we have in mind not only involve functional categories for the macro-propositions of a text and rules for ordering and combination, but also require that these categories and rules be socioculturally accepted, learned, used, commented upon, etc., by most adult language users of a speech community. Conventions will of course be established only for those discourse types which occur frequently and which require effective production and comprehension by means of fixed schemata. Everyday conversations, narrative discourse, and arguments are examples in point. The structure of reasoning and argumentation has been studied for a long time and, at least in more or less precise terms.
