The number of paragraphs in a document is determined by the number of subdivisions in the document's outline.

• A. Amount of time needed to present the document
• B. Number of subdivisions in the document's outline
• C. Number of people expected to read the document
• D. Amount of time that was spent creating the outline

Answer: (B)

Organizing a document with an outline defines how ideas are segmented. Each subdivision in the outline represents a distinct idea or topic you plan to cover, and when you draft the content you typically express that idea in at least one paragraph. Because of that, the number of subdivisions tends to align with the number of paragraphs you produce, making the outline a primary guide for paragraph count. In practice, you might write more than one paragraph under a single subdivision if the idea needs more development, or you might use different formats for some details, but the outline’s subdivisions are the main driver of how many paragraphs you end up with. Time spent writing, audience size, or the time spent creating the outline don’t determine paragraph count.