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==The ''Sugya''==
[[File:משנה סדורה - סיכום הגמרא - חברותא.jpg|thumb|''Gemara'' students in ''[[chavrusa]]'' recording their summary of each ''sugya'' alongside its ''Mishnah'' (using the [[Mishnah#Commentaries|''Mishnah Sdura'']] edition)]]{{Main|Sugya}}

The building block of gemara is known as a sugya, "a self-contained basic unit of Talmudic discussion" (p.&nbsp;203) that often centers on a statement from the mishnah, the amoraic rabbis (memra), or simply independent of these. They vary in size and complexity and, though self-contained, may mention or assume knowledge of other sugiyot.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strack |first=Hermann L. |title=Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash |last2=Stemberger |first2=Günter |last3=Bockmuehl |first3=Markus N. A. |date=1996 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-0-8006-2524-5 |edition=2nd |location=Minneapolis (Minn.)}}</ref>

The analysis of the ''Amoraim'' is generally focused on clarifying the positions, words and views of the ''Tannaim''. These debates and exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the {{Transliteration|he|Gemara}}; the name for such a passage of Gemara is a {{Transliteration|he|sugya}} ({{Script/Hebrew|סוגיא}}; plural {{Transliteration|he|sugyot}}). A {{Transliteration|he|sugya}} will typically comprise a detailed [[logical argument|proof-based]] elaboration of the {{Transliteration|he|Mishna}}. Every aspect of the {{Transliteration|he|Mishnaic}} text is treated as a subject of close investigation. This analysis is aimed at an exhaustive understanding of the {{Transliteration|he|Mishna's}} full meaning.

In the Talmud, a {{Transliteration|he|sugya}} is presented as a series of responsive [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] and questions – with the Talmudic text as a record of each step in the process of reasoning and derivation. The {{Transliteration|he|Gemara}} thus takes the form of a [[Dialectic|dialectical exchange]] (by contrast, the {{Transliteration|he|Mishnah}} states [[posek|concluded legal opinions]] – and often differences in opinion between the ''Tannaim''. There is little dialogue). The disputants here are termed the {{Transliteration|he|makshan}} (questioner, "one who raises a difficulty") and {{Transliteration|he|tartzan}} (answerer, "one who puts straight").

The {{Transliteration|he|Gemara}} records the [[semantics|semantic disagreements]] between ''Tannaim'' and ''Amoraim''. Some of these debates were actually conducted by the ''Amoraim'', though many of them are hypothetically reconstructed by the Talmud's redactors. (Often imputing a view to an earlier authority as to how he may have answered a question: "This is what Rabbi X could have argued ...") Only rarely are debates formally closed.