The Bench & Bar magazine is published to provide members of the KBA with information that will increase their knowledge of the law, improve the practice of law, and assist in improving the quality of legal services for the citizenry.
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When was the last time you heard a paragraph? You probably haven't ever. We do not hear paragraphs; we see paragraphs. The paragraph is a convention of the written word. Good writers, William Zinsser tells us, think in paragraphs. 1 Imagine reading this page – or a will, contract, pleading, or brief – without paragraphs. Readers need paragraphs so that they can absorb information in man- ageable chunks. They use para- graphs to learn how a writer's thoughts fit together, to keep from getting lost. Writers need paragraphs to stay in control of what they are writing. They maintain control with para- graphs that have three qualities: unity, coherence, and cohesion. UNITY Unity means that the paragraph has a single, clear focus. The first step to assuring unity in a paragraph is to begin with a clear topic sentence (or thesis sentence, for those who draw the distinction 2 ). The topic sen- tence states the central idea to be developed. A strong topic s entence creates a context for the reader and anchors the paragraph in the overall logical development of the document. The second step is to control the content of every other sen- tence in the body of the para- graph. Each sentence must maintain the same focus as the topic sentence, and the con- cluding sentence must reinforce the central point. The presence of irrelevant information can dis- rupt the reader's understanding of the paragraph and weaken the writer's point. It can be helpful to think about unity in terms of a paragraph's shape. Some paragraphs, like those in the statement of facts section of a memo or a brief, are hourglass-shaped. They begin with a general statement about the topic, then narrow to specif- ic support for that statement, and conclude with a broader sentence that summarizes the topic and transitions to the next. Other paragraphs, like those in the argument or discussion sec- tions of a memo or a brief, are funnel-shaped. The rim of the funnel is a proposition, and the subsequent sentences narrow as the writer proves the proposi- tion. COHERENCE Coherence refers to the logical connections that readers per- ceive in a written text and that allow the reader to make sense of it. Readers feel a passage is coherent when the writer helps them accomplish two tasks: identifying the topics of individ- ual sentences quickly, and rec- ognizing how the topics form a connected set of ideas. A writer gives coherence to a paragraph by linking the sen- tences in a way that allows thought to flow smoothly from o ne sentence to the next. A co- herent paragraph flows because it is arranged according to a def- inite plan and demonstrates the writer's awareness of his purpose for writing. As a result, all the sentences are not just about the same main topic, but they also "stick together" and lead read- e rs smoothly from the topic sen- tence to the concluding one. Each sentence takes a logical step forward. One way to achieve coherence is to decide on an ordering prin- ciple for the ideas in your para- graph, a pattern of develop- ment that creates a logical flow between the sentences. Read- ers' understanding of text is guided largely by their expecta- tion of conventional patterns. When the pattern of the para- graph coincides with what the reader expects to see, it has co- herence. Common patterns include se- quence description, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and problem and solution. Oth- er ways to achieve coherence in- clude the use of inductive or de- ductive logic, examples or illus- trations, classification or division, definitions, or analogy. 3 Coher- ence can also be improved by strengthening the ties between old information and new. This includes repeating key words or using variations and synonyms of key words, using parallel structures to bind a series of sentences; and providing transi- tions both at the sentence level and between paragraphs. COHESION Cohesion is about the way that sentences connect to one an- other. In technical terms, it is about the grammatical and lexi- cal relationship between differ- ent elements of a text that hold it together. It is easy to confuse cohesion and coherence because they sound alike. Joseph Williams describes the difference this way: Think of cohesion as pairs of • s entences fitting together in the way that two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle do ... . Think of coherence as see- • ing what all the sentences in a piece of writing add up to, the way all the pieces in a puzzle add up to the picture on the box. 4 A text can have coherence but lack cohesion and vice versa, as the following examples show: Torts was my favorite class in • law school. Long classes can be tiring. Fatigue is a fre- quent cause of automobile accidents. Because a mishap tied up traffic, I once missed a job interview. I later went to work in California. I always wanted to go to law • school. Helping people is deeply satisfying. I repre- sented a childless couple in an international adoption. Adopting an older child is challenging for all involved. The first example has cohesion but lacks coherence. The itali- cized words show how the sen- tences connect to one another, but the paragraph makes little sense. It starts out talking about taking torts and ends up talking about working in California. The second example has coherence but lacks cohesion. We can un- derstand, admittedly with some effort, the writer is offering an explanation and an example to elaborate the reason for going to law school. Sometimes to achieve cohesion it is necessary to disregard other familiar advice about writing, such as the advice to avoid the passive voice. Joseph Williams offers the following examples: Some astonishing questions • about the nature of the uni- verse have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates a black hole. So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it 30 B&B; • 9.14 E F F E C T I V E L E G A L W R I T I N G THINKING IN PARAGRAPHS By: Phillip M. Sparkes