6. Coherence through punctuation.

The one other means

of sentence coherence that should receive the attention of every student is punctuation. Unfortunately, this method of making oneself clear is seriously neglected; a comma, for example, is looked upon as a very insistent yet inconsequential enemy. It is spoken of as if it were a thing deserving the consideration of children, but not of men and women. Yet the conventional marks of punctuation, though there may be some difference of opinion about occasional specific cases, perform a large part in revealing the relations of words, phrases, and clauses. If they are used carelessly, they result in confusion or even serious misunderstanding; if they are used skillfully, they are substantial aids in making oneself unquestionably clear. Even in such supposedly simple matters as the full signification of a series of words, the exact effect of a relative clause, or the meaning of a sentence intended to be direct address, punctuation plays an important part. Are the following sentences helpfully punctuated?

With every sentence he was in dread lest he might say something, which would scare her away.

He shows how patronizing the boys who are allowed to run around in clothes, which need no care, really are.

In the middle of this row stands the largest building known as Center Hall.

He always was a little stubborn Dick. (Direct address.)

But the influence of punctuation reaches far beyond these fundamental matters. We might well heed the words of Poe, who felt deeply the significance of every mark: "That punctuation is important all agree; but how few comprehend the extent of its importance! The writer who neglects punctuation, or mispunctuates, is liable to be misunderstood; this, according to the popular idea, is the sum of the evils arising from heedlessness or ignorance. It does not seem to be known that, even where the sense is perfectly clear, a sentence may be deprived of half its force, its spirit, its point, by improper punctuations. For

the want of merely a comma, it often occurs that an axiom appears a paradox, or that a sarcasm is converted into a sermonoid. There seems to exist a vulgar notion that the subject is one of pure conventionality, and cannot be brought within the limits of intelligible and consistent rule. And yet, if fairly looked in the face, the whole matter is so plain that its rationale may be read as we run." 1

If any student feels that he has not mastered punctuation to a reasonable degree, let him betake himself at once to any one of a score of helpful books which deal with the subject, and there master the fundamentals. Then let him study the best writing of the day to see the practice upon which the rules are established.

III. EMPHASIS

A. EMPHASIS IN THE WHOLE COMPOSITION

Emphasis is a principle based upon the conviction that some things are more important than others. In the whole composition it demands that the larger units, the paragraphs and groups of paragraphs, be so treated that their comparative importance is at once evident. Usually this may be done in one of two ways. First, things that deserve chief consideration may occupy much space; secondly, they may be put in the most prominent positions. In other words, emphasis usually resolves itself into a matter of proportion or position.

1. Emphasis by proportion. The prime importance of proportion becomes clear when we consider the actual circumstances that guide the writer in his work. To begin with, virtually every piece of writing must be fitted into a place not originally determined by the writer. Magazine editors demand stories of certain length; book publishers want novels that are not too long; congregations insist upon having sermons that are short; busy merchants and physicians want the affairs of the week put into compressed form; and even the friends

1 Marginalia.

with whom we have correspondence like to receive letters that do not encroach unnecessarily upon their time. We cannot, therefore, ramble about until we are sure we have said everything we have to say, even if good literary form would permit us to do so. Instead, we must decide upon the limits within which we are to keep, and then adjust all the parts so that the ones to which we hope the reader will give his chief attention may not be overshadowed by the ones that are less important.

A modification of emphasis by proportion is iteration. Instead of massing the whole weight of a proposition or transaction in one place, iteration distributes it. Sometimes it manifests itself in verbal repetition, at intervals long enough to prevent monotony, one sentence or one phrase being used again and again; for example, Arnold's "formulas." Sometimes it appears in a repetition of the thought without the repetition of phrase, the emphasis being produced by approaching the same thought from many different sides. In either case, the effect is the same: the reader is prevented from allowing the important part of the subject-matter to slip from his attention. The recurrence of the same thought fixes it firmly in mind, even though he momentarily dismisses it as he follows the writer in the development of the general theme.

2. Emphasis by paragraph position. The theory of emphasis by position, too, is well established. We cannot fix our mind on anything and keep it steadily there for a very long period; our attention rises and falls more or less regularly. If, however, we are anticipating a change of any kind in the matter to which we are giving or may give our attention, we are stimulated to more vigorous, more constant mental effort. For example, we always remember just how our friends look and just what they say in the excitement of their arrival or departure, although the great middle portion of their visit may have left only a very indefinite impression of pleasure. Now in a similar way the material that is placed at the beginning or the end of a composition usually produces a more definite impression than that which comes between. When we read the first paragraphs,

our attention is alert and vigorous; and when we know that the writer is approaching the end, we are quickened to a new effort to catch the full meaning of his parting words. Furthermore, the mere mechanical arrangement of the beginning and the end, by a direct appeal to the eye, helps to deepen the impression made by the thought. We must, therefore, always regard the beginning and the end as strategic points and allow only the most significant matters to stand there.

Emphasis by position, however, is not limited wholly to the beginning and the end of the composition. Whether a thought comes logically at the beginning, at the end, or in the middle, there is not infrequently an opportunity to emphasize it by relative position; that is, by bringing it into contrast with some other thought. Contrast, let us never forget, is a device usually available and always effective. When we look toward a black cloud along the horizon, the white houses that dot the intervening space look whiter than they ever look when the sky is clear; the large man always seems still larger when he stands by the side of a very small man; the princess in the story takes on many new charms when she appears in the company of the hoyden; and the good deed grows in goodness when it is considered alongside the one that is mean and selfish. In describing people and inanimate objects, in telling stories, and even in explaining such matter-of-fact subjects as steam engines and chemical processes, we shall find it possible to make one thing prominent by bringing it into contrast with something that is in some essential its opposite.

B. EMPHASIS IN THE PARAGRAPH

1. Emphasis by proportion and sentence position. — In the paragraph, emphasis should not afford the student unusual trouble. Since he is at liberty to make the paragraph as long as his sense of proportion will permit him to make it, he is not in any peculiar way hampered in securing emphasis by fullness of treatment. Furthermore, the organization of the paragraph

for the coherence of the whole composition provides the very kind of arrangement that contributes most to emphasis by position. In other words, the directing topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph and the iterating summary at the end serve both coherence and emphasis. To be sure, it is not desirable to make all paragraphs small in the middle and large at each end, but the present-day tendency to give them this form helps to render emphasis by position comparatively easy. Likewise there is no special difficulty in emphasis through contrast. In truth, every means available in the whole composition may be employed on a smaller scale in the paragraph.

2. Concentration or emphasis by emotional stress. In addition to these means that may be employed with equal effect in either the whole composition or the paragraph, perhaps we ought to consider another that is serviceable only in some kinds of paragraphs. This we might call concentration or emotional stress. In at least one respect it is the direct opposite of emphasis by proportion, inasmuch as it gains its effect by bringing into a compact sentence, or a few richly suggestive words in a sentence, all the meaning that could be completely expressed only in much larger space. It must always presuppose reasonable knowledge by the reader on the subject treated, and must rely upon the power of a few words to call to mind all this knowledge. To a degree it corresponds to the device that a public speaker employs when he suddenly strikes the table or makes some other positive gesture to give weight to his declaration. Or, to change the figure, it partakes of the nature of an electrical shock; the sentence brings into small compass - perhaps into figurative language - a lively charge of emotional suggestion. It may be seen, then, that the employment of this means is restricted to writing in which the emotional element can legitimately be made prominent. Thus irony, wit, humor, pathos, and sarcasm come within the method, — but never the stoically conceived matter of fact. The following paragraph is a good example. Note the penetrative character of the short sentence at the end: