CHAPTER

10
Organizing the Middle

Just as an essay must begin and end well, so it must be clearly

organized in between. An important part of a writer's job is
assisting readers in following the organization. It can be done
in two ways, which are often used together. One is by sign-
posts—words, phrases, sentences (occasionally even a short
paragraph) which tells readers what you have done, are doing,
will do next, or even will not do at all. The other way is by
interparagraph transitions, that is, words and phrases that tie
the beginning of a new paragraph to what precedes it.

Signposts
The most common signpost is an initial sentence that indicates
both the topic and the general plan of treating it. For instance,
the scientist J. B. S. Haldane organizes a five-paragraph sec-
tion of a long essay like this:

Science impinges upon ethics in at least five different ways. In the

first place . . .
Secondly. ..
Thirdly . . .
Fourthly . ..
Fifthly . . .
68 THE ESSAY

Sequence may be signaled by actual numbers or letters—

usually enclosed in parentheses—rather than by words like
first, second, in the first place, and so on. The poet W. B. Yeats
explains why he believes in magic:

I believe in the practice and philosophy of what we have agreed

to call magic, in what I must call the evocation of spirits, though I
do not know what they are, in the power of creating magical illu-
sions, in the visions of truth in the depths of the mind when the
eyes are closed; and I believe in three doctrines, which have, as I
think, been handed down from early times, and been the founda-
tion of nearly all magical practices. These doctrines are—
1. That the borders of our mind are ever shifting, and that many
minds can flow into one another, and create or reveal a single mind,
a single energy.
2. That the borders of our memories are as shifting, and that our
memories are a part of one great memory, the memory of Nature
herself.
3. That this great mind and great memory can be evoked by
symbols.

Numbers, however, and number words like first, second,

third, must be handled cautiously. Overused, they confuse
readers, losing them in a labyrinth of (l)s and (2)s and (a)s
and (b)s.
Rather than using numbers, it is better, if possible, to set
up an analysis by employing key terms. These identify the
major points and can be repeated at the beginning of the ap-
propriate paragraph or section. For example, the television
critic Edith Efron, discussing soap operas, writes:

Almost all dramatic tension and moral conflict emerge from three
basic sources: mating, marriage and babies.

She begins the next paragraph by picking up the key word

"mating":

The mating process is the cornerstone of the tri-value system.

ORGANIZING THE MIDDLE 69

And the following paragraph she opens by using the loose

synonym "domesticity" to link "marriage and babies":

If domesticity is a marital "good," aversion to it is a serious evil.

Signposts demand consistency. Once you begin using them

you must carry through. Some writers make the mistake of
starting off with something like this:

There were three reasons why the pact was not satisfactory. First.

But then they fail to introduce the next two reasons with the
obligatory second or third (or secondly, finally). The lack of
signals may confuse readers who fail to recognize when the
writer passes from one reason to another.
Aside from setting up a group of paragraphs, signposts may
also anticipate future sections of an essay or make clear what
will not be treated. Few subjects divide neatly into watertight
compartments. As you develop one point, you touch upon
another that you do not plan to discuss fully until later or
perhaps not to discuss at all. When this happens you may wish
to give a warning.
Signposts may also point backward, reminding readers of
something treated earlier which bears upon the current topic.
Thus a writer may say "(See page 8)," or "As we saw in
Chapter 7 . . . . "
The signposts we have looked at are intrinsic—that is, they
are actually a part of the writer's text. There are also extrinsic
signposts, ones that stand outside the actual discussion yet
clue readers to its organization. An outline or a table of con-
tents is such an extrinsic signal. So are chapter titles, subtitles
of sections, running heads at the top of each page.
Typography and design convey other extrinsic indications
of organization: the indentation of paragraph beginnings and
of quotations, the extra spacing between lines to signal a new
major section, and occasionally the numerals (usually Roman)
centered above the division of an essay. Philosophical and
 70 THE ESSAY

scientific writers sometimes use a more elaborate system, be-

ginning each paragraph with a two-part number, the first digit
to designate the chapter, the second the paragraph.

Interparagraph Transitions
Transitions link a paragraph to what has immediately pre-
ceded it. They occur at or near the beginning of the new para-
graph because it represents a turn of thought, needing to be
linked to what has gone before. Transitions act like railroad
switches, smoothing and easing the turn from one track to
another.

The Repetitive Transition

The simplest type of transition repeats a key word. Writing
about the Louisiana politician Huey Long, Hodding Carter
ends one paragraph and begins the next with the following
link (the italics are added in this and in all following examples,
unless noted otherwise):

Behind Huey were the people, and the people wanted these things.
And with the people behind him, Huey expanded ominously.

A repeated word makes a strong and simple connection. It

works well when the key term leading into the new paragraph
occurs naturally at the end of the preceding one. But it is
awkward and artificial when the term is forced into the final
sentence merely to set up the transition.

The Question-and-Answer Transition

A second way of linking paragraphs is to ask and answer a
rhetorical question. Usually the question is placed at the end
of the preceding paragraph and the answer at the beginning
of the following one. Nancy Mitford, commenting upon the
ORGANIZING THE MIDDLE 71

apparently compulsive need of tourists to travel, concludes

one paragraph and opens the next like this:

Why do they do it?

The answer is that the modern dwelling is comfortable, conven-
ient, and clean, but it is not a home.

Less often the question appears at the opening of the new

paragraph, as in this discussion of the ultimate defeat of the
Crusades:

With want of enthusiasm, want of new recruits, want, indeed, of

stout purpose, the remaining Christian principalities gradually
crumbled. Antioch fell in 1268, the Hospitaler fortress of Krak des
Chevaliers in 1271. In 1291, with the capture of the last great
stronghold, Acre, the Moslems had regained all their possessions,
and the great crusades ended, in failure.
Why? What went wrong? There was a failure of morale
clearly. . . . Morris Bishop

The question-and-answer transition makes a very strong

tie, but, as with the rhetorical question generally, it is too
obvious a strategy to be called upon very often.

The Summarizing Transition

This link begins with a phrase or clause that sums up the
preceding paragraph and then moves to the main clause,
which introduces the new topic. (Unless idiom prohibits it,
the elements of the transition should always be in that order:
summary of old topic, statement of new one.)
//- and while-clauses frequently carry such transitions:

If I went through anguish in botany and economics—for different

reasons—gymnasium was even worse. James Thurber

But while Bernard Shaw pleasantly surprised innumerable cranks

and revolutionists by finding quite rational arguments for them,
72 THE ESSAY

he surprised them unpleasantly also by discovering something

else. G. K. Chesterton

Long summarizing transitions tend to be formal in tone.

On informal occasions it may be better to avoid a full if- or
while-clause, and state the summary more briefly. Here, for
example, a writer moves from the topic of college teaching
methods to that of personal responsibility:

Because of these differences in teaching methods, college throws

more responsibility upon the student.

A summarizing transition may take even briefer form, us-

ing pronouns like this, that, these, those, or such to sum up
the preceding topic. The historian J. Fred Rippy moves from
the severe geographical conditions of South America to a dis-
cussion of its resources:

These are grave handicaps. But Latin America has many resources
in compensation.

Although the "these" in that example is perfectly clear,

such pronouns can be ambiguous when used as the subjects
of sentences, especially when they refer to the whole of a long,
complex idea. If you do use such a pronoun in this way, be
sure that readers understand what it refers to. Should there
be a doubt, make the pronoun an adjective modifying a word
or phrase that fairly sums up the preceding point: for example,
"These handicaps are grave."

Logical Transitions
Finally, you may link paragraphs by words showing logical
relationships: therefore, however, but, consequently, thus, and
so, even so, on the other hand, for instance, nonetheless, and
many, many more. In the following passage the historian and
political scientist Richard Hofstadter is contrasting "intelli-
ORGANIZING THE MIDDLE 73

gence" and "intellect." In the first paragraph he defines "in-

telligence." By placing the transitional phrase on the other
hand near the beginning of the second paragraph, he signals
the other half of the contrast:

.. . intelligence is an excellence of mind that is employed within a

fairly narrow, immediate, and predictable range. . . . Intelligence
works within the framework of limited but clearly stated goals.
Intellect, on the other hand, is the critical, creative, and contem-
plative side of mind.

Here is another example—a discussion of Hamlet—in

which moreover indicates that the new paragraph will develop
an extension of the preceding idea:

If I may quote again from Mr. Tillyard, the play's very lack of a
rigorous type of causal logic seems to be a part of its point.
Moreover, the matter goes deeper than this. Hamlet's world is
preeminently in the interrogative mode. Maynard Mack

Logical connectives seldom provide the only link between

paragraphs. Actually, they work in conjunction with word
repetitions, summaries, pronouns. In fact, all the various tran-
sitional strategies we have looked at commonly occur in some
combination. But whatever its form, an interparagraph tran-
sition should be clear and unobtrusive, shifting readers easily
from one topic to the next.

For Practice
> Read closely an essay or article you like and study how the
writer links paragraphs.
> Go through something you have written and underline the link-
ages between paragraphs. If you find places where the connections
seem weak, improve them.