10.2.4 EXPLICIT CONNECTION-CONCLUSIONS
Just as the headings help the writer to craft any needed roadmap paragraphs, they can also help the writer to check for explicit connection-conclusions. The last paragraph before a new heading is a strong position of emphasis, and stating an explicit connectionconclusion is a good way to exploit that position of emphasis.
The writer can easily check for connection-conclusions by looking for each new heading or subheading and then checking the paragraph above that heading; unless it is a roadmap, the paragraph should end on the writer’s explicit conclusion as to the point under discussion within that heading or subheading, and it should connect that point as needed to any other points in the argument.Although some writers end a point heading section by foreshadowing the next issue, this technique is usually not necessary in a document with headings. If making the connection between the points in two sections or subsections is important, try reaching back to the earlier section instead of reaching forward to the later section.
For example, in a subsection about part one of a two-part test, some writers will end the subsection by saying, in essence, “Petitioner meets part one of the test. Next, it will be shown that petitioner meets part two of the test.” To use positions of emphasis more effectively, the writer could end the first subsection by saying, “Petitioner meets part one of the test.” After an appropriate, persuasive point heading, the next subsection’s text can begin by saying, e.g., “In addition to meeting part one of the test, Petitioner also meets part two....” In this way, the writer shows a connection between the two parts of the test, but also exploits the position of emphasis at the end of the first subsection by focusing on the point made in that subsection. This technique can also be useful as a way to support digital readers, who may be jumping to that portion of the document and would otherwise have no context for the information.
The guidelines are slightly different if the point is dispositive, that is, if that point alone can result in a victory for your client. In that situation, you may want to include terms in your connection-conclusion that serve as “Bacon links” to connect the point to your overall thesis and tell the court what it must do:
GOOD EXAMPLE
Thus, Respondents, who were conducting a purely commercial activity, were not visitors to a “home” and were not engaging in longstanding social customs that serve functions recognized as valuable by society. While Respondents may have been legitimately in the apartment, in the sense that Thompson permitted their presence, Respondents did not have any legitimate expectation of privacy in the apartment because they were present only to conduct illegal business. Because Respondents’ expectation of privacy was not one that society recognizes as reasonable, they cannot claim the Fourth Amendment’s protections, and this Court must reverse.
If the point is not dispositive, exploit the position of emphasis that a section ending provides to articulate a connection-conclusion that hammers home the point you wish to make in that section.