Lawyers and attorneys often find the power of the written word extremely useful in their profession, and for one law professor, the most powerful words are those of former President Abraham Lincoln.
Ward Farnsworth, who is the associate dean of academic affairs at Boston University’s School of Law, discussed the craft of well-worded writing before a crowd of about 100 students at LAW on Wednesday.
“I think that all law students are as fascinated by words as I am,” he said. “That is why they are in law school. For most lawyers, working with words is what they do all the time.”
LAW senior Dustin Guzior, who introduced the lecture, said Farnsworth was elected by the student body to give this inaugural presentation as a part of a lecture series.
“The “Farnsworthian lecture’ is punctuated by humor,” he said. “Professor Farnsworth knows a great deal about words and how to use them.”
Farnsworth began the lecture by reading a letter that an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bedell had sent Lincoln days before he was elected.
Farnsworth said after Lincoln had won the presidential election, he gave the little girl, whose letter had asked him to grow a beard, a kiss on the cheek.
“Some of the things that are said about Lincoln are untrue,” he said. “But [Lincoln’s reactions] to the little girl’s letter actually did happen. There were witnesses.”
Throughout the rest of the lecture, Farnsworth went on to discuss the writings and speeches of the 16th president, focusing on the use of Saxon versus Latinate words, or words descended from English and Germanic languages as opposed to romance languages.
Farnsworth said he loves to read Lincoln’s speeches because he believes that they stand the test of time and are still interesting to read now because of their simple wording with the occasional use of well-chosen punctuation.
“In English, we have a peculiar situation that is unlike most other languages,” he said. “Saxon words for English speakers tend to create more feeling. Saxon words are just more immediate.”
Furthermore, Farnsworth said that when he is trying to explain something complicated, he uses Saxon words instead of Latinate words.
“If you want to make an impression or be persuasive, you should use Saxon words,” Farnsworth said. “The goodness [of writing] comes from movement. It comes from the variation between Latinate and Saxon words and the use of one to set up the other.”
He used Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as an example: 88 percent of the 267-word speech was Saxon words, he said, and it used only 33 Latinate words.
“He would repeat himself once using Saxon words and then again with Latinate,” he said. “[He used] one language that speaks to the head and then one language that speaks to the heart.”
Throughout his lecture, Farnsworth stressed the importance of artfully mixing together the different types of words.
“It’s one thing to know that variety is good, but it’s another thing to use variety beautifully,” he said.
Farnsworth said he wanted to share his enthusiasm with the students and increase their interest in Lincoln.
“The Gettysburg Address is like a piece of music,” Farnsworth said. “You need to hear it about ten times. Then, by the 20th time, you will see that it is exquisite.”
Second-year LAW student Renee Burgher said she found the lecture enlightening.
“His talk was really useful and it gives me something else to think about when I’m writing my memos and opinion letters to clients,” she said. “I think he gave useful suggestions that can be applied to future attorneys because we will be dealing with words all the time and it is very important to captivate your audience and maintain that interest.”
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