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25 Conn. L. Rev. 777 (1992-1993)
Fingers Pointing at the Moon: New Perspectives on Teaching Legal Writing and Analysis

handle is hein.journals/conlr25 and id is 793 raw text is: FINGERS POINTING AT THE MOON: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING LEGAL WRITING AND ANALYSIS Philip N. Meyer* T HERE is a Zen proverb: Teachers' words are fingers pointing at the moon. The student who looks too closely at the fingers never sees the moon. Ineffably, this says as much about teaching legal anal- ysis as it does about finding enlightenment. I have taught legal writing and reasoning at five law schools, di- rected legal writing programs at two law schools, and served as coordi- nator of a lawyering program. I believe that the development of process-based analytical skills (e.g., case analysis, synthesis, and ana- logization), organizational skills, memorization skills (e.g., accurate re- statement of applicable rules of law), and written communication skills are crucial to law school success and provide the infrastructure for all other lawyering activities. While these skills may be identified readily, it is extremely difficult for many law students to internalize and apply the aesthetics of legal analysis. In this presentation I candidly explore why this is so--why teaching legal analysis is often akin to trying to help students find enlightenment. The form of this presentation is somewhat unconventional. First, I tell illustrative anecdotal stories about my experiences teaching legal analysis in different legal writing and lawyering skills programs. Sec- ond, I borrow a technique from the late communications theorist, Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan often used analytical probes' rather than discursive linear arguments. These bursts of intellectual energy were intentionally fragmentary. There was playfulness and purpose in McLuhan's method. Form reflected content. McLuhan's probes were * Associate Professor and Director of Legal Writing Program, Vcrmont Law School. This Es- say is based on a presentation delivered at the annual meeting or the American Association of Law Schools on January 7, 1993, in San Francisco, California. The author is grateful to Neal Feigenson, Patrick Kennedy, and Cam MacRae for their invaluable contributions to this essay. 1. WALTER J. ONG. ORAaTY & LITERACY: THE TECHNOLOGIZING OF THE WORD 29 (1982).

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