CLARITY IN DISCOURSE
Separate the Relevant from the Irrelevant

One of the special features of speech or writing is that it contains clarity. Experience shows that the least found quality in a piece of speech or writing is clarity. Many people can be found who speak or write quite academically, but there will be very few who will display the quality of clarity in their discourse.

The clarity in discourse has one condition. The condition is that the speaker or writer should know the difference between relevant and irrelevant. He should have developed the quality of clarity in his thought before starting to speak or write. A person who develops clarity in his thoughts in advance will find the virtue of clarity in his words, otherwise, this quality will elude him. For example, you go on to write an article on the end of the Ottoman Caliphate of Turkey, and the only reason for its end you find is this: Kamal Ataturk declared the abolishment of the Ottoman Caliphate after becoming commander in 1921.

But this is not the whole picture. In fact, before this declaration of abolishment, the concept of the nation-state had gained universal acceptance throughout the world. Under its influence, Arab countries under the Ottoman Caliphate had started a movement of Arab nationalism in a powerful manner. Then, in 1922, when Kamal Ataturk (1881-1938) abolished the Ottoman Caliphate, it was an announcement of an incident, not a cause of the event itself. In such a situation, if a writer or speaker attributes the abolishment of the Caliphate to Kamal Ataturk only, this will mean that his discourse lacks clarity.

The clarity in a discourse becomes manifest when the speaker or writer makes his point by separating the relevant and irrelevant components of a topic from each other.